Tag Archives: ray bradbury

Radio/Movie Combo: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

6 Aug

Ray Bradbury’s 1962 novel about a sinister carnival rolling into a small Illinois town one week before Halloween is one of his most iconic and thought-inducing tales. I’m a sucker for a classic Devil vs. Good tale.

Cover for Something Wicked This Way Comes, produced by The Colonial Radio Theatre. A dark silhouette of a figure in a top hat stands centered against a moody blue twilight sky, with a large Ferris wheel framing the figure from behind. The title "Something Wicked This Way Comes" appears in white hand-written script. "Ray Bradbury" is printed in large white letters at the top, with "The Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air Presents" above the figure and "With Jerry Robbins and the Colonial Radio Players" along the bottom.

For those unfamiliar, Something Wicked This Way Comes is Bradbury’s 1962 dark fantasy horror novel about two teenage boys, Will and Jim, who confront a supernaturally sinister carnival led by Mr. Dark. The carnival preys on secret desires, offering wishes at a terrible price. The boys and Will’s father fight the carnival and Mr. Dark to save themselves and the town. I’d also consider it a coming-of-age story that pokes at the fear of growing old.

​The Radio Production.
I admit, I haven’t read the book, and while searching for it I found a gem – the live radio production, dramatized by Bradbury himself, from the Colonial Radio Theatre complete with a full cast, sound effects and original music.

This is Bradbury’s work, and not just a regurgitated word-for-word reading, which makes it a lot of fun to, frankly, close your eyes and watch the imagery flow.

The key sense, obviously, to tap into here is hearing – you hear the carnival arrive, Mr. Dark get defeated, the boys run for their lives, and even in the hesitation of the dialogue.

The Film (1983)

Movie poster for Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983). Two boys' faces emerge from swirling red and blue smoke at the top. Below, a man in a top hat and suit stands in front of a carnival featuring a Ferris wheel and tents. The title reads, "Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes" in white lettering, with the Disney logo at the top.

Directed by Jack Clayton with the screenplay by Bradbury, this film stars Jason Robards as Charles Halloway, a middle-aged, worn-down librarian, and Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark, the carnival owner who collects human souls.

This is early Disney storytelling, so the dialogue is a little cringy and the structure a bit wobbly, but overall it is an endearingly satisfying heroic-arc tale that honors Bradbury’s manuscript well.

Bradbury reportedly had issues with some production changes, but, in the end, the film was a general success, and Bradbury accepted the retelling.

My assessment. It’s imperfect, but it’s innocent in how the boys see the world. I also loved James Horner’s score.

If you haven’t read the book, start with the movie first, so you can better imagine the radio production.

Find the radio production in Hoopla here.

Reserve the movie in the BCCLS system here.

Comment below your thoughts once you’ve had a watch and listen.

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Written by:
Sean Willey
Information and Digital Services Assistant

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Picks from a Book Sanctuary: Five Speculative Fiction Novels to Preserve

3 Jan

In September 2023, Hoboken became the first Book Sanctuary City in New Jersey. As a book sanctuary, the Library is a place where people can borrow and read challenged books, endangered books are accessible to everyone, and people can be educated about the history of book banning and burning. You can read the sanctuary resolution and learn more about Hoboken as a book sanctuary here.

The library hosts many book talks, story times, and other events including those about banned and challenged books. Several of the books we have read as part of the Library’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Group over the last ten years have been banned or challenged. It does not seem coincidental that many share a dystopian view of the future where ideas and thoughts are tightly controlled and freedom of speech is limited.

Feed 
by M.T. Anderson
This was the first book read in January of 2014 with the Hoboken Public Library’s Science Fiction and Fantasy book discussion group. A young adult title, it was still appreciated by our group members for its dystopian depiction of the future where the internet is delivered directly to your brain. Its satire of corporate and media culture feels even more relevant than when it was first published in 2002.

The Handmaid’s Tale
by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood was my favorite author and poet in my 20’s. The group read this for Women’s History Month in March of 2019. This dystopian view pictures a world in which women are kept submissive to men and have lost all control and right to their own bodies. It has gotten increased attention recently with a streaming series adaptation.

His Dark Materials (series)
by Philip Pullman
This fantasy series begins on an alternate earth where human souls are visible as talking animal companions and air ships fill the sky. Creative and thought provoking, this Young Adult novel, is one of my favorites. We discussed the novel in February of 2016 and viewed the movie adaptation of The Golden Compass. It has now also been adapted as a TV series.

1984 
by George Orwell
This classic where Big Brother is always watching and rigid social standards and newspeak are instituted, turns family members against one another and forces its citizens to deny and disavow their own memories. We read this for the group in January of 2016.

Fahrenheit 451 
by Ray Bradbury
It seems inevitable this classic work to take on the topic of book banning and book burning would be the victim of bans itself. The group read this title in June 2018 and also viewed the 1966 movie adaptation.

You can stop by our display on the second floor near the Adult Computer Area and Reference desk, to see books that have been challenged or banned elsewhere in the country over the years. Other ways you can assist and take a stand against the banning of books are to host and join in-person or virtual banned book clubs and encourage critical discussion of censored stories; those with Black, Indigenous, People of Color (“BIPOC”) and LGBTQ+ stories are most often challenged. Also consider collecting and protecting endangered books and lending them to friends and neighbors including the use of local Little Free Libraries as book sanctuaries, adding endangered books as a way to support the freedom to read. On social media you can use the tag #TheBookSanctuary.

Here you can read a past post written in honor of banned book week with some more reading suggestions.

Come celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Hoboken Public Library’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club this year! On January 25 at 6 PM we will be discussing the exciting new dystopian fantasy The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence.

Posted by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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