Originally released in the early 1960s, Ray Bradbury’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes” reads as fresh as any dark fantasy novel or horror piece written today, and it’s as well written as the best of the genre, Stephen King and Dean Koontz and the like.

The story in this novel starts off quite simply. There’s a small town. In the middle of the night a train rolls into town and a carnival unloads itself off the train. Two young boys become interested and begin sneaking around the carnival at night, as young boys are likely to do. But then weird things begin happening in town. A few townsfolk disappear. A stranger from the carnival with tattoos that seem alive run up and downs his arms. One man from the carnival later appears much younger than he was originally.

The carnival is evil. It’s giving some of the townspeople their dreams come true, but at a horrible, horrible price. Still, not everyone is able to reject what is offered. The two boys, along with one of their fathers, begins to look into the carnival’s past. And what little they can discover is disturbing.

I won’t say any more about the plot, because it would give too much away.

But the writing here is great, flows easily and is full of awe-inspiring moments and some laughter. The darkness of this tale is not visually grotesque, so this is a perfect story for both adults and young adults. Even children nearing the teen years could enjoy this book.

As far as a theme or subtext, “Something Wicked This Way Comes” focuses a lot on age, on the young seeking their dreams, and the old wishing for dreams that had never come to fruition. The relationships between fathers and sons is also a main feature of this story.

Read it, you’ll love it. It’s definitely a classic.

Other book reviews

The Battle of Mogadishu, edited by Matt Eversmann and Dan Schilling

The Ruins, by Scott Smith

Battle Royale, by Koushun Takami

Afraid, by Jack Kilborn