When I was very, very young, I saw Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), probably recorded to a VHS during one of the rare free Disney Channel weekends, and it terrified me.  The images from the film, particularly the scene where the demonic circus’s parade searches for two young boys through the streets of Green Town, have always stuck with me.

Based on the novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes blends fantasy and horror elements with an ostensibly child-friendly story into a spooky tale of friendship, fear, courage, and resisting sin.

The story opens a week before Halloween, as young friends Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway (which sounds very much like “Halloween”) rush home after serving detention for “whispering” in class.  They encounter an eccentric traveling lightning rod salesman, Jim Fury, who gives Jim an Egyptian-styled lightning rod to place on his house for protection.  That same night, while installing the lightning rod, the boys see a train carrying Mr. Dark’s carnival to town, which excites the lads.

Townspeople begin to have strange experiences at the carnival, the arrival of which seems to offer them the fulfillment of their long-held desires.  A romance-addled local barber experiences dozens of dancing girls; an amputee relives his gridiron glory days; the schoolmarm becomes beautiful and young again.  Accepting these gifts, however, come with a heavy price—Mr. Dark’s carnival feeds upon the recipients’ souls, trapping them in his wicked carnival (also, the schoolmarm becomes beautiful, but loses her sight; the barber becomes a little kid after riding an evil carousel).

Soon, Will and Jim realize what is happening—and Mr. Dark figures out that they know what’s up.  Soon, Mr. Dark pursues the boys, attempting to find out where they live and where he can locate them.  He stages a parade through town, ostensibly to advertise the carousel, but it’s really to search for the boys (the scene I remember so vividly from my childhood).  It’s in broad daylight, but the scene is so scary—if the circus hooligans and freaks find the boys, it’s clear that they will be killed and/or lose their souls to the carnival.

Meanwhile, Will’s old father, Charles, realizes the boys are in danger, and attempts to conceal them at the local library, where he is the head librarian.  Mr. Dark encounters Charles in the dimly-lit library, and Will cries out as Dark attacks Charles.  Soon, Charles faces off with Dark again in the carnival’s Hall of Mirrors, where the final battle between good and evil commences.

Something Wicked This Way Comes is classic Ray Bradbury—weird, dark, scary, but oddly childlike.  It reminds me tonally of his book The Halloween Tree, which is one of my favorites to read this time of year (my brother’s and I also watched the animated movie as kids).  It’s “young adult” fiction before such a thing became an oversaturated book marketing ploy that appeals more to single white thirtysomething women than actual kids.  It also is filled with the kinds of things that terrify kids—like being on the run from an army of circus freaks!

I particularly love the character of Tom Fury, who comes to town hawking lightning rods as literal black clouds gather behind him.  He feels like a Tom Bombadil character, an oddball wanderer who, while appearing as something an outsider, also carries with him the means of protection against the evil that approaches.  One gets the sense that Tom has been in conflict with Mr. Dark for some time, suggesting a deeper, more ancient struggle than we see in the film.

There is also a strong moral in the story, with a warning against sin and temptation.  The inherent message is one that I often heard in Sunday School from my Aunt Marilyn:  “sin will cost you more than you want to pay and take you farther than you want to go.”  Amen!

I had a difficult time finding the film, but someone uploaded this incredibly low-res, low-framerate version to YouTube.  While I don’t condone piracy, this version was the only one I could find outside of ordering a BluRay (which I will likely do):

Definitely check this film out this Halloween season—it’s amazing!