Something Wicked This Way Comes

Ray Bradbury

Background• From 1955 to 1962 in Los Angeles Bradbury turned

a ten page story into this novel • Protagonist · 

William Halloway, James Nightshade, and Charles Halloway

• Time frame· Between the 1920s and 50s

• Setting–  Green Town, Illinois– October, Fall

William Halloway

• William means “protector.” • Halloway– “hallowed” = “regarded as holy; venerated;

sacred”; this person will take and protect the “hallowed” or holy way

• What could his name tell you about his personality?

Jim Nightshade

• James means supplanter (one who takes the place of).• Nightshade: literally "shade of night," perhaps an

allusion to poisonous berries (e.g. deadly nightshade, enchanter’s nightshade)

• What could his name tell you about his personality?

Characters

In the prologue the author talks about the boy’s age. They are both 13, almost 14. He says, “Both touched toward fourteen; it almost trembled in their hands.”

•What does the author mean by this? •What literary device is the author using? •How does using this literary device affect the story?

The Book

• Something Wicked This Way Comes is a modern horror story focused on two thirteen-year-old boys who uncover menacing secrets at the carnival that has arrived in town.

• It was published in 1962 by American writer Ray Bradbury. Ray Bradbury made a significant dent in the horror genre with Something Wicked, influencing later masters of the genre like Stephen King.

• He also made a significant cultural impact; the number of TV shows and

songs that reference his novel is surprisingly large (we've got episodes of South Park ("Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes"), The Simpsons, and Doctor Who just to name a few). This popularity was no doubt escalated by Disney's 1983 movie adaptation of the novel

Shmoop.com

The Title: Something Wicked this Way Comes

• Comes from Shakespeare's Macbeth• Original Line spoken by the witches: “by the

pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes.”

• Translation: By the tingling in my finger, I feel something wicked coming.

What does the title foreshadow?

Something Wicked This Way Comes

• What does the word “wicked” mean to you?• What is the difference between the words

“wicked” and “bad?”

Wicked: evil or morally bad in principle or practice; sinful, mischievous or playfully malicious.

• Do you think the author’s choice in the word “wicked” is important? Why?

Something Wicked This Way Comes

They sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For

they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the

wine of violence.- Proverbs 4:16 -17

Somewhere not so far back, vast lightnings stomped the

earth.Somewhere, a storm like a great beast with terrible

teeth could not be denied.~ Bradbury

• This is the last line of the opening paragraph of the novel. It uses foreshadowing to indicate something terrible is coming to the town.

• What mood does the author create with this line? What words make you feel that way?

And that was the October week when

they grew up overnight, and were never so young anymore… ~Bradbury

•What could the author mean by this? •What is he really saying when he says they were never so young anymore?

Book Trailer

Sources

• Shmoop.com

• Teacherweb.com

• Applied graphics: California State University

• Lifefamilies.com

• Snipview.com