These experiences awakened in Bradbury a desire to work with Kelly on a movie. A few years later, Gene invited the author on set for a private screening of Invitation to a Dance. In 1950, just after the publication of The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury had dinner with the actor/singer Gene Kelly, star of Singing in the Rain.

In a brief 'Afterword', Bradbury explains the origins of the novel. In many ways, Something Wicked This Way Comes can be viewed as a companion novel to the lighter Dandelion Wine, which tells the story of two young boys over the course of a magical and idyllic summer. This 'serious' side of the book follows from its personal origins: there is a great deal of Bradbury's own childhood within its pages nd the town in which the story takes place, the fictional Green Town, Illinois, is modeled after Bradbury's own childhood home of Waukegan, IL. At its heart, the novel is a coming-of-age story about growing up and accepting who you are. Something Wicked This Way Comes can be most easily described as a horror story, filled with monsters and suspense, though it also touches upon more traditionally 'literary' themes, such as childhood and innocence. Their anxieties about aging and adulthood play out against the backdrop of a mysterious carnival that comes to their town. The book also tells of Will's father, Charles, who feels old and wishes to young again, thus reversing the desire of the younger pair. The story thus examines themes of maturity and aging, concentrating on the cusp between childhood and adulthood. It tells the story of two friends, Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway, who are thirteen and yearn to be older.

Something Wicked This Way Comes is one of Ray Bradbury's most popular works.

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