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Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) is a novel by Ray Bradbury. It is about two boys, named Jim Nightshade and William Halloway, who have an unpleasant experience with nightmarish carnival that comes to their Midwestern town. The mysterious and sinister carnival is presided over by Mr. Dark, a man who bears a tattoo for every person who has become part of the show (many unwillingly), enticed by the offer of living out one's secret fantasies. Countering Mr. Dark's malevolent presence is Will's father, who finds his own life force tempered by middle-age melancholy.
In tone and setting, Something Wicked can be seen as an autumn sequel to Dandelion Wine's summer, with the latter novel's Doug Spaulding and John Huff reincarnated as Will and Jim. The title comes from the witch's statement in Macbeth, "By the twitching of my thumbs / Something wicked this way comes."
The novel originated in 1955 when Bradbury suggested to friend Gene Kelly that they collaborate on a movie for Kelly to direct. Bradbury offered his unpublished short story The Black Ferris as an 80-page outline treatment. When Kelly was unable to obtain financial backing for the movie, Bradbury expanded the treatment to novel length.
The novel was made into a Disney movie in 1983, with a screenplay by Bradbury.
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