228-Something Wicked This Way Comes

"By the pricking of my thumbs, someghing wicked this way comes." - William Shakespeare. Today we are talking about Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. Calling all fellow Autumn people, this is the book for you and the perfect book to read during the spooky season. We got creepy carnivals, children who are really adults, and lots of tattoos. What more could you ask for?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
I am Delaney and I'm Sydney, and this is book
called Today. I read Something Wicked. This Way comes by
Ray Bradbury, and to deal with creepy carnivals. I'm drinking
strawberry crystal.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Ee oh my god, I'm drinking coffee because it's six am.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Oooh six am.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
I'm surprised you're not like drinking alcohol, because I was
gonna make funny if you were.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
But I was really considering it. But I got brunch
in a couple hours, so I figured fucking wasted for brunch, so.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
You should get wasted at brunch. That's how it usually
goes well.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
And I bought a really cute I found this like
weird cocktail mix drink, you know when they're like premixed
and it has the alcohol, yeah, fred Meyer, and it's
called like purple rain draw, you know, like a lemon drop,
and it has edible glitter in it, and I'm really
excited about it. So that's what I would have drank,
and it would have been very exciting.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's very exciting. We can't buy those at our grocery
stores because I'm in Oregon.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
So well, it wasn't the liquor section, so I mean,
it wasn't.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Like we have a liquor store to get that.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, well, Sydney. That's how it was when I lived
in Alaska. So that's not weird to me. Whatever, it's
weird to me anyways, Let's get into my fun facts.
First of all, this is my first Bradbury book. I
think I've ever read.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Because you've read, you've never read Fara Hype four fifty
one found in school?

Speaker 1 (01:37):
No, I never read it.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Fucking crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
I have it, but I've never read it. You told
me about it at one point, but I didn't read it.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah, we did it on the podcast. But I can't
believe you didn't read in school. That's like, I'm pretty wow.
Are supposed to know about the dangerous of book burning?

Speaker 1 (01:55):
I don't know. I won't know, but whatever, this is
my first book. Obviously I bought this book used. I
buy most books used. You know you do the same.
Someone used this as like a book report book. And
so her name, shit, what's her name? My friend Isabelle? Isabella.
She took notes on every single fucking page of this book,

(02:18):
every page she wrote all over this shit. She got
an a. I know her teacher because her teacher left
us sticky note, So good job Isabelle. Anyways, here's the
actual fun facts. This book was named after a Shakespeare quote,
specifically the quote by the pricking of my thumbs, something
wicked this way comes. Do you know which play it's from? Sydney?

Speaker 2 (02:37):
Isn't it Othello?

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Nope, it's Macbeth. Good job.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
I was like, it's probably not a Beeth or Hamlet.
That's too obvious. It was.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
But this novel was started in nineteen fifty five when
Bradbury told his bestie Gene Kelly that they should Kelly
the Gene Kelly.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
He was like, hey, Gene, it's me Ray and he
was like, oh my god, hey, and he was like,
we should like collaborate on a movie. I think that
would be really fun. And Gene was into this idea.
He was like okay, And so Bradbury started writing this
like as a movie and he called it The Black Ferris.
But Geen Kelly couldn't get any studios to like fund it,

(03:20):
so they gave up and then Bradbury just made this.
He made it into a full book and obviously changed
the title. The dedication is actually to Gene Kelly. In
the beginning, So like that's fun and whatever. They were friends,
I guess, So, like that's a fun fact.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
I didn't even know that.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
I didn't either. Yeah, there you go. Also, this book
is considered a sequel to Bradbury's book Dandelion Wine because
they both take place in the fake town of Greentown,
which is based on Bradbury's hometown of what cougan wa cougan,
I don't know, Illinois. Then he also wrote Farewell Summer,

(03:58):
which is the ending to what he called the Green
Toown trilogy. But the books are not related, like they
do not have like share any plot points or anything.
They just all take place in the same big town.
So I don't know, they're kind of connected. But this
book obviously was a huge big deal. People are obsessed
with it. Both Neil Gaiman and Stephen King say it

(04:19):
was a direct influence on them. It's horror writers, which
like whatever, I guess that's exciting. But guess who else
said it was a big influence. It was goddamn r.
L Stein, fucking Grandpa goose bumps. He also tells people
this is the scariest book he ever read, which I
think is funny because like it is spooky, but I
don't think it's scary, but I.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Mean, you're gonna have to just read this now.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
I liked it, and I think from the reviews, I'm
pretty sure the audiobook is it's narrated by In my mind,
I'm saying Paul Giamati, and I don't know if that's correct,
but the audiobook is supposedly pretty Goody's a whild It's

(05:00):
a really random one for me to just come up with.
But I don't know. I could be wrong. But like
people also said, it's like better when it's read aloud
because you can really like get the spooky vibes that
it's giving. And I did read part of this allowed
two sets, and I think he enjoyed it, so I
would agree with that. Are you looking up the auto book? Yeah,

(05:23):
I'm curious if I'm right if I just made that up.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, Paul Gimani.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, I'm glad I just make that up. I know, Okay, Paul, Okay,
So let's get into my summary. That's not narrated by
Paul Giamadi. Unfortunately. So Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway are
twelve year old boys. Jim obviously has the cooler name,
but they are neighbors and their besties. They're also kind

(05:51):
of described as like like one's the black cat type,
one's the golden retriever type. Jim is obviously the black cat.
Will is thet Jim Nightshade.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
First of all, Jim's kind of a lame name for
the last name, night Shade, but you do.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
What you have to. I guess I can't always have
a double banger of a name.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
But yeah, Blade Nightshade or something cool.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
I mean, we can call him blade, but I will
Forgid's fine. Yeah, so they're besties, their neighbors. I think
like Jim has like he he lives with just his mom.
He has a single mom. Jim's a brunette. Will lives
with his parents. He's a blonde. He like has the
quote unquote better family. So, like whatever, they're hanging out

(06:38):
just like in the yard one day, I guess, I
don't know, it's the fifties and this guy walks up
and he is a lightning rod salesman, which is something
we just don't see anymore of these days than I
wish we did. But what did they do? Hey, I'm
sure fucking AI. Anyways, this guy comes up and he's like, hello, boys,
there's a storm coming. There's some fucking lightning coming to

(06:59):
this town. It's gonna be major. But if you put
this lightning rod on your roof, it'll just skip your house.
It'll be great. You won't even notice.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
Isn't that the opposite how they work? Is it supposed
to strike the rock?

Speaker 1 (07:10):
I don't, you know? And that's what I thought, But
apparently this one's special and it's an anti lightning lightning.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
Rod because it's a metal that's high up.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yeah, it doesn't it like conduct the metal, so it
doesn't I don't know.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
I like take all the whitening in so your house
don't burn. I don't know.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
I don't know. The boys don't know. They don't really
believe him. He leaves it with them anyways. He's like, here,
you can have this lightning rod. And they are like
looking at it and it just sounds like a like
a metal stick. So I guess I don't know what
a lightning rod even is. I don't know, but it's
like covered in all kinds of like symbols and different
languages and stuff, and they don't understand that. But they're like, okay,

(07:50):
and they take it and they put it on top
of Jim's house because Jim and his mom are poor
or something. I don't know, and whatever. They go about
their lives. They like go into town and they find
like there's a bunch of flyers all over town about
this carnival that's coming to town and it advertises lots
of fun people. Here's what I remembered. There's a skeleton man,

(08:11):
there's a fat guy. There's like a Tara lady who's
also like a witch. There's a lava eater which is
never explained, and that's the one that really I want
to know about. And there's an illustrated man aka he
has tattoos in the fifties. That's a big deal. Yeah wow,

(08:33):
So that's like really fun because you know it's the fifties,
but there's like a weird vibe to it at the
same time, so I don't know. Also, Will's dad is
like a background character. I think his name is Charles,
and I literally call him either Will's Dad or mister
Halloway the entire time he's there. He also hears about
the carnival, but he's old, so he's like not my scene.

(08:56):
But he's there, I don't know. So while the boys
are like in town looking around, there's like this storefront
that also has a bunch of signs for the carnival
on it, and like inside this because it's like an
empty storefront, and in the back of the storefront there's
like this giant block of ice and there's a sign
above it that's like the most beautiful woman in the world,

(09:17):
frozen in ice.

Speaker 2 (09:20):
The most beautiful woman in the world.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
Ice is hot, Sydney, get behind it. It's just a
really well shaped piece of ice. Yeah, that's hot. No,
it's a lady frozen and ice. This person never really explained.
She doesn't show up. I don't know who she is,

(09:43):
but there's a woman in that fucking ice.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
She's probably dead.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
Well, she's hot enough that she lures the lightning rod
salesman to the carnival. This is like it's not explicitly said,
but it's like he like walks in front of the
storefront and is staring at her, and then he goes
missing and his bag is found just like abandoned in
front of the storefront because you know, lightning rod salesman's
have a bag full of lightning rods. I don't know.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
Maybe they fold up. I don't know.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
I don't know. And then the next day that storefront
where his bag is left, the block of ice is
melted and there's no lady frozen in there anymore. Yeah,
that's the that's what you think. And then like it's
never talked like, I don't know what I want to
know what she looks like. She never comes up again.
She's just like, that's the end of the most beautiful
woman in the world. She got a man and then left.

(10:30):
I guess I don't happy.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
There's somewhere else.

Speaker 1 (10:33):
I mean, I wouldn't say it. Well he comes back,
she doesn't, So the lightning round salesman. He's not having
a good time anymore, Sydney. You should feel bad for him.
We'll get back to it though. The boys, however, hear
carnival music. Specifically, they hear a calliope. Let me tell
you something the words. The word that I chose to

(10:55):
count was gosh, because they say gosh a lot. Because
they're boys in the fifties. They say the word calliope
so many fucking times. I jokingly said, like forty six times,
and then I googled it. They say it thirty six times.
I don't know why he's so obsessed with calliopees whatever.
There's calliope music all over this fucking book. Just think

(11:15):
about that the entire time. But it's like sinister, spooky
calliope music, so like, ooh, it's a vibe. The boys
are intrigued but scared. In the morning, they meet up
and they're like, oh my god. Well they don't talk
about it, but they both had dreams about the carnival,
about going to the carnival, and they're like, we can't
talk about it. That's too creepy. But then they go
to the carnival the next day and while they're there

(11:38):
wandering around, they see their teacher, Miss Foley, and she's
fucking pumped to see them. She's like, oh my god,
you guys, don't you love this fucking carnival, Like I'm
meeting my nephew here later, like I'm really excited. And
then she like buys them hot dogs and she's like,
go eat these fucking hot dogs. And they're like, okay, thanks,
Miss Foley, and they eat their hot dogs. But then
they're like kind of getting creeped out by the carnival

(12:01):
because they've gone on most of the rides and stuff,
but like they're like looking around and there's like this
mirror maze that did not make a whole lot of
sense to me. So it's like this giant mirror mace
made of mirrors whatever, but like when you look into it,
it's like it like sweeps you in. It like draws
you in, right, but then it's like you get swept

(12:22):
in and you drowned somehow. You're like underwater and it
I don't really get that part. It's not really explained.
It's creepy. So the boys are just like that's weird,
and so they go to investigate more rides or whatever,
and Miss Foley's like, okay, bye, and then she goes
into the fucking mirror mays and Jim is like, please
do not go in the mirror mays, like that's bad

(12:43):
vibe Central, don't go in there. And she's like, okay, bye,
I'm gonna have fun in this mirror mace. So they
wander off and then they hear her yelling for help,
and so they go back and they're like, Miss Folly,
you still in that mirror maze. She is in that
mirror mace. They somehow get her out, and she's like
gasping for like she's drowned. She's also maybe soaking wet.
I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure she's soaking wet

(13:05):
from this mirror maze and she's terrified. She's like freaking
the fuck out by whatever she saw in that mirror maze,
and she's kind of like babbling about it a little bit,
and then she's like, I'm gonna go home. And the
boys are like, are you, like okay, Like do you
need us, like go with you, and she's like nope,
like I'm fine, I'm gonna go home, don't worry about me.
And they're like okay. So they keep wandering around the carnival.

(13:28):
At this point, they've gone on all the rides. I
don't know how many there were, but they see a
marry go Around and they're like, Hey, that's the only
ride we haven't gone on yet. Let's check that out.
But it's out of order. There's a big sign on
it that says don't come here, out of order. Broken. Wow.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
At the carnival, the marry go Around doesn't even work.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
Yeah, and so they're like, what the fuck? God, check
that out. So they go on the carnival. Will is like, hey,
the sign says no, and Jim is like, hey, I
don't fucking care. I want to look at it. So
they're wandering around on top of the Merry Go Round
and then this creepy red haired clown guy named mister
Cougar but not spelled It's not spelled like the animal cougar.

(14:10):
It's coog er and Google docs did not like that
spelling at all, but.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
Has to say just like Freddy Krueger almost, but it's before.

Speaker 1 (14:20):
That, before that and not spelled the same. So no.
But mister shows up and he kind of sounds like
he looks like Penny Wise because he has like red
tufts of hair, and I was like, oh, penny Wise,
I don't know. He picks them both up by their
shirts and he's just like it's out of order, and
the boys are like freaking out because they're just being

(14:40):
held by the scrups of their necks by this giant,
weird guy. And then I think the Illustrated Man shows
up and he's like the ringleader of the carnival, but
he makes mister Couger put the boys down, and he's like,
I'm mister Dark and he's like really tall, and he
has a bunch of tattoos. Obviously he's illustrated. One of
the tattoos is he has this like tarantula on the

(15:01):
back of his hand that's like really realistic, and then
he has like eels up his arms just like whatever
creepy tattoo that he probably has it, and he offers
I think he offers like free tickets to the boys,
and he's like, oh, come back tomorrow, and he like
asks them their names, and they like make up names
or something I don't know. So they pretend to leave

(15:21):
at dusk because they're like, something's going on here. This
is weird. We need to investigate. So they hide in
a tree at like the edge of the carnival and
like wait for it to close and for everyone else
to leave, and they're sitting there and they watch as
after the carnival ends, mister Dark leads mister Cougar to
the Merry Go Round, which is apparently working now because

(15:44):
he gets on and the music starts, But then the
boys realize that it's playing backwards, and also it's a
funeral march but like played with a calliope, so it's
like pretty fucking weird and spooky. It sounds like. And
so the Thery Go Around is spinning backwards and they
count it spins backwards like twenty eight times it stops.

(16:06):
Mister Cougar is now a twelve year old boy close
shrunk with him, so like really great magic in my opinion.

Speaker 2 (16:15):
If I want to go back of twelve, well.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
Sydney, are you a creepy carnival man?

Speaker 2 (16:22):
No, that's true, get it. He's like twelve, bro, maybe eighteen.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
Because these twelve year old boys are watching it's thinking
the same fucking thing, because like they're freaking out. But also,
I don't think I talk about it, so I mentioned it.

Speaker 2 (16:39):
Now.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Jim is like hypnotized by this carnival. He's like, I
don't know, guys, just been here, I think. So, you know,
he wants to go on that Merry go Round. He's like,
what if I was seventeen? What if I was eighteen
when I was twenty one, my life would be so
much better as an adult. You know how kids are
when they're dumb and they don't know the truth. Yeah,

(16:59):
but whatever, that'll come back. The boys are freaking out.
They are like, we gotta get out of here. They
don't know what's happening. They they run off, and then
they're like, what the fuck happened to Miss Foley? Remember her?
She had a terrible time. Maybe we should check on
her because young mister Cougar just ran off into the
woods and disappeared. Everyone just like is gone. And so
they're like okay, So they leave and they go to

(17:22):
Miss Foley's house because they know where she lives because
it's the fifties and you know where your teachers live,
I guess. And when they get there, they see the
child Cougar is what I call him, Child Cougar is
staring at the window of Miss Foley's house and they're like, fuck,
is he her nephew? Like was he the nephew?

Speaker 2 (17:42):
The nephew was secretly a grown.

Speaker 1 (17:43):
Man now forty year old man the whole time. But
so they knock on the door and Miss Fully answers,
and they're like, girl, are you okay? And she's like, yeah,
I overreacted earlier. Ha ha ha ha. I'm going back
to the carnival tomorrow with my nephew. Oh my god.
And then she calls her nephew forward and I think
she calls him like ned or something. I don't know,

(18:05):
but sure enough it's child Cougar and he's creepy as
fuck because he has the eyes of an adult, so like, yeah,
he knows too much, Sindany, and you can tell that
the eyes, oh, all right, suppressed eyes. I don't know,
you can tell. And so the boys are like really
creeped out, but they leave and we're like, they're like, okay, bye,

(18:27):
and they're like standing in the street in front of
her house and they're like, what the fuck do we
do about this? This is weird, right, like she's in
danger or something. And then child Cougar comes out and
they're like, oh, we're gonna talk to him. We're gonna
confront this guy. And then Cougar just starts showering them
with jewels. He's just like throwing jewels at them, jewelry, jewels,

(18:49):
all this shit. And the boys are like, oh my god,
why is he throwing jewelry at us? And then Cougar
starts shouting for help. He's like help, help, They still,
oh my god, help. This fully opens the door. The
boys run while they're covered in her jewelry. That's what
they're covered in. Cougar threw her jewelry at them and
they're like, oh my god, we've been framed for a crime,

(19:09):
Like what if the fuck is happening. So they're freaking out.
There's like running around town and they end up running
by the police station at one point and miss Fully's
there and they can like hear her. They like peek
in the window and his fully's in there, and she's like,
I don't want to press charges, like if only they
would just apologize, like technically nothing was stolen, it was

(19:30):
just all out in the yard and they got caught.
So Jim hears this and he's like fuck this. So
he climbs in the window and he's like we're here
and we're sorry, sorry, we sold your stuff. Sorry, and
Will is like crazy idea but okay, and miss Fully
is like shocked because she obviously did not think that
they were gonna come and actually say sorry, So like,
who looks dumbed now? Miss Fully?

Speaker 2 (19:51):
Ye changed her?

Speaker 1 (19:53):
So I do want to charge them now that they're here.
So they let the boys go and like they're on
their way home and they're talking about they're like, she
really didn't expect us to come forward, Like she's probably
working with that carnival and they're just trying to get
the whole town against us, and they're like, she got
to be hypnotized by the carnival, Like I don't know, man, oh,
and I did talk about this. Jim is hypnotized by

(20:16):
the carnival as well. He wants to go on that
merry around. He wants to be an adult. Will is
just terrified. He's correct, he should be terrified. This shit's weird. Yes,
he's a smart kid. And then so that night I
forgot the previous night also, Jim took the lightning rod
off of his house. I can't remember why, but he

(20:38):
decided maybe I don't want this up here, and so
he took it down because he was like, there is
no storm. What storm is this man talking about? No
storm predicted? Basically, so now it's a different night and
Jim wakes up because he can hear a balloon. You
know how loud balloons are when they're in there.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Good hearing.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
Yeah, that's okay. When this, when this scene is described,
it is literally like he can hear a balloon. He
can hear it in the wind, and then it's like
it's like a hot air balloon. Though, so I'm like, okay,
maybe you could hear a hot air balloon, because they're right,
not until way later, and I'll tell you when that.

(21:23):
I'm like, oh, it's a fucking hot It's not just
a bitch floating around on a balloon because there's a
witch attached to the balloon. Anyways, Jim can hear the balloon.
It's coming for him, and so he opens his window
and sure enough, there's a giant balloon over his house
and the dust Witch, a gay the tarot lady, is
in the balloon and she slimes his house. This part

(21:44):
didn't really make sense, but she literally slimes his house
like she's a snail, Like it's snail trail across his house. Okay,
it's really weird. It's she's also really creepy. The dust
switch is blind because her eyes and her mouth are
sown shut, but she's also shriveled up. She's just like
a dusty bitch. She's a dust switch, you know. I

(22:07):
think she has like moss in her ears, too. Like
she's just weird, she creepy, y concerning.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
I would have be like, lady, don't read mine taro.
Can we get you to a doctor?

Speaker 1 (22:21):
I don't know. Yeah, there's some things. So Jim runs
out and sees that his house has been slimed. So
he gets the hose and hoses it off, climbs up there,
gets the slime off. He figures this bitch just trying
to mark his house so she can find them later.
Because the Carnees do not know their names, they really

(22:41):
want to know the boys' names. Mister Dark asked for
their names. They gave fake names. They were like were
like Simon and Jeff, like you know, they made up names,
and mister Dark could tell they were fake names. But like,
what was he gonna do? So he's like, fuck, they
shouldn't know where I live, you know. Jim then decides,
even though the witch is leaving, He's like, I'm gonna

(23:02):
hunt the witch. I don't know why he's decided this.
He grabs a bow and arrow and then like thinks
at her to come back, because like thoughts are really
powerful in this book. So he's just like, ah, Witch,
get over here. I'm gonna like you there, come over here.
You didn't slim my house enough, And she turns around,
comes back towards him.

Speaker 2 (23:21):
Damn, you're right, I didn't shit.

Speaker 1 (23:24):
I gotta come back. And then he's like, oh fuck,
he's she's gonna reslim my house obviously, So then he
runs off and luckily she just like follows him through
the woods. Uh. She's not suspicious at all. And he
goes to some abandoned house and like climbs in and
waits at the window. So then she shows up and
he waits. He just like stands in the middle of

(23:45):
the room, and she comes up on him, and he
just waits until she's like right up on him, and
then he grabs his bow and she breaks it because
like she's not dumb, okay, And then he grabs an
arrow and chucks it out her balloon because I guess
the balloon's inside the house too. I don't. This is
why the balloon was so confusing to me, because I

(24:06):
was like, how does it fit in the window? I don't.
I don't know. Maybe he throws it out the window.
He throws this arrow hard enough that it pops the balloon.
So the balloon spluck, you know, sputters away as one does,
and the witch like sputters away with it and like
screams like she's not having a good time. She is
injured somehow by the balloon being injured. I don't know.

(24:29):
So in the morning, the boys are hanging out and
will Is like, bro, I had the weirdest fucking dream.
I had a dream there was a giant funeral procession
that came to town and they had like like giant coffin
in it. And this coffin was like forty feet long.
And I was like, well the fuck, Like, who needs

(24:50):
a forty foot coffin? Like what could be in this coffin?
So he goes and opens the coffin. It's a balloon.
It's a cody balloon. And that's how I was like, Oh, it's.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
Be a higher balloon. Yeah. Most Yeah, normal balloons are
not for.

Speaker 1 (25:06):
Unless they're they were different in the sixties. I don't know,
but yeah, And Jim like does not explain. I don't
think he explains the balloon fight. He explains it like later,
and will Is like, what the fuck? But I don't
think he explains it here.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
He's like, wow, crazy dream. Ever heard of balloons? Anyways?

Speaker 1 (25:26):
Crazy? Anyways, whatever. So later on, at some point they
beef with the child cougar at the carnival. I think
they like go back to the carnival at night, and
Cougar's like trying to beef with them, and so he
like goes to get He gets on the Merry Go
Round and it's going forward this time, and Will is

(25:46):
like fuck, once he's an adult, he's gonna beat he's
gonna kill us. He's gonna beat the shit out of us,
like you know. So he like tries to shut the
Merry Go Round off, but then Jim is like no,
because he wants to get on the marriage aund so
he like doesn't want Will to stop the Merry Go Round,
which doesn't make much sense. So then the Merry Go
Round starts going in turbo mode and it's going really fast,

(26:10):
and mister Cougar cannot get off because he's been like
walking to get off the Merry Go Round, but now
it's in turbo mode, so he's like flat on the ground.
Eventually they stop the Merry Go Round. At this point,
mister Coruger's like two hundred, he's fucking old, he's dusty
as hell, he's practically dead, and so they're like, fuck,

(26:30):
that's he's gonna die. What should we do? They decide
to call the cops because there's a phone booth conveniently
at the edge of this carnival, I guess. So they
go and they call the cops and they're like waiting
in the phone booth because they're like, I don't want
to be responsible for a man's death, even if he sucked.
So the cops come. They come with EMTs and the
boys are like, okay, like it's the carnival that he's

(26:50):
like on the Merry Go Round. They go over there,
mister Cougar is gone. There is no mummy man on
that Merry Go Round. So they like go inside one
of the carnival to for some reason, to like try
and find him, and sure enough, mister Cougar is inside there.
He is strapped to a chair, very obviously dead. Dead
man strapped to a chair, but like mister Dark and

(27:12):
all the other carnies, they're in there, and mister Dark
is like, oh my god, welcome. We're trying out this
new act. I'm so glad you're here and you can
see it and witness it and stuff. And the boys
are like, the man is dead. That guy's dead. We
gotta like do something. Cops come on and the cops
are like, let's see what happens. Okay, like, oh my god,
I love a card.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
Oh leave these kids enough to go looking for the
body or looking for the guy. I feel like they'd
be like, there's no guy here. You guys are assholes.

Speaker 1 (27:40):
It's a carnival. Oh my god, guy.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah, I mean what cops belave twelve year old boys?

Speaker 1 (27:46):
I know I wouldn't.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
I'd be like, okay, children, you guys are obviously things
and prank.

Speaker 1 (27:53):
Some guy went on a merry go round and now
he's eight hundred. Okay, kids, they're like.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
Oh, there was a man here, Yeah, let's go. Let's
go look for him.

Speaker 1 (28:01):
Now. The cops can believe children, right, Yeah, So they
don't believe them in this instant because they're like, no,
let's watch. So the boys watch in horror as mister
Dark flips on the electric chair because that's what this
chair is, and mister Cougar is blasted with electricity, and
then they do it again and again and maybe again,

(28:24):
and mister Cougar does he's alive, I guess, because he
kinda is moving and manages to squeak out this like
weird sentence, like very like ugh, it's an act, you know,
it's like very like and the boys are like, obviously
the witch is making him talk because the witch is

(28:45):
like in the background. Now it's injured, but still there,
and so they're like, oh my god. And the cops
are like, oh my god, that was so cool. I
love the carnival. That was amazing. Obviously there's no dead
bodies here, just so don't kids that don't get the carnival?

Speaker 2 (29:02):
Ha.

Speaker 1 (29:03):
They leave. They leave and like they came with EMTs right,
And the EMTs are like, should we like check that
out a little bit more maybe because that was kind
of weird, And the cops are like, no, it's a carnival.
Kids don't get the carnival. You obviously don't either. Bye,
and they leave.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
I wish they were carneies, Like, man, I don't wish
I was in the carnival.

Speaker 1 (29:24):
I want to do in the carnival whatever. Mister Dark
offers the boys free tickets again. This is before the
cops leave. I think they give their fake names again.
Mister Dark is obviously pissed about this, but what can
he do. They leave. They now know they're not safe anymore.
Mister Dark knows they know too much, and they're like fuck,
like what, like, what are we supposed to do. We're twelve.

(29:47):
That night, they hear the Merry Go rounds start up again,
and they peek their they like open their windows and
they look at each other and they're like, did they
fix the merry around? Are they? They hear it going
backwards and they're like, are they making mister Cougar a
child again? Like, oh my god, Like what's happening right?
So in the morning, they're like, oh, maybe we should

(30:07):
check out miss Foley again, like we haven't seen her.
She said she was gonna go back to the carnival
with her creepy maybe nephew, And they go to her house.
They knock on the door. It's empty, she's not there.
They like walk in, she is not there, and they're like,
was mister Cougar like really her nephew? Like how the
fuck did that work? Because she talked about having the

(30:27):
nephew and then he did show up, but like, was
she brainwashed? Like what was up with that? So they
decide to go check out the carnival because they're like,
maybe she went again, and she's like still there, and
they are getting close to the carnival and then they
hear some crying in the woods, and they're like, let's
check that out, obviously, what else would we do? Ha

(30:48):
ha ha. So they go into the woods and there's
a little girl crying alone in the woods, crying for help.
She's just going help help me, help, help help, And
Jim is like that, no, I know that. I don't know,
and Will is like no, like that's a child, and

(31:09):
he goes up to the crying child, and the crying
child immediately fucking grabs his arm full force, and she's like,
help me, help me, you have to help me, and
he's like, ugh, creepy, get away from me. And then
she like calls them both. She's like Jim Nightshade, Will
Halloway and they're like what the fuck? Like, how do
you know our full ass names?

Speaker 2 (31:29):
Right?

Speaker 1 (31:30):
But then Will is like miss Foley and she's like
yeah because she rode the fucking Mary Go round obviously,
and she's a child now, and she's not happy about
it because she's like, I still have all my adult memories.
I am an adult, and a child's body turns out
not very fun according to Miss Fuley. She don't like it.

(31:50):
She's like, how am I supposed to go back to
my life? No, one's gonna understand.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
To be frustrating. First of all, what are you gonna do?
You can't read yourself no more.

Speaker 1 (31:58):
You're too short short, I can't love us. People are
gonna be like, you're a child.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yeah, show up to work. These kids are gonna respect you.
You're their teacher, but you're younger than them.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
Nah, and about that. So, yeah, she's not having a
good time. Will is like, please let me go, and
then he's like, we're gonna get help. We're gonna figure
something out. You stay here, we'll be back in ten minutes.
They run off. As soon as they leave, they hear
the fucking Calliope music. It's on the move. There's a
parade of carnival people walking around like a big old

(32:29):
search party, and guess who they're searching for. It's miss
Fully because they go in the woods and then the
boys are like watching and they're like, fuck, we gotta
help her. They have to wait for this big long
carnival procession to move on by, and by the time
the carnival's gone, so it was miss Fully. So they're
freaking out because they're like that search party is coming
up for us next, Like they're still looking for us.

(32:51):
We know they're after us. We have to hide. This
is when I'm gonna tell you about the Lightning Rond salesman.
I don't know it. Probably told us about him earlier,
but I forgot. He has been turned into a dwarf.
He is part of the carnival. He has been shrunk down,
like they call him a dwarf. I don't know if
there is a more appropriate name for him, but he

(33:14):
has been shrunk down and doesn't have his memories kind
of he's like part of the carnival. He's been hypnotized
by the carnival because he tried to find the most
beautiful woman in the world. So mister Lightning are on salesman.
He is gone, and this freaks the boys out because
they can like recognize him somewhat and they're like, what

(33:35):
the fuck? He was not like that before. So they
run into town. They're trying to hide. They end up
hiding in a sewer great underneath the cigar store. I
don't really get how this works. There's like a big
area though, so they're like down there and they can
like look up at the street. It feels very it
very clown in the sewer, but they're the clown, so

(33:59):
no one can like see them down there unless they
like look directly at them kind of. So they're down
there hanging out, being scared, and they could see all
the carnival people walking through town and they're like talking
to people handing out flyers and stuff, but they know
they're really looking for them. And at one point, the
Lightning Rod salesman turned dwarf comes over and he's like

(34:20):
looking at them, and every time he blinks it's like
a camera shutter, because like the carnival is like a
hive mind kind of demon thing, I don't know, And
so he's like taking pictures and it's like the way
it's like the commentary of the scene is like the
dwarf is staring at them, taking these pictures, but it's
like he doesn't realize the pictures that he's taking, kind

(34:44):
of like he's just taking pictures. And then later on
these pictures will be looked at theoretically by mister Dark
and then they'll be like, oh, the boys are down there,
YadA YadA, but as of right now, he's just taking pictures.
And then like a group of children run by and
he gets distracted and runs off with the children because
he is childlike, I don't fucking know. The dwarf is gone.

(35:05):
Then we cut to Will's dad. Remember him, I talked
about him once. He is a librarian janitor. He's a
janitor for the library, but also like he reads the books.
I don't know. He's been doing his own stuff in
the background. He's been having a big life crisis this
whole time. Basically, that's one of the themes in this book,
is getting older. If you couldn't tell, and like, oh, scoy,

(35:28):
so mister Halloway, Charles, whatever you want to call him,
he's having that go down. He's like, am I old?
I'm fifty, I'm maybe old. And he's at the store
getting something, and mister Dark is in there, and mister
Dark is talking to the cashier and he's like, oh, yeah,
these boys they won the carnival lottery and they're gonna

(35:48):
get free rides and free tickets and prizes and everything.
I just got to figure out their names. I don't
know their names. And this man opens up his palms
and on one hand, he has a very realistic tattoo
of Jim's face, and on the other hand, he has
a very realistic tattoo of Will's face, and he's like,
these are the boys they won the contest, but I

(36:08):
don't know their names. And so mister Halloway is in
the background and mister Dark is like, do you know
these boys' names? And he instinctively is like he knows
he shouldn't tell this guy these boys' names.

Speaker 2 (36:21):
Yeah, child's face tattooed on them.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
I'd be like.

Speaker 2 (36:27):
Talking to you about.

Speaker 1 (36:28):
This, And so he gives some fake ass names. He's like, oh,
they look like so and so and so and so,
and he could tell mister Dark is pissed. Mister Dark
knows he's lying, and so he's like, bye, I'm gonna
go now. So mister Halloway leaves. As he leaves, mister
Dark keeps talking to the cashier and Charles ends up

(36:50):
feeling really drawn to the cigar store for some reason.
He don't know why. He's like, that's the place to be.
So he wanders in and buys some seven tventy five
cent cigars, which you know don't exist anymore, and I
was like, oh, that's cheap. But then, like in the book,
the cigar salesman's like, oh, high roller, and I was like, oh,
I guess it is the fifties, so like seventy five

(37:12):
cents for.

Speaker 2 (37:15):
It seems like that's a little cheap.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
I don't know, I don't know. Anyways, he lights up
a cigar, goes outside, looks down, and oh my god,
the boys are in the fucking sewer beneath the cigar store.
And he's like, what the fuck? Why are you guys
in the sewer? And they're like s s s stops.
Don't look at us, look up, look away from us.
We are hiding, okay, And they explain kind of everything

(37:39):
that's been happening in a hurry, and they don't think
he's gonna believe him, but he's like, nah, some creepy
shit has been going down. I could see that. And
then they see mister Dark coming, which I'm like, really
confused how this sewer great works. But they can see
down the street somehow, and they're like, that guy's looking
for us. Do not look away. Act like you're just
looking at the clock or something. You are not talking

(38:00):
to us. And so mister Holloway keeps like he's smoking
his cigar, he's looking around casually whatever, and mister Dark
comes over and he's asking them about that boys again,
He's like, I'm looking for these boys, do you know
where they are? And mister Halloway is like, why are
you so on edge about this? Why are you like
so obsessed? Like it's weird? And this pisses off mister

(38:23):
Dark because he's like, why are you not cooperating? Like
what the fuck? Like tell me what I need to know.
And so mister Dark like clenches his hands into fists
like so hard that blood comes out from each fist
and the boys are like in the sewer, like choking,
like they're being They're like you know, and the blood
like drips on them and they're like, eh, you know, scary.

(38:45):
And this, I think is when they realize that mister
Dark has control over all of the carnies because he
has tattoos of them. So it's like if they aren't listening,
he like fucks with the tattoo and then.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
They're like, tattoos, got it?

Speaker 1 (39:00):
How every tattoo works. We all get it. So then
he like calls over the dust Witch because she's like
hovering around, you know, looking, she's sniffing. She's sniffing around.
That's what she does. Her nose is the only thing
that works. She's still wounded from the balloon death, but
like she can still sniff out the boys, so she's
like limping around, and so she comes over and the

(39:22):
boys are like, fuck, we are right here. She's gonna notice.
But mister Halloway, smart man that he is, just starts
blowing cigar smoke straight in this bitch's face. Just throws
her off her game. If the people do that exactly.
So she's coughing, and mister Dark is trying to be like,
but how you like stop smoking? Like, shut up, mister.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
Dark, secondhand smoke, what we don't know.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
What that is? Shut up? So the dust witch gets
confused and wanders off. Mister Dark also follows after her
in a huff because he's like, she's supposed to be
finding the boys, so whatever they leave, Mister Halloway, without
looking at the boy, is like, y'all need to stay hidden.
At seven o'clock, meet me at the library. I'm gonna

(40:05):
do some research, and so the boys are like, okay.
They have. The boys proceed to have the most boring
ass day of their entire lives. They're just hiding all day,
you know.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
They're just like, I'm guessing sewers not what to.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
Do, and trees and churches and I don't fuck chimneys.
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
They're just like fuck the chimney people might start a fire,
but the church is probably good one.

Speaker 1 (40:26):
They like hide weapons in the chimneys and like, I
don't know, it's like this whole thing, so whatever. They
fuck around all day. While they're doing that, mister Holloway
is go to the library. He gets a bunch of
books about the occult. He's like looking it up. He's
trying to research this carnival. He finds out this carnival
has been traveling under many similar names for like two

(40:48):
hundred years, and sure enough, bitches be going missing wherever
this carnival hits. And somehow no one's caught on because
it's been two hundred years, so like, obviously it's not
the same one, right, Oh my god. So the boys
get to the library like a little bit late, but
they get there and mister Halloway tells them what he's learned.

(41:09):
They don't really know what to do with this information.
They're like, Okay, how do we beat it? But then
who shows up in the fucking library mister Dark and
the dust switch they bust in, the boys hide. Mister
Halloway squares up to mister Dark, and mister Dark is like,
I have the boys' names, I don't need you anymore.
And then he grabs mister Halloway's hand and crushes it

(41:30):
in his fist, so his hand is useless and he
like collapses to the floor in pain, obviously crush sure,
and mister Dark is like peace and he walks off
to find the boys.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
Now, you know, you try to protect your son. This
guy takes you.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
Only breaks your hand. This also sounds like a giant,
super cool library has multiple floors, cool glass windows, very
tall shelves, apparently because mister Dark is straight like climbing
up the shelves to find the boys, and they're on
like the sixth the shelf. They're like way up there,
and he straight up just grabs them and then like
jumps off the bookshelf, I guess, and just like drags

(42:11):
them forward to the witch and then she says a
spell that essentially sews up their mouths, sews up their eyes,
and puts a shit in their ears so they cannot
do anything.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
You know.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
They's puppets basically, and they're hypnotized. So mister Dark like
walks off with them and they just follow him silently.
They're gone. Next the Dustwitch she's still there. She's gonna
go for mister Halloway. So she's like creeping through the
aisles and she creeps up to him. He's on the
floor in pain, and she's like, hey, guess what. Your heart,

(42:47):
Oh my god, it's getting so slow, slower, slower, and
he's like, oh my god, it is though he can
feel it happening. He's like, my blood flowing so slow,
my heart so slow. He's laying on the ground like
I'm gonna die here. This bitch's gonna kill me. And
he looks up at her and she's like slowly slowing, stopping,

(43:07):
your heart's stopping. And he's like, is it? And then
he looks up at her, and for some reason he
thinks this is all kind of funny, so he starts
laughing and she's like, no ah, no, no, no, your
heart's stop.

Speaker 2 (43:21):
You try to kill a guy and he's laughing at you.

Speaker 1 (43:23):
Literally, she's like, your heart stop, bag, and he's just
like busting a gut, pointing and laughing at her, and
this wounds her. She doesn't like this. This really is
bad for the dust Switch. It ripples her, so she
runs off like screaming basically and just leaves him there
and he's just still laughing. So he like gets it
together and now he knows laughter is the best medicine

(43:46):
and the best weapon. Wow, we all should have known.
So he goes off to find the boys and obviously
they're at the carnival, but they're hypnotized. So there there's
like a part of the carnival there's like a wax
statue hibbit. The boys are just in the wax statue exhibit,
sitting there like just fully, like not moving. So people

(44:07):
are going through this exhibit thinking these boys are just
part of it, and they're like, wow, so lifelike. Yes, yes,
they are lifelike. So mister Halloway goes to the carnival
and mister Dark is like gathering everyone and he's like,
hello everyone at the carnival. Customers gather for our last

(44:30):
trick since we're leaving town soon. And basically this trick
is that the dust Witch is standing and someone is
going to shoot this bitch in the face and she's
going to catch the bullet in her teeth. Basically that's
the gig they're doing now, Okay, exciting.

Speaker 2 (44:49):
Wow, I guess to see that watch.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
Yeah, it seems fun. Okay, And the dust Witch is
trying to tell mister Dark. She's like, no, like shit's
been going down. This is not a good idea, and
he's like, shut the fuck up. We're doing this right,
and uh he's pissed. Yeah, and there's big old crowd,
so like, obviously you gotta do the trick. Now there's
a crowd. Okay. So mister Dark is like, who wants

(45:15):
to do this? Who wants to shoot this bitch? And
mister Halloway is like, oh my god, I Will, it's me. Hello,
I'm alive. And he runs up and mister Dark is like,
how are you gonna shoot the gun when you got
that fucked up hand? And Charles is like, I'll be fine.
My left hand is fucked up, but I'm right handed.
And then he's like, oh, easy, though, I'll have my

(45:36):
son hold it up for me. Will Will, where are you? Will?
Are you at this carnival? He just starts yelling for
Will and mister Dark is like, Okay, your son's probably
not here. Maybe just stop yelling. But mister Halloway keeps yelling,
and then the whole crowd is like, where where is Will?
He should be here, So the whole crowd joins in.
They're like, well, Will come here. So this breaks Will

(46:00):
from his spell enough that he walks out from the
wax statues and comes over. But he's still like kind
of under the spell. He can't speak for himself or anything,
but he is there, and he stands there and his
dad explains what's going to happen, like nothing's wrong, and
he's making jokes and stuff, and the crowd's laughing, and this, like,
I think it like breaks the spell fully. So Will

(46:20):
is like what? And he's just standing there. And mister
Halloway knows the trick that mister Dark is playing, because
this trick, what is supposed to happen is that the
bullet that is put in the gun is a wax bullet,
so when it is shot, it melts, and then the
witch will conveniently have a bullet already and stick it
over the tea.

Speaker 2 (46:40):
Makes sense, smart, Yeah, I get it. That's good.

Speaker 1 (46:45):
Yeah, it's a real gun though, But mister Hallowey knows
the trick, and he knows that mister Dark is going
to use a wax bullet, so he's like, oh my god,
let me carve a symbol into the bullet so I
know it's real. And he carves a little crescent moon
on it, and they put it in the gun, and
then he's like, let me double check it, and he

(47:05):
pulls it out again and he carves another moon into
the other side and he puts it back in and
then he looks at the witch and he's like, by
the way, I'm carving my smile into this bullet. It's
not a crescent moon. It's my smile, okay. And she's
like scared in the background, and she's like quivering, and
they do the trick. He shoots the gun and the

(47:26):
witch falls down dead and mister Dark is like, she's
not dead. It's a truck and he like picks her up,
but like she's dead. She's fully dead. And so mister
Dark makes everyone leave. He's like shouts over, everyone leave.
And basically, if you didn't get what happened here, the
witch doesn't like positivity. That's why she didn't like the laughter.

(47:50):
So him like carving his smile into the bullet means
that like his positivity is shot inside of her and
that's why she died.

Speaker 2 (47:58):
Okay, he just would shoot her with a real bullet, but.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah it works out dustwitch dead. So then
Will is, you know, he's free and his dad's free,
and they're like, we gotta get Jim, though Jim is
still in that wax shit, and they're running to go
get Jim from the wax museum, and they like run
by the mirror Maze, and for no reason at all,

(48:26):
mister Halloway is like, I gotta go in there, and
so he runs into the mirror maze. Will is like, bro,
what the fuck? Don't go in there? And basically the
reason you quote unquote drown in the mirror, mays is
you go in and the mirrors reflect all your past
and future selves and it like breaks your mind basically somehow.

(48:50):
So like mister Halloway, who's already having a midlife crisis,
goes in there and sees a bunch of old, sad
versions of himself and he's like, no, I'm old and sad,
and Will has to run in and be like, I
love you even if you're old and sad, You're still
my dad. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so then this revelation

(49:10):
makes mister Halloway scream for some reason, and he screams
so loud that all of the mirrors break, So the
mirror Maize is broken. Like all the Carneyes in the
background are like, oh, they're like they know some shit's
going down. They're all like doing like.

Speaker 2 (49:29):
Oh yeah, I'd be like I spee a lot of time,
but in those mirrors though, but okay, just spread them.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
I was hypnotized by those mirrors for a really long time,
so I think it's rude that you just broke them,
but okay. And so then because of the scream, Jim
breaks free of the curse and wakes up, and so
he's running. They don't know where he's going, though. All
the Carneyes are just like standing in the background. They
like grab the mister Cougar, who they're calling mister Electro

(49:57):
because of the electric chair thing. So some of the
car and he's like try to grab him, and like
they're like, oh, they're taking him back to the Merry
Go Round. They're gonna try and save him, but then
they drop him and he crumbles to dust. So mister
Cougar is also definitely dead, so will and his dad
run over to the Merry Go Round because they can
hear the music, but they can't tell which way the

(50:18):
music is playing, so they're like, what's going on? They
get there, Jim is straight up running towards the Merry
Go Round and Will is like no, but he gets
on that fucking Marry Go Round. He's on there, and
then Will is also on the Merry Go Round and
he's like, I need you, Jim, you can't leave me.
And I'm like, yah, in love. I don't think they are,

(50:40):
but whatever, they fly off the Merry Go Round. Jim
is either dead or knocked out. He's but he's out.
Then this kid walks up to mister Halloway and he's like,
we gotta go, and mister Halloway is like who the
fuck are you? Like, where did you come from? Child?

(51:00):
And the kid is like, my name is Jed. We
have to go. There's no time, And mister Halloway is
like why why do we have to go? Why is
there no time? Roll up your sleeves and Jeded is
like what why would I do that? That's fucking weird,
And so mister Halloway rips this kid's sure off, okay,
don't the child covered in tattoos. O, Well, okay, he

(51:24):
got him that time. But and mister Halloway is like,
nice ink you got there. Looks familiar and he picks
him up, and Jed's like, what are you gonna do
kill a child? No, you wouldn't do that. And mister
Halloway's like, no, I'm not gonna do that. I'm just
gonna bring you close to me and I know, and

(51:47):
I'm gonna smile and like talk about positivity because I
know that fucking kills you sure enough. Just being close
to mister Halloway, it's pain to Jed. Jeded is screaming,
he's having a terrible time, and then he dies just
from positivity.

Speaker 2 (52:07):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (52:07):
So mister Halloway like drops him on the floor and
then they hear like a big sigh, and all that
tattoos melt off this kid's body, so he's like a
normal looking child.

Speaker 2 (52:18):
Now there's just a dead normal looking kid next to him.
That's bad. That's a bad look.

Speaker 1 (52:23):
There's a dead child on the ground. And then all
the carneies disappear and one of them grabs a dead child,
so like the dead child body, but they run off
they're all dead or free now basically. And then so
now it's just Will and his dad and Jim's body
on the floor, and so Will turns to his friend

(52:44):
and he's like, oh my god, Jim's dead. And mister
Halloway is like, okay, it's time to be really silly.
We have to be really silly. Let's laugh, let's have
a great time. Everything is great, and Will is like,
what the fuck I cannot be laughing and giggling right now,
like I just had a terrible time. And his dad's
like no, and he just starts laughing and goofing off

(53:06):
and like makes Will join him, and eventually they're like
genuinely goofing and Will's like laughing ha ha ha ha,
and Jim just wakes up off the ground and they
just like pick him up and make him join in
the goof and they're just goofing around and stuff. And
then they stop and Jim's like, what the fuck's just happened?
And they're like, don't worry about it. And all the

(53:28):
carnies are gone. They're alone, so what do they do.
They go to the fucking Merry go Round and they're like,
maybe we should ride the Merry Go Round and Will's
dad is like, I could be twenty again, and Jim's
like it could be twenty one again. And then they're like, no,
this is a bad idea, and mister Halloway breaks the

(53:49):
Merry Go Round because they know that the demon Carnival
may be defeated for now, but like it'll be back.
They're they're trying to steal souls basically, but they can
at least break this Merry Go Around, so they can't
do the time control. But I'm like, I bet they
could fix that.

Speaker 2 (54:06):
Yeah, what do you take apart? They surely that's fair.

Speaker 1 (54:09):
Right, So they run back to town. That's at the
end end of the book. They did it. They won.
They beat those Not what I thought it was about.
But it's crazy and it's much better than I make
it sound, because there is like really beautiful pros and
like metaphors and like the vision is there very spooking.

(54:30):
So this book got three point seven eight stars and
it had a fuck ton of reviews. It has like
it should okay, I do too. On StoryGraph, it had
like ten thousand reviews. There were a lot of people
that did not finish this book for whatever reasons. There
was a lot more hate than I expected, I will say,

(54:50):
but let's get antie. Oh my god, and then I
forgot I think I have a quote about it. There's
this whole bit that is hilarious. It's one of it's
one of my favorite quotes, so we'll ge into it.
But like at one point, mister Halloway is like talking
to the boys and he's talking about autumn people, and
it's the funniest shit. It's just people like spooky people,
basically people that like the spooky season more. But he

(55:13):
calls them autumn people. The way he describes it, You're
gonna love it. You'll feel like an autumn person. This
review reminded me of that, because here's what it says.
It says this is simply the definitive autumn novel. It
somehow feels both familiar yet exciting. No matter how many
times I've reached for it, each reread has a new

(55:33):
standout sentence or a new association with something I've experienced before.
Five stars. That review is much longer, but I liked it.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
Yeah, Okay, I've heard this book described as rape Radberry's
magnum opus. While this book was fantastic. I can't quite
give it that label that belongs to Baronheait four fifty one.
In my opinion, I found something like it. This Way
comes to be haunting, surprising, and beautiful. Radberry's master of
deception and created wonderful and deep characters as well as
intriguing himages in this book. Four stars.

Speaker 1 (56:03):
It's true.

Speaker 2 (56:04):
It'd be hard to beat Fairnheit four fifty one. I mean,
that is what he's known for, and it is a
great book.

Speaker 1 (56:08):
It's very true. And now I'm probably gonna have to
read it because I did like this one, so I
know I like it, thank.

Speaker 2 (56:13):
Him as a writer, like I really do like her
and Hide four fifty one.

Speaker 1 (56:16):
Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna read it, Okay. I love a
carnival slush circus plot, especially when we're talking about horror,
and I loved that we didn't get any evil clowns.
I will admit the prose wasn't for me with how
it read. I was expecting this to be one of
those coming of age stories where you aren't sure if
what you're told really happens or not. But that wasn't

(56:37):
the case here. Three stars. It's true. This all happened.
It's true.

Speaker 2 (56:42):
Well the one is what be a dream like that
would be annoying, borring? Okay, after reading the book, I
watched the movie, hoping at least the visual version would
be better, and it sucked so badly that to make
me realize the plot of the book was all right.
I love her Bradberry's other works, and this is a
very sad and naciating experience. My whole book club agreed
that it was terrible, and that was one of the

(57:04):
only two people who actually finished the book. Was it
worth finishing? Nope?

Speaker 1 (57:08):
Two stars harsh, right like your whole book club hated it,
Like what the fuck was.

Speaker 2 (57:14):
Some people liked it and they're just like, yeah, no,
it's not due.

Speaker 1 (57:17):
Yeah, definitely hated it. No, just like you guys. Okay,
not to my taste at all. I am realizing I
don't prefer books where the author tries too hard with
the flowery language and intense detail. Shut up and write
poems instead, because nothing's been happening plot wise for over
twenty years. Hated Charles Halloway as a carriage Oh pages,

(57:43):
not yeah, not ages, but pages, over twenty pages. Hated
Charles Halloway as a character. I'm so old. People think
my wife's my daughter? Oh what's my purpose? Franny Face slowly,
after knowing him thirteen years, realizes it's to be there
for Will so annoying hate his monologues one start. Yeah,

(58:05):
he does realize he's a terrible father, but he tries.

Speaker 2 (58:08):
Hey, at least he gets better. Well, his kid's still
a kid, you know, good for him.

Speaker 1 (58:13):
He has time, and Will thinks he's a great dad.
He don't even notice.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
Yeah, I like a story about a dad just being
a good dad. You don't get a lot of dad stories,
you know, you don't get a lot of just a
good father.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
Okay, So I only had a couple questions here on
this book. I don't know if you've thought of any.
My main one though, the boys ride the merry go
round at the end, and they write it for at
least one complete circle, so they're at least a year older.
But like, I don't think they really acknowledge that they
have actually grown older in that, Like, I don't know

(58:48):
if they actually like doesn't count because they just like
go back to town, like it doesn't matter, which I
guess if it's only like one year, it's not a
huge difference.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
You can't really tell if you're thirteen years and have
made him difference, which if I'm just gonna keep being
just move on as well.

Speaker 1 (59:05):
But like technically you're a year older, nothing has changed.
But also something I don't know. But then with that, okay,
so with the Carnees, obviously a lot of those carnies
had been like with mister Dark for a really long time,
so like when he died, they just like went off
into the woods. But like what the fuck happened to
miss Foley? And that's something like no one really knows.

(59:28):
It's not acknowledged. She just disappears, Like I get that
she's a child in an adult's body, but I don't
know if the carnival is necessarily the only place she
can hang out.

Speaker 2 (59:37):
You know, she obviously did she not become like they
didn't like, oh all the stuff they did, reverse she's
still kid.

Speaker 1 (59:45):
I guess it doesn't say.

Speaker 2 (59:46):
She's gonna have to find parents.

Speaker 1 (59:48):
Yeah, because she just disappears, and it's like that would
suck it. Yeah, I guess she could just go to
an orphanage and just like start over with your mom.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
I mean, she's really smart now because she has like
all of her adult knowledge, so she could just become
a child prodigy and trick.

Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
Everyone would be a depressing life. But I mean, yeah,
up eventually.

Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
And she could just maybe I mean, she's living in
a small town as a teacher. She'd maybe become like
a Harvard professor now she could. Really, this is a
second chance, you know what, good for her. I think
she all for dreams that she didn't get to do
the first time. She has a second chance at wife.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
This isn't that bad, okay, But what about the lightning
red salesman.

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
He shouldn't be a salesman, stop it, you know, as
on you.

Speaker 1 (01:00:30):
I think he might have learned that lesson. But also
he gave that lightning rud to those kids for free.

Speaker 2 (01:00:36):
That is true, that's very generous. Don't try to date
a girl who sendsh mice. That's fucking weird.

Speaker 1 (01:00:42):
Don't try to date the most beautiful girl in the world.
Let her come to you, okay.

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
Well, yeah, first of all, she's not to be interested
in you if she's really the most beautiful girl in
the world. And also she's in a black ice, so
that's weird. Probably she'd let her, you know, see why
she gets to know her. Yeah, he had it.

Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
Coming, he probably did. Okay, let's look at my favorite quotes. Okay,
this it just has so many funny little quotes like
they just made me laugh. But I will try to skip.
I guess I don't need to do well, how many
do I have? I maybe have like five or six.

(01:01:21):
I'll find the best ones, so YadA, YadA, YadA. At
one point, they say huckleberries all down my arms, and
I think that's supposed to mean goosebumps. I didn't know
how I felt about that.

Speaker 2 (01:01:37):
Leberries there.

Speaker 1 (01:01:38):
But also, like, I guess I prefer that over when
people say, like, I fucking hate when people say goose pimples.

Speaker 2 (01:01:44):
Oh too, Like is that like East coasting or something?
Why do people say that?

Speaker 1 (01:01:48):
But they say goose pimples in this book as well,
So I'm like, why did you say there's huckleberries down
your arm and then say goose pimples later on? Just
fucking say it right or don't say it? Okay, this
one I just put we've all thought it, so let's
see what that means. This is on page seventeen. Oh
of course we've all thought this. Why are some people

(01:02:09):
all grasshopper, fiddlings, scrappings, all antennae shivering, one big ganglion
externally eternally nodding, slip, nodding, square, nodding themselves, like what
does that mean? Like some of this shit, I'm just like, okay, right.

Speaker 2 (01:02:25):
They're all jumpled up, they're all they're.

Speaker 1 (01:02:28):
Mess I don't know like that. I was just like, yeah, sure,
I've thought that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:33):
I think that all done. Guy, it just looks like he's, oh, well,
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:02:39):
Squirmy, squirmy, m okay, oh the next one. I'm just
gonna tell you all these carnival attractions, and you can
tell me which one you would be most excited, or
I guess it's the carnes. You can tell me which
one is more exciting. Let's see, miss I can't say

(01:03:03):
this man's name. Mephistophe, the lava drinker, Mister Electro, the
monster Golfier, which, among Golfierre is a balloon, So I
guess I should have known about the giant balloon anyways.
Mademoiselle Tarot, Tarot can't read the dangling Man, the Demon Guillotine,

(01:03:25):
the illustrated Man, the thin Man. Oh wait, no, he's
the skeleton, not the thin man the dust witch. So
like there's a dust switch and the Tarot lady. But
they're the same lady, but I don't know why they're separate.
There's also the Egyptian mirror Maze, Saint Anthony's Temple of Temptation,

(01:03:47):
and the most Beautiful Woman in the world.

Speaker 2 (01:03:50):
Obviously it's demon guillotine.

Speaker 1 (01:03:52):
Yeah, I want to know what that is. I guess
they ever.

Speaker 2 (01:03:55):
Was really best guillotine. It's just chopping heads.

Speaker 1 (01:04:01):
You're dead, I got your soul, the demon gallottine. Okay,
next one, Oh, this one was funny. Just the moon
rolls by to look at you down there with its
idiot face. Why does the moon having face to the moon. Okay,

(01:04:23):
let's see. Oh and I think my last one is
the autumn people quote. And I do think this is
a long quote, but it'll be worth it. Oh it's
very long. It's like two whole paragraphs. So here we go,
page one ninety two. If anyone cares for some autumn
comes early, stays late through life, where October follows September

(01:04:46):
and November touches October, and then instead of December and
Christ's birth, there is no Bethlehem Star, no rejoicing, But
September comes again, and old October, and so on down
the years, with no winter spring or revivifying summer. For
these beings, fall is the most, is the ever normal season,
the only weather. There be no choice beyond Where do

(01:05:09):
they come from the dust? Where do they go? The grave?
Does blood stir their veins? No? The night wind? What
ticks in their head? The worm? What speaks from their mouth?
The toad? What sees from their eye? The snake? What
hear's with their ear? The abyss between the stars they
sift the human storm for souls, eat the flesh of reason,

(01:05:32):
fill tombs with sinners. They frenzy forth and gusts. They beatle, scurry, creep, thread,
filter motion, make all moons sullen and surely cloud all
clear run waters. The spiderweb hears them, trembles breaks. Such
are the autumn people. Beware of them?

Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
Love. It describes me exactly literally.

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
I was like, Okay, autumn people. Okay, I know it's
supposed to be creepy, but I like it. I mean, yeah, Christmas,
I want to be an autumn person.

Speaker 2 (01:06:05):
Yeah, go back to October, bitch, what what.

Speaker 1 (01:06:09):
So? Yeah? That was my favorite quote of the book.
I really relate what the autumn people thing. I think
that was really fun. These are my final thoughts if
anyone couldn't tell. I also, I know it's a Shakespeare quote,
but I think the by the pricking of my thumbs
something wicked. This way comes is fucking badass. That's a
great quote. That would be a tattoo.

Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
Next to it, A little funny this way.

Speaker 1 (01:06:37):
Comes you could actually do so cool with that. Let
me let me text Courtney tattoo. Hey girl, I have
an idea. Anyways, Yeah, I really like this book. I
definitely think I picked it because I was like October scary.
I don't know, and I think, yeah, I agree, it

(01:06:57):
was a great October pick. It's very spooky. I would
probably read it again. I really enjoyed it. I don't
get why so many people had beef with it. I
don't know. People just don't like they're not autumn people.

Speaker 2 (01:07:09):
Yeah, well, like I think people this is the whole
thing with because it's kind of like in the classics era,
like people beef with Fitzgeral for the same reason. Yeah,
the language, like the pros, they're more of like I
don't know, read some fucking having wife. He got an issue.

Speaker 1 (01:07:24):
And here's the thing. I get that because I hate
the old English shit. But like this, I think, oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:07:29):
This is the like metaphors and like all the descriptions
that go on. I don't read Victor Hugo if you
hate things, that would ramble on. But I don't know,
it's nice.

Speaker 1 (01:07:42):
Yeah, I liked it. I don't know, writing hater, Maybe
just stop it, okay to like actual books? I don't know. Yeah, yeah,
so whatever. You guys better have liked this because I
think it's good. If you didn't, that sucks. We have
so many other books that you could listen and read to.

(01:08:05):
I don't know. Do you have any other things to say?
I kind of cut you off there.

Speaker 2 (01:08:10):
I think I'm having to read this book.

Speaker 1 (01:08:13):
You should. You can borrow Isabelle's copy if you want
to read her, not.

Speaker 2 (01:08:17):
If you have it already.

Speaker 1 (01:08:18):
She underlined everything, but whatever, for.

Speaker 2 (01:08:21):
Her, she got an a.

Speaker 1 (01:08:22):
You know, she got an A. Good for you, Isabelle.
That's my final thought. So yeah, y'all can tune in
leave us a review, because why not? What are we
reading next week? Sidney? Do we know yet?

Speaker 2 (01:08:36):
Well? I have my book but give me a minute.
I forgot I happenow's your name? So let me just
watch this youtubel.

Speaker 1 (01:08:41):
Berwick, which I will tell everyone. So if y'all haven't
caught on, our scheduling has gotten a little wonky. Sydney
and I have a lot going on in our lives
right now, Sydney raising a full less baby and all
that noise, so our scheduling might be a little off.
We're going to try to keep on track as much

(01:09:02):
as we can, but it'll kind of be a surprise
what we're reading each week because we're just gonna wing it.

Speaker 2 (01:09:08):
Yeah, we'll try to get back and then you're here,
we'll see. Okay, So next episode coming out will it
be next week?

Speaker 1 (01:09:14):
Hopefully?

Speaker 2 (01:09:15):
Because I didn't finish the book, so it's gonna be
my sister the Serial Killer by I just listen to
her say it o Yanka break with she's Nigerian, it's yeah.
The names of this book I will try to look
up bad pronounce, but it's really good. I enjoyed it.

(01:09:35):
Cannot wait.

Speaker 1 (01:09:36):
I cannot wait simply because of the titles. So tune
in for that one, guys. Thanks. Oh wait, where where
can they find us Sidney.

Speaker 2 (01:09:46):
Oh yeah, they can find us on Instagram and book
called podcast on TikTok at, bookhold pod, and on lineup
Bookcolte podcast WordPress dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:09:52):
Yeah, so thanks for listening here.

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
Now, a little tattooed boy, you're a creepy carn eyes.

Speaker 1 (01:10:00):
No taxis, vaccines, I mean.

Speaker 2 (01:10:03):
Yeah, I guess you just got to relive your.

Speaker 1 (01:10:04):
Life as a little tattooed boy.

Speaker 2 (01:10:07):
I mean, you got a lot of explained to do,
just a little bit