something wicked this way comes book review

To all intents and purposes Douglas was Bradbury himself, remembering his young and innocent days when everything was larger than life. In Dandelion Wine and certain short stories Ray Bradbury created a boy character called Douglas. Everything was wondrous and bright, and mystical and dark. To my young and enquiring mind Bradbury’s prose was full of magic and poetry of phrase. Around that time I couldn’t get enough of Bradbury, and devoured everything that was available. The last time I read this book (I still have the paperback) I was in my teens or maybe early twenties. Best known for short story collections such as Long After Midnight, The Small Assassin, The October Country, Dark They Were and Golden Eyed, I Sing the Body Electric, and The Golden Apples of the Sun (to name but a few), he also wrote a handful of timeless novels including Dandelion Wine, Fahrenheit 451, The Silver Locusts (The Martian Chronicles), and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Furthermore, he couldn’t have been a better ambassador for the profession.

His output was prolific and highly impressive. Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) is one of my top ten favourite writers of all time. How can they win through against the dark powers of The Skeleton, Mademoiselle Tarot, The Dwarf and Demon Guillotine? Perhaps they need an unexpected ally… Mr Dark, The Illustrated Man sends the Dust Witch and then brings the carnival parade to town with the sole intention of finding the hiding boys. The friends’ teacher is enticed and lost in the Hall of Mirrors. The boys witness a man riding the carousel backwards and becoming a young boy himself. The atmosphere becomes palpable as a dark carnival arrives just out of town. When a lightning rod salesman turns up and warns the boys of an approaching storm, it seems to be a portent of things to come. They spend all their time together and know each other implicitly, but are as different as chalk and cheese, the sun and the moon. William Halloway and James Nightshade are 12 year-old neighbours and best friends. There is an introduction by comedian, actor and Bradbury fan Frank Skinner, and an Afterward by Bradbury from 1999 called Carnivals, Near and Far. There are seven hauntingly beautiful red, yellow and black full-page illustrations by Tim McDonagh which are spaced throughout the book – including a skeletal carousel horse which adorns the hard slip case.

Originally published in 1962 by Simon & Schuster, this luxury 2019 reprint by permission of the Bradbury Estate is presented in hardcover, with good quality paper and wide margins. The Folio Society, London publishes the classic Something Wicked This Way Comes, by premium Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Mystery writer Ray Bradbury. (Folio Society Hardback) Author: Ray Bradbury

Something wicked this way comes book review