Something Wicked This Way Comes (adapted into a film of the same name) is a story principally of two boys, James Nightshade and William Halloway, and their harrowing experiences with the mysterious and enigmatic Mr. Dark of Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show. However, the novel also touches on several of the townsfolk of Green Town, Illinois, who all must struggle with one of the oldest conflicts known to humankind a deal too good to be true or a devil's bargain. Ray Bradbury's style is both unique and suspenseful (one entire chapter consists of nothing but a single sentence) and the point of view shifts carefully from character to character to give the reader numerous opportunities to empathize with the struggle against temptation lying deep within. After all, what wouldn't a person give to acquire their deepest desires? How bad could the cost be?
When the carnival comes to town, two boys unearth the terrifying and horrible secrets that lurk within Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show and learn the consequences of wishes, as a sinister and evil force is at work in Green Town, Illinois. Reprint.