Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 1962 dark fantasy novel by Ray Bradbury, and the second book in his Green Town Trilogy.

It is about two 13-year-old best friends, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway, and their nightmarish experience with a traveling carnival that comes to their Midwestern home, Green Town, Illinois, on October 24.

Dark's presence is countered by that of Will's father, Charles Halloway, the janitor of the town library, who harbors his own secret fear of growing older because he feels he is too old to be Will's dad.

The novel combines elements of fantasy and horror, analyzing the conflicting natures of good and evil that exist within all individuals.

Unlike many of Bradbury's other novel-length works, such as Dandelion Wine and The Martian Chronicles, which are fix-ups, Something Wicked This Way Comes is a single, full-length narrative.

One of the events in Ray Bradbury's childhood that inspired him to become a writer was an encounter with a carnival leader named Mr. Electrico who commanded him to "Live forever!"

Kelly was encouraging of the idea, and Bradbury spent the next five weeks adapting his 1948 short story "The Black Ferris" into an 80-page treatment.

According to Simon & Schuster editor Robert Gottlieb, Bradbury had grown frustrated with Doubleday's lack of energy behind his newer ideas.

Two friends – William "Will" Halloway and Jim Nightshade – both on the verge of their 14th birthdays, encounter a strange lightning rod salesman, Tom Fury.

The boys go the next day to explore the carnival and encounter their 7th grade teacher, Miss Foley, who is dazed after visiting the Mirror Maze.

Jim insists on coming back that night and Will agrees, but when they bump into the lightning-rod salesman's abandoned bag, they realize that they must stay to learn what happens after dark.

The next day the boys find a girl crying under a tree and realize she is the former Miss Foley made young again but also totally blind.

They leave the girl where she is, checking Miss Foley's house to confirm the theory, but when they return for her, they're cut off by a parade.

However, Dandelion Wine embodies the idyllic memories of youth, whereas Something Wicked This Way Comes superimposes folk-tale and supernatural elements over a small-town Americana setting in order to explore the dark undercurrents that surround the transition to adulthood.

[8] Self-centered desires and wishes are portrayed as the base of human malice and unhappiness because they blind people to the blessings of life with an unattainable dream.

The novel's main example of this is Miss Foley's seduction by Cooger's promise of youth that causes her to fail to see his deception as her "nephew" and lose her rightful place in society.

[9] It is implied that the counter-force against this is acceptance of one's faults and an enthusiastic pursuit of the everyday joys of life, signified by Charles's spontaneous running with Jim and Will at the end of the novel.

The fact that he is nearly forty years older than them pales in comparison to the pleasure he gains from simple human companionship.

[10] Critics have praised Something Wicked This Way Comes as a classic of fantasy and horror, noting its masterful blending of both genres[11] and Bradbury's unusual and mesmerizing prose.

The magazine Science Fiction Weekly published a review of the novel; an excerpt of it follows: A dark fantasy set in a small town, its people are brought to life so expertly readers feel very much like citizens ... even when their adopted hometown is menaced by outside forces against which it is helpless.

[14] The Denver Rocky Mountain News said in 1999: "If rational beings had created the 100 best books of the century list, this one would surely have been on it.

"[15] Something Wicked This Way Comes has served as a direct influence on several fantasy and horror authors, including Neil Gaiman and Stephen King.

[21][22] The novel was made into the 1983 The Bryna Company-Walt Disney Productions film Something Wicked This Way Comes, with Bradbury as the screenwriter.

Critics gave the play generally favorable reviews, stating that it captured the lyricism and dark tone of the novel.

[25][26] They also praised its special effects, which included a carousel constructed of mirrors with actors as the horses, and Jay Gerber as Charles Halloway.

Sharon Perlmutter of Talkin' Broadway, however, said that Hutt and Testa gave bland performances as the two lead characters.

This production was directed by Nancy Curran Willis, with music by Jeffrey Gage and post-production by Chris Snyder.

The cast included Theo Gregory as Will, Josef Lindsay as Jim, Henry Goodman as Charles Halloway, Gerard McDermott as Mr. Cooger/The Lightning Rod Salesman and Kenneth Cranham as Mr.