Bad Things

by Tamara Thorne

Book Overview

Reprinted Edition The Piper clan emigrated from Scotland and founded the town of Santo Verde, California. The Gothic Victorian estate built there has housed the family for generations, and has also become home to an ancient evil forever linked to the Piper name. . . As a boy, Rick Piper discovered he had "the sight." It was supposed to be a family myth, but Rick could see the greenjacks--the tiny mischievous demons who taunted him throughout his childhood--and...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1420132563
• ISBN13: 9781420132564
• Release Date: September 2013
• Publisher: Zebra
• Length: 427 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Not your average evil twin book

Ricky and Robin are identical twins. Well, they are almost identical. Okay, they are identical except for the fact that Robin doesn't have legs. Now there is another difference as well: Robin has been possessed by a greenjack, a kind of hellish nature-sprite, and he wants Ricky to be possessed also. (Gabba gabba hey!)Fast forward several years: Rick is all grown up now with children of his own. He moves his family back to the family home and to the greenjacks.I absolutely loved this book! Tamara Thorne can be one sick (albeit creatively) puppy, and she must really dislike poodles, but this book was a great read. There is a demented humor undercurrent to the book that I enjoyed, and the book is genuinely creepy --- and, at times, disturbing. I'll never look at little old ladies and poodles the same way again, or want to have a house with secret passages and a big yard. Did I mention that I love this book?

Love it!!

This is another winner from Tamara Thorne! I was practically eating the pages it was so good! Bad Things has all of what make Tamara a great author. I love the potion of horror and humor that she mixes so well. The characters are expertly drawn out with much appeal. My favorite characters were Dakota, the Vegas drag queen ala Marylin Monroe and Madonna style, and the exxxentric Aunt Jade with her nasty little collection of stuffed dead poodles in various "poses". Lick! Lick! This book made me laugh, scared me senseless and I even dropped a tear at the end! Wonderful from the first page. I highly recommend this book!

A spooky horror novel full of atmosphere

"Bad Things" is a great novel that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys horror and suspense. Its the story of Ricky Piper, a child afflicted with an ability to see greenjacks which are fairy type creatures that attach themselves to the Piper family. The novel starts at Halloween, when Ricky and his twin brother, Robin, are thrust into a terrifying experience with Big Jack, a Pan-like being made from twigs and leaves, that comes to take the soul of a Piper on Halloween. But something happens that night that haunts Ricky the rest of his life. And even as a successful adult, he is still unable to be sure what happened, and if he really saw the things he thought he did as a kid. When odd things begin to happen at the old house, he is left wondering if the greenjacks, in fact, do exist or is there more sinister going on at the house? This is an extremely well-written horror novel I devoured in a day and a half. Tamara Thorne has a way with words, and she is good at creating people you care about. She also is very funny and has a knack for putting in oddball characters like Dakota and Aunt Jade. Bad Things is great horror at its finest. A great novel.

Childhood Terrors Reborn

Ricky Piper is returning to his family home with his two children. Unfortunately, most of his memories are not happy. When he was a child he believed he saw eerie spirits that according to family legend were called 'greenjacks' Did these entities exsist? Did they take possession of his deformed brother Robin? Well, this is a 'horror' novel after all. Unravelling the twisted past, both supernatural and psychological, is part of the fun. This novel is somewhat darker and less tongue in cheek than her last book CANDLE BAY, but is still a chilling treat that will be enjoyed by fans of Simon Clark and John Saul.

Bad Things, Good Book

I bought this book because I had the pleasure of reading Tamara Thorne's "Haunted". This book is the equal, if not the superior, of that book. Once again, Thorne combines nerve-wrenching horror with unflinching ...wildness to create the kind of experience that can only be achieved in the world of books. The basic plot is this: Ricky Piper, who's family emigrated from Scotland and founded the California town of Santo Verde, has "The Sight"-a family trait that allows him to see the ethereal "Greenjacks"-sort of nature elementals, linked to the God Pan. The Greenjacks, apparently, have no ability to perceive sensation, and so crave our senses-rich bodies. Ricky lives in fear of them for the first part of his life. On Halloween of his Eight year, Ricky's brother Robin (who has no legs) is the victim of an attack by "Big Jack", a swamp thing-esque creation of weeds and vines. Robin becomes possessed by a Greenjack, who, having neither legs nor the ability to perceive his brethren, goes from mischevious to insane. He torments Ricky until his death.The story joins Ricky again as a successful adult, who has convinced himself that the Greenjacks never existed, and that the torment his brother gave him was the result of brain damage. Now, Rick goes back to his ancestral home-and that's when the real "fun" starts. If you like horror, and if you have a steady stomach, GET THIS NOVEL. While your at it, get all of Tamara Thorne's books.