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The Thyme Fiend
The Thyme Fiend by Jeffrey Ford is a dark fantasy novelette about a young man who can only prevent seeing visions by eating or smoking thyme. When he finds the skeleton of a missing man the skeleton begins to haunt him. What does it want?
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
48 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 11, 2015
3 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Jeffrey Ford
242 books515 followersJeffrey Ford is an American writer in the Fantastic genre tradition, although his works have spanned genres including Fantasy, Science Fiction and Mystery. His work is characterized by a sweeping imaginative power, humor, literary allusion, and a fascination with tales told within tales. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he studied with the novelist John Gardner.
He lives in southern New Jersey and teaches writing and literature at Brookdale Community College in Monmouth County. He has also taught at the summer Clarion Workshop for science fiction and fantasy writers in Michigan. He has contributed stories, essays and interviews to various magazines and e-magazines including MSS, Puerto Del Sol, Northwest Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Argosy, Event Horizon, Infinity Plus, Black Gate and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
He published his first story, "The Casket", in Gardner's literary magazine MSS in 1981 and his first full-length novel, Vanitas, in 1988.
He lives in southern New Jersey and teaches writing and literature at Brookdale Community College in Monmouth County. He has also taught at the summer Clarion Workshop for science fiction and fantasy writers in Michigan. He has contributed stories, essays and interviews to various magazines and e-magazines including MSS, Puerto Del Sol, Northwest Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Argosy, Event Horizon, Infinity Plus, Black Gate and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
He published his first story, "The Casket", in Gardner's literary magazine MSS in 1981 and his first full-length novel, Vanitas, in 1988.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 8, 2019
The skeleton was sweeping his arm out to indicate his infernal crop. “I got a thousand acres of torment here,” he said, speaking in the voice of the Jimmy Emmett remembered from life. Words came forth from the empty skull in a weak echo. “For every acre’s worth I bring to Satan, he reduces my own anguish a half a dust mote’s worth.”
jeffrey ford is one of those (many) authors whose books i keep buying because they sound amazing and then eventually i realize i have a huge stack of books by an author and i've never actually read any of them. oops. i've read some short stories by him - another free tor short: A Terror, as well as some stories in scattered anthologies, but i still haven't plowed into that stack of novels. and here's where i make that same promise i always make when i realize that this situation has occurred again - that i will definitely definitely get into those books i've owned for years. but we all know how these situations end, and while i really hope it will be different this time, i'm pretty much the worst at reading every book there is. but for now, i can at least drop a few lines about this story, which is free and short(ish), and maybe one of you will go and read it and then do what i cannot seem to - read a full-length novel by him. it doesn't matter which one - they all sound great. go on, go be better than me.
it's not so much the plot of the story that impressed me here, but the quality of ford's writing. there's nothing flowery or showy about it, but it demonstrates a real facility for storytelling, which is one of those things you either have or you don't. you can be a successful writer without this gift; you can even be a good writer without it, but when a reader like me encounters a true natural storyteller, it's like little wings opening up in my heart. it's what you find in Donald Harington, Jonathan Carroll, early Stephen King - just an ease at bringing characters to life, controlling the pacing, deploying asides and backstories so they enhance rather than gum up the central narrative, and the reader is carried along with the story, engaged and entranced, and quite frankly - delighted.
it's a pretty straightforward ghost story, with some details that were new to me, but it has all the hallmarks of a classic haunting story - violent death, unfinished business, revenge from beyond the grave. there's a fairly textbooky twist, but what really made it stand out for me was the relationship between the main character, fourteen-year-old emmett wallace, and his family, and how it changes over the course of the story in a quiet, but firm and irrevocable way.
it's really lovely haunting stuff and i love his details and the pure density of his prose. a very strong tor short.
now where's that stack??
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/2015/03/11/the-thy...
come to my blog!
jeffrey ford is one of those (many) authors whose books i keep buying because they sound amazing and then eventually i realize i have a huge stack of books by an author and i've never actually read any of them. oops. i've read some short stories by him - another free tor short: A Terror, as well as some stories in scattered anthologies, but i still haven't plowed into that stack of novels. and here's where i make that same promise i always make when i realize that this situation has occurred again - that i will definitely definitely get into those books i've owned for years. but we all know how these situations end, and while i really hope it will be different this time, i'm pretty much the worst at reading every book there is. but for now, i can at least drop a few lines about this story, which is free and short(ish), and maybe one of you will go and read it and then do what i cannot seem to - read a full-length novel by him. it doesn't matter which one - they all sound great. go on, go be better than me.
it's not so much the plot of the story that impressed me here, but the quality of ford's writing. there's nothing flowery or showy about it, but it demonstrates a real facility for storytelling, which is one of those things you either have or you don't. you can be a successful writer without this gift; you can even be a good writer without it, but when a reader like me encounters a true natural storyteller, it's like little wings opening up in my heart. it's what you find in Donald Harington, Jonathan Carroll, early Stephen King - just an ease at bringing characters to life, controlling the pacing, deploying asides and backstories so they enhance rather than gum up the central narrative, and the reader is carried along with the story, engaged and entranced, and quite frankly - delighted.
it's a pretty straightforward ghost story, with some details that were new to me, but it has all the hallmarks of a classic haunting story - violent death, unfinished business, revenge from beyond the grave. there's a fairly textbooky twist, but what really made it stand out for me was the relationship between the main character, fourteen-year-old emmett wallace, and his family, and how it changes over the course of the story in a quiet, but firm and irrevocable way.
it's really lovely haunting stuff and i love his details and the pure density of his prose. a very strong tor short.
now where's that stack??
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/2015/03/11/the-thy...
come to my blog!
May 23, 2016
Final review, first posted on www.FantasyLiterature.com:
"The Thyme Fiend" is a poignant ghost story/murder mystery set in Ohio farming country in 1915. Emmett is a 14 year old boy who sees terrifying visions and ghosts in his dreams unless he drinks thyme tea before going to bed. (Thyme tea or thyme sachets under the pillow are an actual old folk remedy for nightmares.) One day Emmett rides his bike to an abandoned farm to explore. When he throws a rock in the farm’s well, it makes no splash. Emmett looks into the well and sees a skull at the bottom.
When the skeleton is pulled from the well, it’s found to be the body of Jimmy Tooth, a handsome but simple-minded young man who had disappeared a few months before and was thought to have left town. Arriving home late with his father, Emmett doesn’t get his dose of thyme tea that night, and demons haunt his dreams. In the morning, his terrifying visions continue:
Although "The Thyme Fiend" isn’t a complicated tale, it has a few surprises for the reader, and it’s very well told. Jeffrey Ford uses a spare writing style which fits the early 20th century rural setting and young Emmett’s point of view. Emmett’s somewhat difficult relationship with his father, in particular, is a strong point of this novelette, and seems very true to the time, with both casual physical punishment and a love that the characters can’t quite articulate. A gift of a used bicycle constitutes an apology from his father, gladly accepted by Emmett. The drought-ridden land and the interactions between the characters are very realistically described, an effective contrast to Emmett’s nightmarish visions.
This story is free online at Tor.com: http://www.tor.com/2015/03/11/the-thy...
"The Thyme Fiend" is a poignant ghost story/murder mystery set in Ohio farming country in 1915. Emmett is a 14 year old boy who sees terrifying visions and ghosts in his dreams unless he drinks thyme tea before going to bed. (Thyme tea or thyme sachets under the pillow are an actual old folk remedy for nightmares.) One day Emmett rides his bike to an abandoned farm to explore. When he throws a rock in the farm’s well, it makes no splash. Emmett looks into the well and sees a skull at the bottom.
When the skeleton is pulled from the well, it’s found to be the body of Jimmy Tooth, a handsome but simple-minded young man who had disappeared a few months before and was thought to have left town. Arriving home late with his father, Emmett doesn’t get his dose of thyme tea that night, and demons haunt his dreams. In the morning, his terrifying visions continue:
When two bony hands clawed through the fabric of the air, Emmett shoved the handful of thyme from the kitchen garden into his mouth and chewed, his teeth sparking off grains of dirt, the green peppery taste of the herb mixing with his saliva.From that point Emmett needs to eat or smoke thyme at least twice daily as well as at night, to keep visions of Jimmy’s skeleton at bay, which leads the townspeople to deride him as the “thyme fiend.” When Emmett’s supply of thyme runs short, Jimmy Tooth makes his move … but what does Jimmy want from Emmett?
Sharp skeleton fingers pried an opening through which the boy saw fire and heard distant voices crying for mercy. The corpse of Jimmy Tooth stepped through that hole into the day, left foot missing, still dressed in the shreds of shirt and jeans. It moved toward Emmett unevenly from foot to tibia end and back, lurching forward with clear intent. The boy chewed faster as it approached and faster still. After two more steps, the grim skeleton evaporated, leaving no sign that it had come for him.
Although "The Thyme Fiend" isn’t a complicated tale, it has a few surprises for the reader, and it’s very well told. Jeffrey Ford uses a spare writing style which fits the early 20th century rural setting and young Emmett’s point of view. Emmett’s somewhat difficult relationship with his father, in particular, is a strong point of this novelette, and seems very true to the time, with both casual physical punishment and a love that the characters can’t quite articulate. A gift of a used bicycle constitutes an apology from his father, gladly accepted by Emmett. The drought-ridden land and the interactions between the characters are very realistically described, an effective contrast to Emmett’s nightmarish visions.
This story is free online at Tor.com: http://www.tor.com/2015/03/11/the-thy...
March 12, 2015
The herb that brought peace in sleep also brought courage in death.
Behold the power of thyme:
Since he was five, Emmett has been seeing demons in his dreams. Now, he's seeing dead people in his waking life. Only thyme can keep the horrors at bay.
This is a nicely done, old-fashioned ghost story.
Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!
Behold the power of thyme:
Since he was five, Emmett has been seeing demons in his dreams. Now, he's seeing dead people in his waking life. Only thyme can keep the horrors at bay.
This is a nicely done, old-fashioned ghost story.
Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!
March 22, 2015
Jeffrey Ford is a great short story writer. This story is very good and it's free and you should go over and read it on Tor.com.
Here's the link: http://www.tor.com/stories/2015/03/th...
But keep in mind that you really need to read about five stories by Jeffrey Ford to get a feel for what he's doing, to appreciate his range.
So, read The Thyme Fiend and, if you like it, do yourself a favor and grab one of his short story collections. They're all good, but I'd recommend you start with either of the following titles:
Fantasy Writer's Assistant and Other Stories
The Empire of Ice Cream
If you love the short story as an art form, I'm pretty damned sure these books will make you happy.
Here's the link: http://www.tor.com/stories/2015/03/th...
But keep in mind that you really need to read about five stories by Jeffrey Ford to get a feel for what he's doing, to appreciate his range.
So, read The Thyme Fiend and, if you like it, do yourself a favor and grab one of his short story collections. They're all good, but I'd recommend you start with either of the following titles:
Fantasy Writer's Assistant and Other Stories
The Empire of Ice Cream
If you love the short story as an art form, I'm pretty damned sure these books will make you happy.
April 11, 2015
Loved this. It has it all. Murder, a ghost, love, redemption. Read it and enjoy.
April 14, 2015
Interesting, creepy, and well written. I just wished it was a little longer.
April 3, 2015
"The demons that hunted him in dreams were shadows with teeth."
Great short story. With a simple plot, but very creative. Loved the descriptions of the nightmares, the mystery and the ending.
Totally recommended, especially if you like the dark-mystery vibe in a supernatural/fantasy way.
Excellent for a Sunday at morning. It is free in Tor.com :D
Great short story. With a simple plot, but very creative. Loved the descriptions of the nightmares, the mystery and the ending.
Totally recommended, especially if you like the dark-mystery vibe in a supernatural/fantasy way.
Excellent for a Sunday at morning. It is free in Tor.com :D
March 12, 2015
Somewhat overwritten yet evocative, THE THYME FIEND is a pleasant tale that clearly enjoys the journey more than the destination. Not bad at all.
April 21, 2015
A beautifully written, atmospheric take on a ghost story. I liked the almost unresolved nature of the story. It felt honest to the time, and the characters. It left me wanting more, so much more.
January 12, 2016
That was all sorts of odd and eerie, sort of Of Mice and Men, with ghosts! It was good, but not my style, too much Dust Bowl poverty
http://www.tor.com/2015/03/11/the-thy...
http://www.tor.com/2015/03/11/the-thy...
August 27, 2019
"Instead of wheat, his crop was flames, and at harvest, he took them to market to sell to the devil."
[A Tor.com freebie]
[A Tor.com freebie]
Did Not Finish
March 29, 2015I've never quite clicked with Jeffrey Ford; it feels as if we like a lot of the same weird fiction writers, but his work never sparks alive for me in the way theirs does. Still, I keep giving him a go because even if they're hollow, he can use language to build interesting structures.
And then he goes and uses 'decimated' to mean 'annihilated'.
And then he goes and uses 'decimated' to mean 'annihilated'.
February 7, 2017
I admire Tor Publishing so much for making premium fiction available online for free reading access. The short fiction available is so beautifully presented with accompanying artwork.
This story is a great ghost story/historical fiction mashup that works very well. One reviewer asked why not marijuana instead of thyme? That's answered within the story: it was an old-country cure for night terrors. A lot of herbs have associations with old home remedies. A lot of them work. Some are dangerous. Marijuana is an herb also, as is tobacco. My guess is, the author did some research on thyme before writing the story. For me, the title is what drew me in the first place. It wouldn't have worked on me with the more commonplace title of "The Pot Fiend." Subtle ingenuity is a great literary tool.
And all of that misses the whole point of the story: the sad tale of a couple of local outcasts, Jimmy Tooth and Emmet Wallace, to say nothing of Gretel Lawler. In the comments on the Tor website, readers wanted a more conclusive ending and full explanations.
Why? What's wrong with thinking about a story for a bit and drawing some conclusions on your own. If Jeffrey Ford had wanted a "Twilight"-esque love story about two pot-smoking teens in 1915, then he would've written that story instead. Go figure.
This story is a great ghost story/historical fiction mashup that works very well. One reviewer asked why not marijuana instead of thyme? That's answered within the story: it was an old-country cure for night terrors. A lot of herbs have associations with old home remedies. A lot of them work. Some are dangerous. Marijuana is an herb also, as is tobacco. My guess is, the author did some research on thyme before writing the story. For me, the title is what drew me in the first place. It wouldn't have worked on me with the more commonplace title of "The Pot Fiend." Subtle ingenuity is a great literary tool.
And all of that misses the whole point of the story: the sad tale of a couple of local outcasts, Jimmy Tooth and Emmet Wallace, to say nothing of Gretel Lawler. In the comments on the Tor website, readers wanted a more conclusive ending and full explanations.
Why? What's wrong with thinking about a story for a bit and drawing some conclusions on your own. If Jeffrey Ford had wanted a "Twilight"-esque love story about two pot-smoking teens in 1915, then he would've written that story instead. Go figure.
January 27, 2020
( part of BookRiot's read harder 2020 challenge - 17 -Read a sci-fi/fantasy novella (under 120 pages))
This story is a little bland, in my opinion. The style was nice, but the story was slow and a little unsatisfying
This story is a little bland, in my opinion. The style was nice, but the story was slow and a little unsatisfying
November 6, 2015
Interesting short. I liked the period and setting feel of it, although some parts could have done with more development. I also loved the idea of one commenter at tor.com that SPOILER ALERT Gretel may be part of Emmet's imagination rather than a real girl. I would certainly improve the story for me, but I don't think the ending matches this interpretation although it certainly doesn't make it impossible. In any case, I wouldn't have noticed unless I had read the comment.
With regards to Jefrey Ford, I find him an incredibly uneven writer. Some of his stories I have utterly loved (The Empire of Icecream, The night whisky) others such as the Thyme fiend I find ok but I'm not blown over by them, and some others I leave me very disappointed. I got the Drowned life and I dnf because I had the feeling that after reading the night whisky and having been utterly baffled as to why the 2 or 3 other stories I had read had even been published, let alone published in the same collection as the Night Whisky, I felt there was nothing left for me in thet collection.
I would love for someone to point me out in the direction of a collection of the "Best of" Jeffrey Ford, as I am sure that it must be sublime if chosen with the right criteria. Nevertheless I don't feel like paying for a whole collection again to read 1 story
With regards to Jefrey Ford, I find him an incredibly uneven writer. Some of his stories I have utterly loved (The Empire of Icecream, The night whisky) others such as the Thyme fiend I find ok but I'm not blown over by them, and some others I leave me very disappointed. I got the Drowned life and I dnf because I had the feeling that after reading the night whisky and having been utterly baffled as to why the 2 or 3 other stories I had read had even been published, let alone published in the same collection as the Night Whisky, I felt there was nothing left for me in thet collection.
I would love for someone to point me out in the direction of a collection of the "Best of" Jeffrey Ford, as I am sure that it must be sublime if chosen with the right criteria. Nevertheless I don't feel like paying for a whole collection again to read 1 story
coletâneas-coletados
January 10, 2025Li aqui, marquei lido aqui: Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2015 edition.
Vou começar essa resenha dizendo que eu sou muito impressionável, eu fico com medo muito fácil, e quando o personagem está com medo, eu também fico com medo -- principalmente se for um medo bem escrito. Gostei muito do conto, achei bem amarrado e a parte de terror do conto foi bem utilizada, o fantasma tinha seus motivos e a história terminou num tom muito bonito. Além de tudo, eu fiquei com aquele verso parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, então só vitórias.
Vou começar essa resenha dizendo que eu sou muito impressionável, eu fico com medo muito fácil, e quando o personagem está com medo, eu também fico com medo -- principalmente se for um medo bem escrito. Gostei muito do conto, achei bem amarrado e a parte de terror do conto foi bem utilizada, o fantasma tinha seus motivos e a história terminou num tom muito bonito. Além de tudo, eu fiquei com aquele verso parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, então só vitórias.
August 14, 2021
The Thyme Fiend by Jeffrey Ford is a short story that takes a very simple idea. Ford creates imaginary and visions like no one else and many of his short stories start with simple ideas. This story sees Fourteen-year-old Emmett Wallace who sees dark visions that can only be suppressed by taking the herb thyme, Emmett needs thyme tea to keep nightmares away at night. The very idea is just so deeply imaginative. Ford puts this subtle imagery to full effect which taps into the nostalgia of childhood and also the nightmares we conjure.
The rural setting of early 20th century Ohio, only adds to the subtle imagery. Ford is a natural storyteller and this story has all the classic hallmarks of the weird genre.
Haunting visions, dark imagery, beautiful prose and a well-crafted story.
The rural setting of early 20th century Ohio, only adds to the subtle imagery. Ford is a natural storyteller and this story has all the classic hallmarks of the weird genre.
Haunting visions, dark imagery, beautiful prose and a well-crafted story.
March 26, 2015
The great thing about Jeffrey Ford's writing is that he can take a simple concept--a boy sees dark visions that can only be suppressed by thyme--and spin it into a deeply imaginative tale. He does that in high fashion with THE THYME FIEND, a charming tale that simultaneously will have readers filled with nostalgia for simpler childhood times and wonder at Ford's uniquely subtle imagination. I loved the story so much that I gifted a copy to a friend of mine. This is one that you'll want to share!
October 17, 2015
A great mystery novella with a supernatural twist, set in a past where America was young. The main character is a young man scared by his supernatural powers. These powers help him find the skeleton of a simpleminded man that vanished some time ago. Unfortunately the dead man spirit starts appearing, and the only way for the protagonist to keep him away and to not be labeled the weirdo of town is through the ingestion of thyme. I particularly liked the depiction of the community, and the almost nostalgic portrait of a society and of a culture that does not exist anymore.
November 14, 2016
The Thyme Fiend is a creative and very creepy short from Jeffrey Ford. Emmet is a young teen who sees terrible visions unless he consumes thyme at fairly regular intervals. But eventually he discovered that these visions are perhaps important, even though they almost get him killed. The prose is beautiful, turning a story readers have heard before into something new. My central complaint, however, is that the story really felt like it needed a novella or a book. There were too many characters with motivations that needed to be fleshed out, though the story was enjoyable never the less.
August 3, 2016
"The Thyme Fiend" by Jeffrey Ford was a fantastic short read.
I read this in part of the TOR.com free e-book short story collection, this tells the story of a young boy who can see the dead and has to consumer thyme to keep the monsters at bay. I don't want to say much more but the ending was beautiful in my opinion.
8/10
I read this in part of the TOR.com free e-book short story collection, this tells the story of a young boy who can see the dead and has to consumer thyme to keep the monsters at bay. I don't want to say much more but the ending was beautiful in my opinion.
8/10
December 29, 2015
Powerful and creepy story of a kid who sees demons and ghosts when he doesn't get his thyme. I started this months ago but got sidetracked, finally finished it on the plane yesterday.
June 1, 2016
Wow!
Review to come!
Review to come!
December 2, 2015
A beautifully written ghost story.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews