Something Wicked This Way Comes was a marvelous read. A three act, bittersweet love letter to friendship, family, and lost youth, two young boys’ lives are turned upside down when Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show comes to Green Town, Illinois.
Bradbury sets up the charming small-town setting and establishes Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway’s steadfast friendship really well. Will is the light to Jim’s darkness, the kid who wants to be a kid, while Jim is the opposing darkness to Will’s light, who wants so badly to grow up. Jim and Will are always up to some type of mischief together, especially when the carnival comes to town, which is when the clear juxtaposition between the two can be seen as they war with their conflicting desires to unlock the mysteries that lay undiscovered or avoid the carnival entirely.
I really like Will’s father, Charles Halloway. Filled with deep and unspoken feelings about life, he is a symbol of regrets and unfulfilled longings as an adult. Through Will’s eyes, his father seems old and small, “the man with the voice to match his hair” (Bradbury, 127). He avoids difficult topics but longs for a deeper connection with Charles. There are moments of happiness, though, like when Charles excitedly speaks of books to Will and Jim and when Charles races the two boys through town.
Through Charles’ eyes, Will is a bright-eyed boy who craves a fun-loving figure to look up to. There are many times when he attempts to talk to Will about complex matters, like what makes people good or bad, how happiness can be deceiving, and about pure cowardice and regret for lack of trying new and daring things. But when it’s all said and done, Will and Charles are able to learn valuable lessons from one another. I love the scene where Charles climbs up the lattice to Will’s window late at night, much to Will’s surprise and joy:
“They . . . sat upon the sill . . . gasping on huge ingulped laughs . . . and for fear of waking God, country, wife, Mom, and hell, they snug-clapped hands to each other’s mouths, felt the vibrant warm hilarity fountained there, and sat one instant longer, eyes bright with each other and wet with love” (Bradbury, 128-129).
The reader can see humanity at its worst and finest as each character grapples with right and wrong and good versus evil. A few of my favorite townspeople are Miss Foley and Mr. Crosetti. Miss Foley, who used to be young and beautiful, has a very unusual and emotional experience in the Mirror Maze that motivates her to make a costly choice. Mr. Crosetti, the town barber, cries to Will and Jim about how the air smells of licorice, pining for the carnival as he argues with the boys, who believe the air smells of cotton candy.
Mr. Cooger and Mr. Dark command a menagerie of unsettling individuals that are too many to name. From carousels powered by dark magic, to dancing tattoos, to evil witches and brainwashed innocents brought into the fold, there are many characters that do their bidding. There’s all manner of suspenseful and action-packed events throughout the story as the good and the bad pursue their own interests, setting their plans in motion and hurtling toward the long-awaited conclusion.
There are creepy and surreal moments in the story, and there are topics explored that are very much real and part of the human experience, albeit under the metaphorical guise of a dark carnival. The resolution to the climax is a lesson in being carefree and young at heart, whether we still possess childlike youth or merely keep a small part of ourselves innocent in adulthood, despite the uncertainties and evils in this world.
Bradbury has one of the most unique writing styles I’ve ever had the pleasure to experience. His narrative commands the page in such an offbeat yet poetic way, leaving me wishing my mind thought about a subject or a person like he so naturally does, in a way I’ve never seen before. His story urges us to ask ourselves what we think we know of growing up and growing old, and how far we would go to recapture our youth if we could. A perfect marriage of dark fantasy, horror, and coming of age, I highly recommend this book if you’re a lover of carnivals, the bizarre, and discovering the mischief and wonders that lurk in the shadows through the eyes of two wide-eyed children.
Reference
Bradbury, Ray. Something Wicked This Way Comes. Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 1980.