# Something Wicked This Way Comes-Bradbury **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608 "2004-02-05T03:07:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/1 "2004-02-05T03:07:24Z")
Watched the film yonight. Did Stephen King not borrow the plot of the evil circus that returns to a town every few decades? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/2 "2004-02-05T03:25:44Z")
There are also evil circuses (or at least weird circuses) in Peter Beagle’s _The Last Unicorn_ and in Charles G. Finney’s _The Circus of Doctor Lao_. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/3 "2004-02-05T03:33:06Z")
I think the circus has long been a haven for the… um, dispossessed and unconforming of the world, and literature and art have surely taken note of that. There’s a movie? Is it new? This is one of my all time favorite books, I’m very curious. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/4 "2004-02-05T03:43:43Z")
Here’s a link to the movie. I remember seeing it and thinking it was…peculiar, as I had never read the book. > **[Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086336/)** > > Something Wicked This Way Comes: Directed by Jack Clayton. With Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce, Diane Ladd, Royal Dano. In a small American town, a diabolical circus and its demonic proprietor prey on the townsfolk. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/5 "2004-02-05T03:43:59Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > There’s a movie? Is it new? This is one of my all time favorite books, I’m very curious. There’s a 20 year old movie staring Jason Robards, and Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark. It’s out on DVD [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000K3CC/internetmoviedat/104-4258665-5412750](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000K3CC/internetmoviedat/104-4258665-5412750) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/6 "2004-02-05T04:15:13Z")
But, it’s not really evil in and of itself. It plays off of the premise that Man’s heart is wicked. All it did was grant those people their base desires without warning of the consequences. The idea is as old as the Fall From Grace. It’s even been used in Star Trek. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/7 "2004-02-05T08:05:35Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > There’s a 20 year old movie staring Jason Robards, and Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark. Holy crap, that’s 20 years old? I saw it in the theater, for pity’s sake! Will someone please hand me my cane? ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/8 "2004-02-05T08:23:56Z")
The movie really does not do the book justice. The scene where the elderly father deals once and for all with the Dust Witch (“I put my smile on the bullet.”) is one of my favorite scenes in fiction, period, and it’s simply one of a book chock-full of equally powerful moments. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/9 "2004-02-05T08:33:30Z")
Half-way decent movie, absolutely wonderful book. I agree with Drastic about the dust witch. Great scene. ---
**Author:** ![HDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@HDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HDS)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/10 "2004-02-05T11:39:36Z")
Wonderful book. I always remembered the musical boardwalk. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/11 "2004-02-05T13:12:49Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by chique_Holy crap, that’s 20 years old? I saw it in the theater, for pity’s sake! Will someone please hand me my cane? There, there, Grandpa…now settle down. You made me crack up. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/12 "2004-02-05T13:34:08Z")
> [@Drastic](#): > > (“I put my smile on the bullet.”) I expected to see that scene, although I only vaguely remember Robards catching the bullet. Off to the library. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/13 "2004-02-05T17:58:46Z")
Oh God, that movie was horrid! If there was ever a movie that needs remaking, it’s Something Wicked…! Tim Burton? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/14 "2004-02-05T18:34:09Z")
I’ve always wanted to go as Mr. Dark for Halloween. But I would need to learn how to do the business card trick and get the boys tatts on my hands. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/15 "2004-02-05T18:58:47Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I’ve always wanted to go as Mr. Dark for Halloween. There would be few people cool enough to recognize you. It would be great to have a tattoo of whoever answered the door on your palm though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/16 "2004-02-05T19:57:49Z")
I like Something Wicked This Way Comes – the novel is much better than the film. Which Stephen King work do you think copies this idea? (I have not read most of his oeuvre). I seem to recall evil circuses played a role in the long-banned movie “Freaks” and a Philip K. Dick story where a telepath is duped into winning prizes which endanger his planet by one evil circus, then offered an antidote to the problem by a second evil circus… ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/17 "2004-02-05T20:17:19Z")
> [@beajerry](#): > > Oh God, that movie was horrid! > > If there was ever a movie that needs remaking, it’s Something Wicked…! > > Tim Burton? Burton seems far too…overt. There’s a lot in the book that a lack of subtlety will just kill. Moments of powerful calm, like Will’s dad’s really astonishing melancholy speech about goodness not necessarily _feeling_ good at all (“Learn otherwise since now…”). I keep thinking M. Night Shyamalan, myself–cured of the need to write his own stuff (I like his movies, but cheerfully admit writing is _not_ the man’s strong suit), and simply set down to faithfully direct the book. He’s showed a talent for finding surprisingly talented child actors, and/or getting good performances out of them, which would of course be crucial for Something Wicked, since the book’s very much about Will and Jim having spotlight time and going through a lot of dramatic growth. He also has a decent talent for building and racketing up the tension even when nothing’s technically happening, in any sort of action-y way, which a film treatment would also need. I’ve gotta reread the whole thing again thanks to this thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/18 "2004-02-05T23:44:30Z")
I like to say to people I’ve just met, “By the pricking of my thumb, something wickid this way comes,” and see if they ID it as Shakespeare or Bradbury. Tells a lot about a person. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/19 "2004-02-05T23:46:04Z")
thumb **S** plural carry on… ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608/20 "2004-02-06T00:30:03Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > I like to say to people I’ve just met, “By the pricking of my thumb, something wickid this way comes,” and see if they ID it as Shakespeare or Bradbury. > > Tells a lot about a person. And if they ID it as **both**? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-wicked-this-way-comes-bradbury/227608.md?page=2)