Trevor Jung

February 11th, 2015

Something Wicked Literary Essay

Some may argue that Something Wicked isn't a horror
book, because it isn't scary, but a horror book does not
need jaw dropping gory events where a character gets
guillotined. A horror book only needs to create a grim
atmosphere, with horror details that make the reader
excited. Something Wicked does this, while also adding
some own magical twists within other genres to create an
even more horror themed book.
Contrary to popular belief, a horror book does not need
to have very scary events. Something wicked does not
have very scary events, as most of the scariest are just
ordinary deaths. For example, near the end of the book is
The two matchstick lights in the boys affrighted eyes
blew out. The boy, and his stricken and bruised conclave
of monsters, his felt but half-seen crowd, fell to
earth(Bradbury 275). Arguably, this death does not even
seem frightening in the least bit. However, if a horror
book has lots of horror detail, like somber and gruesome
details, the book is horror. For instance, there is "One
shelf further up the catacombs, eyes trembling with tears,
lay William Halloway. Well, said Mr. dark. He reached a
hand to pat Will's head. Hello he said (Bradbury 219).
All of the suspense in this particular event came from the
detail. Also, without lots of detail, a book wouldn't be
scary anyway no matter what its plot is. Without a clear
image in their head, the reader would not feel any
excitement from the book. This is true because if this
event had been "Mr. Dark looked up the shelves and

grabbed Will's head", the reader would not find it very

interesting. Another reason why horror does not need to
be scary, is that for lots of people a book provides little
scare. For instance, a young child may be scared easily,
which is why there is rated R on some movies. An adult
reading a horror book, however, will likely not be scared
unless they have an incredibly vivid imagination. That
means that a horror book can't always be expected to
scare.
As just shown, a horror book does not have to be scary,
so the question now is if Something Wicked has the
elements to make it a horror book. Now, Something
Wicked is packed with elements of horror, which is proof
that is a horror book. For those that may be skeptical,
there will generally be a horror element at least every 5
pages. Just picking a random page, you might find Every
glass threw javelins of light which invisibly pierced, sank
deep, found heart, soul, lungs, to frost the veins, cut
nerves, send Will to ruin, paralyze and then kick-football
heart (Bradbury 257). If mirrors driving people insane
isn't horror, then nothing is. The main elements of horror
in the book are figurative elements, including "The
shadows swooned and fluttered in all the canvas alleys
where odd assorted sizes of freaks and people, fleshed in
their own terrors and sins, held to poles, moaning in
disbelief"(Bradbury 276). By the way, that part just
means that everybody was stunned. This figurative
language is apparent in all parts of the book, which is an
obvious sign that Something Wicked is a horror book.
Also, there are lots of sinister events in this book, like
Softly, he said, I could kill you(Bradbury 211). One
shocking event was when the reader realized who the
dwarf was. Oh, God, what they've done to him! The

Lightning-rod salesman(Bradbury 108)! These dark

events contribute to the horror feeling of the book.
Something wicked has more than that, though. A lot of
horror archetypes appear in something wicked. For
instance, a good horror book needs mystery, to create
suspense. This adds some mystery: The clouds blew
away. The balloon was gone. The men were
gone(Bradbury 53). Like that, everybody vanishes.
Something Wicked may be packed with horror
elements, but the non horror elements have to be useful.
Of course, the elements from other genres in something
wicked are there not just for the sake of it. They are to
expand the horror, so that there are more events
possible. The magic carousel seems like something out of
a fantasy world, with the ability to change someone's
age. Mr. Dark, the antagonist committed crime for fun,
because he could do it forever, and never get caught (If
the police were looking for a middle aged man, he could
slip off the scene as a boy). This is indicated by 1860.
1846. Same ad. Same names. Same initials. Dark and
Cooger, Cooger and Dark, they came and went, but once
every twenty, thirty, fourty years, so people
forget(Bradbury 192). Something wicked uses the
carousel as a horror element, with both Mr. Cooger and
Jim nearly succumbing to its magic. Mr. Coogers demise
happened when he spun around the carousel too many
times: One hand hung off the platform. It did not belong
to a boy. It seemed a huge wax hand shriveled by fire.
The mans hair was long, spidery, white (Bradbury 103).
Likewise, Jim took a spin, but he also happened to fall off
the carousel. Pure horror alone would be quite limited,
because there is not much to the plot. With something
wicked, the carousel is the reason why Cooger and dark

are evil, and without it Cooger and Dark would have no

immortality, and they wouldn't be corrupted.
Packed with horror elements, Something Wicked This
Way Comes seeks to captivate readers through deep and
tense details, instead of meaningless bloodshed. It also
incorporates items from other genres, like fantasy.
Instead of detracting from the horror story, it actually
adds a great depth to the story. Mr. Dark could not have
gotten corrupted without the help of the carousel.
Overall, even though Something Wicked This Way Comes
may not be pure horror, it definitely deserves to be called
a horror book.

Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. Something Wicked This Way Comes. New York:
Avon, 1999. Print.