Something Wicked This Way Comes final discussion and join us for the watch-along tonight #SomethingWickedFall

I apologize for not posting the last two discussions according to the schedule. I had my sister in town for my birthday weekend two weeks ago and I've been sick on and off since that weekend. Ugh. It has not been the fun October I planned. Anyhoo, I somehow managed to finish the book and I'm here to discuss it as a whole before our watch-along of the movie tonight. More details on that at the end of the post.

Here are my thoughts on the book as a whole:

The idea of self acceptance is very present in the book. The carnival feeds on self-doubt. In the case of Charles Holloway (Will's dad), he feels old. Too old to be a father which in turn causes him to question his ability to be a proper father. It is acknowledged in the book that we are not born with self acceptance. It is something we develop over time. In this book, with self acceptance comes power. Only when Charles realizes this is he able to defeat the carnival which survives by exploiting people who are unhappy with who they are.

I liked how the book touched on common cause. Charles Holloway talks about people who have a common cause are more willing to do things they would not normally do. Our ultimate commonality as human beings is that we are all going to die. If we use that commonality to gain common ground, the world would be a better place. In the case of the carnival, its evil preys on isolation. Toward the end, when Charles is getting ready to do the rifle "trick" and shoot the Dust Witch, he gets the crowd involved. Although we know that Charles ultimately defeats her with his happiness and self acceptance, it can't hurt to have the crowd rallying behind him.

I enjoyed the book. I always like how Bradbury is able to spin a disconcerting tale while subtly adding in social commentary. That the beginning sparks of this story began with his fear of a carousel when he was four years old is proof that stories are very much a part of life, whether we realize it or not.

What are your final thoughts on the book?

Join us for a watch along of the movie tonight at 9:00 pm CDT/10:00 pm EDT. We will be discussing while we watch on the Facebook event page here.

I was unable to find the movie available on any of the streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime), but I did find a free version on YouTube (although the quality is not the best). It's how I'll be watching. You can find it here.

Hope you can join us!

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Week One Discussion #SomethingWickedFall

We started our read-along this past week, reading section was...

Week One (week of Oct. 1st): Prologue - Ch. 17 (pp 1 - 72)

How did it go? What did you think?

Some observations...

At the first, there's the lightning rod salesman. He is a great minor character for foreshadowing. His warning of the coming storm actually seems to have many meanings. The literal storm that may be coming. The storm that comes as a boy hits puberty and all the changes that come with it, and finally, perhaps the hugely disruptive storm that comes in the shape of the carnival rolling into town, which does so in a very strange and uncommon way.

Already, my creep factor is on alert!

I also noticed a theme (trend?) of which some of the older adults seemed to cling to. Will's father, Charles, is described as old. When he looks at the boys, a longing is sensed...for youth and all that goes along with it. He enjoys discussing books with them because then they are on common ground, but that's where it stops. Charles yearns for the youth which has long passed him by.

The two shopkeepers who stand transfixed outside their stores, one listening, the other smelling the smells of carnival food (candy). One has a tear trickle down his face. More longing for the days of youth, when visiting the carnival was probably the most exciting thing all year.

The lighting rod salesman, gazing longingly at the woman in the ice block inside the abandoned hardware store..."The Most Beautiful Woman in the World." Is she a siren encased there in the ice? Does she remind him of youthful days when beautiful girls were perhaps all around him?

Miss Foley going into the mirror menagerie, getting lost, and seeing her younger self lost in the mirrors.

So, a theme...the longing for youth, but what is it that draws Jim? Jim already has youth so what does he long for?

We shall see as we continue to read.

What are your thoughts on my observations? Any observations of your own? Share in the comments below.

Next reading section: Week Two (week of Oct. 8th): Ch. 18 - 29 (pp 73 - 145)
Discussion post next Sunday.

Happy Reading!

Something Wicked This Way Comes - October Read-Along/Watch-Along #SomethingWickedFall

In October, during the Something Wicked This Fall Comes event AND the FrightFall Readathon at Seasons of Reading, our read along will be the Ray Bradbury classic (for which this event gets its name), Something Wicked This Way Comes. We will also have a watch-along of the movie at the end of the month.

Discussions will be held on this blog. I will put a new post up each week on Sunday (with final discussion post up on Saturday, Oct. 27 before our watch along of the movie) and we will read along according to the schedule below.

Read-Along Schedule

• Week One (week of Oct. 1st): Prologue - Ch. 17 (pp 1 - 72)
• Week Two (week of Oct. 8th): Ch. 18 - 29 (pp 73 - 145)
• Week Three (week of Oct. 15: Ch 30 - 42 (pp 146 - 218)
• Week Four (week of Oct. 22): Ch 43 - Afterword (pp 219 - 293/end)

Our watch along of the film version (I saw it many, many years ago...it's a good one) will be on Saturday, October 27 at 9:00 pm CDT/10:00 pm EDT. I will host the watch-along via Twitter (hashtag #SomethingWickedFall) and Seasons of Reading (I'll create an event in the Seasons of Reading group on Facebook). Looks like you can watch it for free on YouTube here. The quality is not the greatest though. It's relatively cheap to buy, or you may be able to get it from your library. I couldn't find it on any streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. I didn't check Hulu. There's a chance it could be added in October because of Halloween. We'll see. 

If you have any questions, leave a comment or contact me from the link in the menu.

I hope you will join us!

#Hereditary Watch-Along - Saturday, September 22 #SomethingWickedFall

It's official! We will have our Hereditary watch-along on Saturday, September 22 at 9:00 pm CT/10:00 pm ET.

I will be hosting via the Seasons of Reading Facebook group (I will create an event so we can easily interact) and Twitter (we will use hashtags #Hereditary #SomethingWickedFall).

This post will be shared in the Facebook group (link above), and on Twitter, so comment on this post, or respond to one of the social media posts if you're in.

Can't wait! I actually saw this at the theater, but looking forward to watching again. It's that good.

Gothic Stories Master Post #SomethingWickedFall

This is the master post for Gothic books or short stories read during Something Wicked This Fall Comes. I will be updating this post with my thoughts on stories I've read during the event.

Please share what you've read/your thoughts on what you've read in the comments. I think this will make for some hearty conversation!

Note: I've included a tab in the blog menu so you can find this page easily. 

UPDATE: I've extended Gothic stories through the end of October since I didn't get to finish reading any of them yet. 

Something Wicked This Fall Comes #somethingwickedfall

So, yes...a new event! You might ask what happened to Gothic September and Season of the Witch. Well, I decided it was time for a change. I wanted to create an all encompassing event that would include everything here and connect with my FrightFall Readathon in October at Seasons of Reading. I know fall doesn't officially start until September 22, but fall in my mind always starts on September 1st (or around there). I guess it's because being from up North, we always started school around September 1st (after Labor Day). Plus, Readers Imbibing Peril (R.I.P. 13) also starts on September 1st...how appropriate!

We are going to have some fun this year! Everything is included on the button above (pretty much), but I'm also going to outline here. If you're on Facebook, we have a Seasons of Reading group on there where we interact during readathons so I'll be sharing info there, and also on the Seasons of Reading Instagram.

💀 48 Hour Kick-Off Readathon this weekend at Seasons of Reading (September 1 - 2). You do not absolutely have to read horror, unless you want to. I will be focusing mostly on horror/scary.

😈 In September, we're focusing on Gothic stories (Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and others). There's a great list on Goodreads for reference, Best Gothic Books of All Time. I'm not going to set up any read-alongs for this. I'll create a master post and you can stop by and share what you read, and your thoughts, in the comments.

👻 We're going to have at least a couple of horror movie watch-alongs! I've been wanting to do this for years. I for sure want to watch Hereditary, which was in theaters this summer. It was SO good. One of the best horror movies I've ever seen. It comes out on DVD (and Amazon) on September 4th. So, I'm thinking September 8th or 15th (on a Saturday night) and we can either watch-along on Twitter (which would be cool with a hashtag and everything), or I can create an event in the Seasons of Reading Facebook group. I'll put a poll up in the group, or you can weigh-in here in the comments. I'm open to suggestions for another movie(s) to watch-along during the two months. I had thought about the original Suspiria since the remake comes out in early November, but I'm worried about availability.

🎃 In October, we will be having a read-along of the book which is our event's namesake...the Ray Bradbury classic, Something Wicked This Way Comes. There will be a separate post coming soon with complete details and a reading/discussion schedule. For the sake of simplicity, the read-along discussions will be held here on this blog.

💀 #FrightFall Readathon, October, all month long at Seasons of Reading. Sign ups for that will go up at the Seasons of Reading blog within the next couple of weeks. This year, I'm adding some additional readathon fun to the mix. A 48 Hour pre-FrightFall Readathon on September 29 - 30 and a 48 Hour post-FrightFall Readathon on October 31 - November 1. There is also the Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon in October so it's going to be readathon heaven (or hell, to go along with the horror theme. lol).

😈 I'm hoping to get some of my horror author friends to contribute some guest posts. If anyone else would like to contribute a post or guest review, please let me know. You can send me a message via the contact form here on the site.

I think that's it! Hope I didn't leave anything out. No official sign-up for this. Just share that you're in by leaving a comment. You can join in as little or as much as you want. Let's do this!