Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Introduction
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Plot Summary
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Detailed Summary & Analysis
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Themes
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Quotes
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Characters
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Symbols
Something Wicked This Way Comes: Theme Wheel
Brief Biography of Ray Bradbury
Historical Context of Something Wicked This Way Comes
Other Books Related to Something Wicked This Way Comes
- Full Title: Something Wicked This Way Comes
- When Written: 1960s
- Where Written: Los Angeles, California
- When Published: 1962
- Literary Period: Contemporary American Literature
- Genre: Horror fiction, fantasy fiction
- Setting: Green Town, Illinois
- Climax: Will and Charles revive Jim through laughter and silliness after he rides Cooger and Dark’s evil carousel and nearly dies.
- Antagonist: Mr. Dark
- Point of View: Third-person omniscient
Extra Credit for Something Wicked This Way Comes
Bradbury in Hollywood. Ray Bradbury claimed from a young age that he wanted to be an actor, and while he never realized this dream, his impact on movies and television is undeniable. Bradbury was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the screenplay for John Huston’s 1956 adaptation of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, and in 1994 he was awarded an Emmy for his teleplay of The Halloween Tree.
Witches and Warlocks. Ray Bradbury is the seventh great-grandson of Mary Bradbury, a woman who was accused, tried, and convicted of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. She was sentenced to hang for her crimes, but, luckily, she was not executed before the trials were discredited later that same year. Mary lived to be an old woman, and in addition to Bradbury, actress Linda Hamilton and actor Christopher Reeve are among her descendants.