The Anecdotist's Anthology: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Critically-acclaimed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury corrupts the nostalgic innocence of childhood with each turn of a carousel in Something Wicked This Way Comes. A harrowing battle of good vs. evil ensues when long-time friends Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway stumble across Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show one late October night.

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The two thirteen-year-old boys come to find that an underlying malevolence lurks within the candy-colored tents and mystical attractions of the carnival, where demonic mirror mazes reveal the grotesque image of Man, blind gypsies steal the souls of unsuspecting children, and a carousel adds or removes years of life depending upon which direction it spins.

Jim and Will must escape the maniacal forces of carnival freaks hunting after them, while resisting the temptation to join the shadow show and quench the hidden desire of an older age.

Bradbury not only crafts a horror story embellished with the tantalizing allurement of sin, but also explores the transition from childhood to adulthood in a bewitching setting. A loss of innocence is portrayed in the newly-manifested cynicism embodied by the malicious carnies, or "the Autumn People."

The unique ensemble of dynamic characters and innovative prose sprinkled throughout the paragraphs of the novel define Bradbury as one of the most influential science fiction authors in the literary world.