Today we said goodbye to one of the most prolific and influential science fiction and fantasy writers of the past century. Bradbury turned out hundreds of short stories, novels, scripts, and screenplays over his long life and gave us science fiction that became literary classics. He elevated the cheap genre pulp into masterpieces like Fahrenheit 451 and gave us some truly terrifying ghost stories too.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you owe it to yourself to go watch Something Wicked This Way Comes. Bradbury adapted the script himself from his novel about a travelling carnival of the damned that tempts people to their doom with their greatest desires. It’s a fun, creepy Disney film that scared the hell out of me when I saw it as a kid.
The good cover art. Accept no lame imitations.
Looking back, it has its flaws. The child actors in the lead roles are not the best at their trade and a few of the special effects are quite dated. At the same time, Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark is a terrific devil. A menacing tempter with a heart of flint. And everyone’s favorite queen of the exploitation films, Pam Grier plays an evil witch!
Check it out. Even if it’s only for the nostalgia trip, it’s a trip worth taking.
