Something Wicked This Way Comes
Novel by Ray BradburyWikipedia
49
MENTIONS
25
EPISODES
19
PODCASTS
Search complete. 49 mentions across 25 episodes found for "Something Wicked This Way Comes".
Oct 27, 2026
CaitlinHOST
To me, this one...
CaitlinHOST
Have you ever seen Ray Bradbury's book Something Wicked This Way Comes? The cover of that? This looks...
CaitlinHOST
Exactly like that, which is like a Halloween-y feeling book.
CaitlinHOST
And it just looks like a candy bar to me or like packaging for like Halloween candy.
Todd James PierceHOST
Though ABC initially showed interest, they eventually turned it down, again leaving the script without funding and a path to production.
Todd James PierceHOST
From there, Bradbury shifted the story's format from a script over to that of a novel.
Todd James PierceHOST
Whereas Bradbury would need a studio and a team to make an animated TV special, he could create a book manuscript all on his own.
Todd James PierceHOST
Moreover, he had strong connections in New York publishing, where he was an insider as opposed to Hollywood, where at best he was an outsider in a related field.
Todd James PierceHOST
In the summer of 1971, he signed a contract with his publisher, Knopf, to write a book of juvenile fiction, something that today would be classified somewhere between a middle-grade reader and young adult fiction.
Todd James PierceHOST
For the novel version, Bradbury leaned more heavily on memories of his own boyhood, growing up in neighborhoods with his friends when trick-or-treating was just becoming a popular custom in the United States.
Todd James PierceHOST
By the end of that fall, he had a 118-page draft of the story.
Todd James PierceHOST
in the novel version bradbury expanded out information on the boys particularly on pipkin and also gave the group additional adventures such as a trip to the mummy filled catacombs crypts and cemetery of guanawato Though Bradbury would later claim that this book was released during the week of Halloween, it was actually released as a hardback on August 13, 1972, in the long lead-up to that holiday.
Doug Van DornHOST
But he's going to give the ending away with the laughing from a very, very fascinating psalm reference, laughing and mocking the devil.
Doug Van DornHOST
He goes, the tradition of mocking Satan and defeating him through joy and laughter plays a large role in Ray Bradbury's classic novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, which is a Halloween novel.
Doug Van DornHOST
So he's rooting this kind of mockery in classic literature of the 20th century.
Doug Van DornHOST
The gargoyles that were placed on the churches of old had the same meaning.
MilesHOST
Well, and also Bradbury, this is not his first, uh, rodeo with dealing with, uh, kids and horror.
MilesHOST
I mean, this is the guy who wrote, like, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and has done several stories involving children in peril, uh, to great acclaim.
MilesHOST
And, um, so I, I, I, I actually, I really appreciate that.
MilesHOST
Like, yes, I joke that it's like edutainment for a second, but it's certainly, if you are of a certain age when you're a kid, like, even this little bit is like, "Ooh, that's neat."
14 MINS LATER
MilesHOST
Zachary, yeah.
MilesHOST
Um, and so I, I do appreciate ...
MilesHOST
And r- I mean, like I said, Bradbury did this, especially with Something Wicked This Way Comes.
MilesHOST
I appreciate treating a young audience seriously and not talking down to them.
DelaneyHOST
okay moving on we have to i can't get into this right now yeah i'm feeling i'm feeling heated
RoxelanaHOST
but yeah i'm gonna depress i would like to read dracula okay maybe eventually i also have while i was doing a bit of research for this episode i have a book called something wicked this way comes by ray bradbury and so i just read fahrenheit 451 okay ray bradbury yeah
KatieHOST
so basically
RoxelanaHOST
i did but this one is supposed to be like a dark halloweeny book so basically what it is i'm There's some kind of, like, show, carnival, that's come to this little town, and it says to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery.
RoxelanaHOST
and then like there's a siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained that's cool and then it says two boys will discover the secret of its smoke mazes and mirrors two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes and the stuff of nightmares
KatieHOST
oh i'm actually really intrigued so it's very like halloween
RoxelanaHOST
yes you know so i think that would be really interesting i think out of i have three on my list i think out of the three that one i would be most interested in reading just because i've read his work before and i've liked it yeah so i think you know yeah something wicked this way comes it sounds interesting and it's like it's super halloween and i do love a carnival i love a carnival especially like a scary oh i love a carnival i love a
KatieHOST
carnival
BryanHOST
[upbeat music] On this week's prequel episode, we follow up on our Something Wicked This Way Comes listener polls, learn a little bit about Goosebumps, and preview Goosebumps: Night of the Living Dummy 3.
BryanHOST
[upbeat music] Well, welcome back to another prequel episode of This Film Is Like The Podcast, where we talk about movies that are based on books.
BryanHOST
We have all of our segments, so we're gonna jump right in, as we always do, to our patron shout-outs.
BryanHOST
Yeah, yeah.
BryanHOST
Yes, indeed.
BryanHOST
All right, let's go ahead and see what the people had to say about Something Wicked This Way Comes.
KatieHOST
Yeah.
KatieHOST
Well, you know, that's just, like, uh, your opinion, man.
Killian SundermannHOST
that's
Mark ByrneHOST
brilliant not only have I watched 10 films I also read cover to cover Haunting of Hill House Psycho the novel Rosemary's Baby the novel and Carrie the novel and I'm nearly finished a book called Something Wicked This Way Comes Where Ray Bradbury Wow.
Mark ByrneHOST
I was reading Bradbury.
Mark ByrneHOST
I'm gone.
Todd James PierceHOST
Bradbury believed that dramatic expectations established early in a story should become a reality by the time the narrative reached its close.
Todd James PierceHOST
In Bradbury's recent novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, early warnings and omens about a supernatural carnival become realities as the story moves forward.
Todd James PierceHOST
That was simply how stories worked in Bradbury's mind.
Todd James PierceHOST
How disappointed I was, Bradbury explained, when the Peanuts TV special didn't produce the great pumpkin.
GoodingGUEST
So all these things sort of came together.
GoodingGUEST
Plus, I just love Ray Ra- Bradbury, and I was reading that, uh, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and that's always just like a carnival with everything on fire.
GoodingGUEST
So there's songs on there where I'm trying to get that w- I'm trying to use a calliope.
GoodingGUEST
I'm trying to use all these strange instruments, but make them fit and I'm talking too much.
AshleyHOST
By the way, you might like this.
AshleyHOST
If you've never read this, he has another one, it's called "Something Wicked This Way Comes."
Jamie CassedayGUEST
Oh, I g- I haven't read it-
AshleyHOST
Okay
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