Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

4/10

This is one zany book. There are these two boys, Will and Jim, who are good friends. Jim is the leader and Will the follower. Some crazy carnival comes to town and Jim convinces Will to go sneak in late at night while the carnival is setting up. They witness something nutty and now Mr. Dark is after them. In the face of danger, Will becomes the leader and Jim the one who is dependent on Will (especially at the end).

This was a silly, crazy free-for all. I mean, imagine all the wild things a writer could do with a carnival setting in a fantasy/horror novel. And he does it. And yet the book takes itself too seriously it seems like. Lets just say that there were several dramatic and revealing heart-to-heart father-and-son speeches. Oh well, what do I expect? It wasn't terrible.

My favorite part? Probably the photograph on the inside of the back cover of a white-haired and spectacled Bradbury wearing a turtleneck as well as what looks like one of those old calculator wristwatches all while holding a black cat. Epic.

Quotes:

"No man's a hero to himself."

"Minute by minute, hour by hour, a lifetime, it never ends, never stops, you got the choice this second, now this next, and the next after that, be good, be bad, that's what the clock ticks, that's what it says in the ticks."

"Good to evil seems evil."