Book Review – Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

I read this book many times as a teen. I loved it then and I love it now, but I appreciate the poetic way in which it is told so much more now.

If you’ve not read this book or seen the 1983 film, it follows Jim and Will, two boys in a small town who fall to the temptations of an evil circus that comes to their small town. They must over come those temptations to banish the evil that threatens to take them.

This book focuses on the forces of good and evil and the cost of giving in to temptation. Both Jim and Will must choose each other, their friendship, their trust in each other, to survive. To keep the evil of the circus from feeding off of their pain.

Having reread this after so long, I can see the influences that Bradbury’s writing had on Stephen King whose books often have the same themes. It really reminded me of Doctor Sleep, Carrie, and various others that carry themes of how bad giving in to temptation can be for people.

Four out of five stars, for this was far better as an adult than it was as a kid, and it was great for me then too.