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Bad Things
The house has been in his family for generations. But it really belongs to them…
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 who stole the soul of his twin brother Robin one Halloween night.
Now a widower with two children of his own, Rick has returned home to build a new life. He wants to believe the greenjacks don't exist, that they were a figment of his own childish fears and the vicious torment he suffered at the hands of his brother. But he can still see and hear them, and they haven't forgotten that Rick escaped them so long ago. And this time, they don't just want Rick. This time they want his children…
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 who stole the soul of his twin brother Robin one Halloween night.
Now a widower with two children of his own, Rick has returned home to build a new life. He wants to believe the greenjacks don't exist, that they were a figment of his own childish fears and the vicious torment he suffered at the hands of his brother. But he can still see and hear them, and they haven't forgotten that Rick escaped them so long ago. And this time, they don't just want Rick. This time they want his children…
424 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2002
38 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
Tamara Thorne
75 books291 followersTamara Thorne has collected ghost stories, true and fictional, since she saw her first Twilight Zone as a tot, and continues to this day. In addition to writing novels and stories of the paranormal, she also writes non-fiction and is an active ghost hunter. She makes her home in southern California with her husband and their feline family and when she’s not writing, can be found haunting ghost towns, phantom-filled hotel rooms, and other spooky places. Tamara loves to hear from her readers. Whether you have questions or comments or would like to share your own ghostly experience,come visit her at her website www.tamarathorne.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
January 24, 2022
Thorne serves up another winner here in one of her first novels. Throne has a definite knack in writing colorful, believable characters put in strange situations. Bad Things, originally published in 1994 under the title Panic revolves around our main protagonist Rick Piper. The Piper family moved to Southern California in the 19th century and built a sprawling mansion of eclectic style to say the least. Generations of Pipers have lived there, but the story starts off in the 1970s. Rick, along with his twin (but legless) brother about age 7. Rick has been blessed (or cursed) with the Piper 'sight', which allows him to see the small 'greenjacks' who come out at night and frolic in the yard of the estate.
As a young boy, Rick's grandfather told Rick and Robin about the greenjacks-- usually pretty harmless, but always seeking ways to 'take over' your body. It seems the greenjacks have no sensations without donning a human body, but once they take the body, the soul if you will is ostracized until the body dies, leaving the greenjack in control. Once separated from the rest of the greenjacks, however, the possessing greenjacks tend to turn nasty and mean. This seemed to have happened to Robin one night as he fell from a tree and awoke possessed. Now, no one would believe Rick about Robin, but Robin just got meaner and meaner.
We learn much of the backstory as the book progresses via flashbacks to certain times and events. Thorne handles this nicely as we can really see Ricky as a troubled little boy. The actual story starts with Rick and his two kids in Vegas after 20 years or so since he fled/left the Piper estate. He still owns it and his horrible aunt lives there with her nasty poodles; the old caretakers for the estate live there also. Rick, worried about his 16 yo daughter in Vegas, decides to head back to the estate and start life anew; little does he know that things in the Piper estate have a long memory...
Thorne has a real engaging writing style and her humor floats off the page, albeit rather darkly at times. The characters live and breathe even when they find themselves in nasty or awkward situations. Throne reminds me quite a bit of D.A. Fowler and if you have not read her work, you should fix that ASAP. Highly recommended for horror fans and well off the beaten track of old horror motifs. 4 green stars!!
As a young boy, Rick's grandfather told Rick and Robin about the greenjacks-- usually pretty harmless, but always seeking ways to 'take over' your body. It seems the greenjacks have no sensations without donning a human body, but once they take the body, the soul if you will is ostracized until the body dies, leaving the greenjack in control. Once separated from the rest of the greenjacks, however, the possessing greenjacks tend to turn nasty and mean. This seemed to have happened to Robin one night as he fell from a tree and awoke possessed. Now, no one would believe Rick about Robin, but Robin just got meaner and meaner.
We learn much of the backstory as the book progresses via flashbacks to certain times and events. Thorne handles this nicely as we can really see Ricky as a troubled little boy. The actual story starts with Rick and his two kids in Vegas after 20 years or so since he fled/left the Piper estate. He still owns it and his horrible aunt lives there with her nasty poodles; the old caretakers for the estate live there also. Rick, worried about his 16 yo daughter in Vegas, decides to head back to the estate and start life anew; little does he know that things in the Piper estate have a long memory...
Thorne has a real engaging writing style and her humor floats off the page, albeit rather darkly at times. The characters live and breathe even when they find themselves in nasty or awkward situations. Throne reminds me quite a bit of D.A. Fowler and if you have not read her work, you should fix that ASAP. Highly recommended for horror fans and well off the beaten track of old horror motifs. 4 green stars!!
January 23, 2008
Tamara Thorne, Bad Things (Pinnacle, 1994)
I had thought the "classic" horror novel was dead. All the good stuff in the last decade or so has been splatterpunk, ecohorror, the horror of absence, and the like. The fine, atmospheric horror novel with one of the classic buggity-boos has been relegated to the short story, the Ravenloft novel, or (ugh) Anne Rice.
Or so I thought. Then I discovered the novels of Tamara Thorne. Bad Things is one of them. It's a novel about a haunted house, with shades of The Green Man thrown in for good measure. And it's a stunner.
Rick Piper, at the beginning of the story, is a good kid with a bad problem-he had inherited the family curse of being able to see the Greenjacks, little shadow-like creatures whose sole aim in life is to swap themselves with a human soul and inhabit the human's body. Only a few male members of the Piper clan can see them, and Rick is one of them. His twin brother Robin can't, and Robin, though basically another good kid, teases him about them mercifully. On Halloween during their seven-year-old year, Rick is attacked by Big Jack, the physical manifestation of the Greenjacks everyone can see, who can only form on Halloween night. In the process of saving Rick, Robin is knocked unconscious, and when he wakes up, he has become rather a nasty character. Has he been possessed by a greenjack, or did he suffer brain damage in the fall? The answer to this question haunts Rick, who eventually convinces himself (after fleeing the family estate to Las Vegas) that the greenjacks were all in his head, and that his brother was just an evil kid. All well and good until Rick, a widower in his forties with two kids of his own, wants to get his kids away from the easy, loose lifestyle of Vegas, and moves them back to the family estate, where he starts seeing little green men again...
Various pieces of Bad Things remided me, more than anything, of Paula Trachtman's extreme-horror classic Disturb Not the Dream (okay, it was extreme when it came out. Today it'd barely rate a PG if made into a movie. But that's beside the point). Big old haunted house, crazy relatives, secret passages, incest, dead animals (Tamara Thorne must really hate toy poodles, but then, doesn't everyone?), murky ponds, dead kids, ghosties, ghoulies, long-leggetie beasties, it's all here. While Thorne doesn't go to the same lengths Trachtman did, she adds on some wonderful twists, including the crossdressing best friend of the protagonist, Dakota, who plays combination psychotherapist and matchmaker for Rick; the old nanny, who has stayed on as caretaker and is one of the few people who really believes Rick is seeing ghosts; and, most notably, a refreshing absence of the token religious figure who faces the demons and is destroyed. (It's just too easy a cliché these days.) Thorne is one of those authors who can pen a five-hundred-page novel and have the reader turning pages and staying up late in the night to finish it over the course of a long weekend, and Bad Things definitely fits that mold. Thorne is one of the fantastic new voices in horror, and deserves to be heard by many more people than she has thus far. ****
I had thought the "classic" horror novel was dead. All the good stuff in the last decade or so has been splatterpunk, ecohorror, the horror of absence, and the like. The fine, atmospheric horror novel with one of the classic buggity-boos has been relegated to the short story, the Ravenloft novel, or (ugh) Anne Rice.
Or so I thought. Then I discovered the novels of Tamara Thorne. Bad Things is one of them. It's a novel about a haunted house, with shades of The Green Man thrown in for good measure. And it's a stunner.
Rick Piper, at the beginning of the story, is a good kid with a bad problem-he had inherited the family curse of being able to see the Greenjacks, little shadow-like creatures whose sole aim in life is to swap themselves with a human soul and inhabit the human's body. Only a few male members of the Piper clan can see them, and Rick is one of them. His twin brother Robin can't, and Robin, though basically another good kid, teases him about them mercifully. On Halloween during their seven-year-old year, Rick is attacked by Big Jack, the physical manifestation of the Greenjacks everyone can see, who can only form on Halloween night. In the process of saving Rick, Robin is knocked unconscious, and when he wakes up, he has become rather a nasty character. Has he been possessed by a greenjack, or did he suffer brain damage in the fall? The answer to this question haunts Rick, who eventually convinces himself (after fleeing the family estate to Las Vegas) that the greenjacks were all in his head, and that his brother was just an evil kid. All well and good until Rick, a widower in his forties with two kids of his own, wants to get his kids away from the easy, loose lifestyle of Vegas, and moves them back to the family estate, where he starts seeing little green men again...
Various pieces of Bad Things remided me, more than anything, of Paula Trachtman's extreme-horror classic Disturb Not the Dream (okay, it was extreme when it came out. Today it'd barely rate a PG if made into a movie. But that's beside the point). Big old haunted house, crazy relatives, secret passages, incest, dead animals (Tamara Thorne must really hate toy poodles, but then, doesn't everyone?), murky ponds, dead kids, ghosties, ghoulies, long-leggetie beasties, it's all here. While Thorne doesn't go to the same lengths Trachtman did, she adds on some wonderful twists, including the crossdressing best friend of the protagonist, Dakota, who plays combination psychotherapist and matchmaker for Rick; the old nanny, who has stayed on as caretaker and is one of the few people who really believes Rick is seeing ghosts; and, most notably, a refreshing absence of the token religious figure who faces the demons and is destroyed. (It's just too easy a cliché these days.) Thorne is one of those authors who can pen a five-hundred-page novel and have the reader turning pages and staying up late in the night to finish it over the course of a long weekend, and Bad Things definitely fits that mold. Thorne is one of the fantastic new voices in horror, and deserves to be heard by many more people than she has thus far. ****
January 27, 2016
I am ashamed to say that I first discovered this author back in 1996, when I first read her book, Haunted. I loved that book, but for some reason never looked for more of her stuff. I finally did and am kicking myself for not reading more sooner. This is such a great book!
This is the story of Rick Piper, who has the "sight". He can see the greenjacks. which are tiny, mischievous little demons that terrorized him throughout his childhood. He grew up hearing about the tales of the greenjacks and how many Pipers throughout his family's history could see them like he could. But his parents couldn't see them, and his twin brother Robin couldn't see them. Robin teased him horribly throughout his childhood for this. Rick was convinced that if he talked about what he could say too much, everyone would think he was crazy. He almost believe that himself.
Rick's childhood is one trauma after another. I don't want to say too much, because part of what I loved about this book is how we gradually found out what happened in flashbacks intermixed with Rick's life today. He's a widower with 2 children, and a successful writer and he decides to move back to the family home and needs to confront a lot of his past along with what is still going on. You may think you know where this story is going, but trust me, you do not.
I highly recommend this book to anyone into horror. And I will be reading more Tamara Thorne immediately!
This is the story of Rick Piper, who has the "sight". He can see the greenjacks. which are tiny, mischievous little demons that terrorized him throughout his childhood. He grew up hearing about the tales of the greenjacks and how many Pipers throughout his family's history could see them like he could. But his parents couldn't see them, and his twin brother Robin couldn't see them. Robin teased him horribly throughout his childhood for this. Rick was convinced that if he talked about what he could say too much, everyone would think he was crazy. He almost believe that himself.
Rick's childhood is one trauma after another. I don't want to say too much, because part of what I loved about this book is how we gradually found out what happened in flashbacks intermixed with Rick's life today. He's a widower with 2 children, and a successful writer and he decides to move back to the family home and needs to confront a lot of his past along with what is still going on. You may think you know where this story is going, but trust me, you do not.
I highly recommend this book to anyone into horror. And I will be reading more Tamara Thorne immediately!
October 27, 2010
This book was so creepy. I still think about it even though it's been months.
August 11, 2014
My review from 2002:
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?
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?
February 8, 2015
Surprisingly great read from a new (to me) author. Rick struggles to keep his family safe from the past when he moves back into his childhood home. Bad memories live in every room from all the times his maniacal brother tormented him. There's also the issue of the greenjacks, dangerous elemental sprites that only he can see. Can he save his children Cody and Shelly from suffering at the hands of the same evil he did?
Great characters and a really unique story. Glad I picked this one up!
Great characters and a really unique story. Glad I picked this one up!
October 7, 2012
A classic horror story. Very enjoyable from beginning to end!
May 25, 2022
Bad Things, Tamara Thorne, 1994
My favorite quote: “Icky Ricky, icky Ricky, come out and play.” (I hear that in my sleep sometimes …)
Notable characters: Rick Piper, a single father looking to rebuild his life; Robin Piper, Rick’s abbreviated (and very creepy) little brother; Jade Ewebean, their wonderfully nasty aunt; Dakota O’Keefe, Rick’s good friend; Big Jack, a dude you don’t want to meet on Halloween night
Most memorable scene: There are a lot of pretty unforgettable moments in Bad Things, but for me, it was Robin and the frog — because Jesus #*@%ing Christ. I’d like to be a little more specific, but I want to see your face when you get to that part. I won’t be able to see your face, of course, because that would mean I was watching you as closely as the greenjacks in Bad Things, but I can IMAGINE your face and that’s just as good
Greatest strengths: If Tamara Thorne excels at anything (and I happen to think she excels at a lot) it’s her characters. As is the case in all Tamara Thorne books, there are a lot of fascinating folks to get to know in Bad Things, human and otherworldly alike …
Standout achievements: For Bad Things, Tamara Thorne created a whole new monster — the greenjack — which she deftly brings to life (of sorts) in fascinating and terrifying detail (I’m a sucker for monsters I’ve never seen before and Tamara Thorne’s greenjacks top my list)
Fun Facts: Bad Things was previously published under the title, Panic, by Pocket Books. Get it? PANic??
Other media: N/A, but if they make Bad Things into a movie, I’m going to make Tamara Thorne watch it with me and use my terror as an excuse to fall all over her and act like one of those annoying teenage girls in movie theaters. Also, I’m going to buy her Red Vines. I will not, however, be sharing my gummy bears. The gummy bears are mine. Always. It’s a fact
What it taught me: That terror doesn’t always wear the same face. Bad Things made me afraid of things I never thought about being scared of before. Like tree leaves, for instance. And poodles. Thank you, dear Tamara Thorne, for giving me a whole new species of nightmares
How it inspired me: Tamara Thorne and I have been using greenjacks in our collaborative series, The Ravencrest Saga, and just recently (with Tamara’s approval, of course) I introduced these precious little monsters into my Crimson Cove series. When my book, The Midnight Ripper, comes out in 2022, you’ll catch glimpses of goldish-green eyes glinting in the forest beyond the Colter brothers’ cabin. Those are greenjacks -- and they’re waiting for just the right moment to come out and play
Additional thoughts: According to Tamara Thorne, Bad Things is based on a childhood game she liked to play in which she looked for faces in the ivy at night. She did it to scare herself because, to her, being scared is fun. I happen to agree with her on that. If I’m peeing a little, I’m happy
Hit or miss: Hit!
Haunt me: alistaircross.com
Read Bad Things: https://tinyurl.com/2u5t6vf9
My favorite quote: “Icky Ricky, icky Ricky, come out and play.” (I hear that in my sleep sometimes …)
Notable characters: Rick Piper, a single father looking to rebuild his life; Robin Piper, Rick’s abbreviated (and very creepy) little brother; Jade Ewebean, their wonderfully nasty aunt; Dakota O’Keefe, Rick’s good friend; Big Jack, a dude you don’t want to meet on Halloween night
Most memorable scene: There are a lot of pretty unforgettable moments in Bad Things, but for me, it was Robin and the frog — because Jesus #*@%ing Christ. I’d like to be a little more specific, but I want to see your face when you get to that part. I won’t be able to see your face, of course, because that would mean I was watching you as closely as the greenjacks in Bad Things, but I can IMAGINE your face and that’s just as good
Greatest strengths: If Tamara Thorne excels at anything (and I happen to think she excels at a lot) it’s her characters. As is the case in all Tamara Thorne books, there are a lot of fascinating folks to get to know in Bad Things, human and otherworldly alike …
Standout achievements: For Bad Things, Tamara Thorne created a whole new monster — the greenjack — which she deftly brings to life (of sorts) in fascinating and terrifying detail (I’m a sucker for monsters I’ve never seen before and Tamara Thorne’s greenjacks top my list)
Fun Facts: Bad Things was previously published under the title, Panic, by Pocket Books. Get it? PANic??
Other media: N/A, but if they make Bad Things into a movie, I’m going to make Tamara Thorne watch it with me and use my terror as an excuse to fall all over her and act like one of those annoying teenage girls in movie theaters. Also, I’m going to buy her Red Vines. I will not, however, be sharing my gummy bears. The gummy bears are mine. Always. It’s a fact
What it taught me: That terror doesn’t always wear the same face. Bad Things made me afraid of things I never thought about being scared of before. Like tree leaves, for instance. And poodles. Thank you, dear Tamara Thorne, for giving me a whole new species of nightmares
How it inspired me: Tamara Thorne and I have been using greenjacks in our collaborative series, The Ravencrest Saga, and just recently (with Tamara’s approval, of course) I introduced these precious little monsters into my Crimson Cove series. When my book, The Midnight Ripper, comes out in 2022, you’ll catch glimpses of goldish-green eyes glinting in the forest beyond the Colter brothers’ cabin. Those are greenjacks -- and they’re waiting for just the right moment to come out and play
Additional thoughts: According to Tamara Thorne, Bad Things is based on a childhood game she liked to play in which she looked for faces in the ivy at night. She did it to scare herself because, to her, being scared is fun. I happen to agree with her on that. If I’m peeing a little, I’m happy
Hit or miss: Hit!
Haunt me: alistaircross.com
Read Bad Things: https://tinyurl.com/2u5t6vf9
December 24, 2013
“Bad Things” by Tamara Thorne was certainly off the beaten trail for me. It deals with the ability of Rick Piper (an inherited ability) to see little human-like creatures called greenjacks, who generally frolic in the grass and trees and are usually working sinister deeds. Every Halloween, they are able to join together to make Big Jack, who is capable of taking little boys souls. I have never read anything like this. Rick has a twin brother, except for the fact that the twin, Robin, has no legs. Something happens one Halloween, and the after-effects haunt Rick all his days until he returns to where it all started, by now thinking that it was all just a childhood fantasy. As usual, Thorne creates a group of memorable and believable characters whom you can relate to. Her vivid descriptions of Robin navigating the house and its secret passages, along with other hi-jinks, were both creepy and funny at the same time. Poodle lover Aunt Jade, joined together with Robin, are two of the oddest characters I've ever met in a book. “Bad Things” brought out some of my long lost memories of childhood taunting, evoked some innate parental fears that I imagine all parents have, and didn’t slow down once it started. One thing I especially enjoy about Ms. Thorne’s work is that there are never any boring parts. In many other books you hit them and have to trudge through them to get back to the action or story line which you relate most to. In “Bad Things”, I was hooked from start to finish. Some scenes were horrifying, some just creepy, some delightfully wicked, and others quite funny. If you are looking for a unique read, give “Bad Things” a try. I highly recommend it.
October 19, 2017
Really torn on the stars to give -- I'd say 3.5.
The premise is good, the characters are likable, but the main character has to spend the book being thick as a brick for the events to happen.
Move into the house where you saw malevolent spirits as a kid? Where your parents were brutally murdered? Where you were convinced your brother was possessed? With all the secret passages? The house you cannot think about without nearly falling apart? Where animals die horribly? Where your incestuous, abusive, crazy aunt still lives? Where the food was often secretly defiled?
Yes, please, because it's a great place to raise kids?
To share the biggest thing he'd have to be stupid not to get would be a spoiler. It's okay, if you read the book, you'll know.
Also, the author really, really hates poodles. :) But likes cats.
Also2, the book being published 20 years ago made some of the stance toward LGBT character seem a tad, er, dated. Not crazy bigoted, just 20 years old.
A tendency toward general repetition that an editor should have fixed. This line was not, um, award winning"
Those houses had perfect paint and perfect yards, not a blade of grass out of place, while he had an award-winning collection of shaggy bushes and award-winning weeds.
The ending was pretty touching, so there's that. I thought of abandoning the book at 17%, but I actually did like the characters and was curious about what was going to happen.
The premise is good, the characters are likable, but the main character has to spend the book being thick as a brick for the events to happen.
Move into the house where you saw malevolent spirits as a kid? Where your parents were brutally murdered? Where you were convinced your brother was possessed? With all the secret passages? The house you cannot think about without nearly falling apart? Where animals die horribly? Where your incestuous, abusive, crazy aunt still lives? Where the food was often secretly defiled?
Yes, please, because it's a great place to raise kids?
To share the biggest thing he'd have to be stupid not to get would be a spoiler. It's okay, if you read the book, you'll know.
Also, the author really, really hates poodles. :) But likes cats.
Also2, the book being published 20 years ago made some of the stance toward LGBT character seem a tad, er, dated. Not crazy bigoted, just 20 years old.
A tendency toward general repetition that an editor should have fixed. This line was not, um, award winning"
Those houses had perfect paint and perfect yards, not a blade of grass out of place, while he had an award-winning collection of shaggy bushes and award-winning weeds.
The ending was pretty touching, so there's that. I thought of abandoning the book at 17%, but I actually did like the characters and was curious about what was going to happen.
March 27, 2013
When I read the back jacket that the protagonist Rick Piper was returning to the house he grew up in....I figured this can't be good. And, boy was I right.:) With childhood nightmares and memories of the greenjacks and his mean and nasty twin haunting Rick, it was a struggle to finally take back his late parents estate. Add in a truly disturbing, nympho aunt, that still lives in a part of the house....and you have one creepy tale. A very good haunting read, that will stick with you after the last page.
April 28, 2021
Some good writing but the plot is built on the premise that it is a good thing to move back to the place that messed you up as a kid so your kids won’t get messed up. There was just too much random stupidity on the part of the main characters just too forward the plot. Man takes kids back home where there are evil spirits around that only he can see, but when his 6 year old son starts talking to an invisible friend, that’s no problem- it’s cute. Really????
October 29, 2017
One heck of a long book and one heck of a great story! Weird story line but it sure worked. Strong characters, creepy story. I read this for my Halloween scare and it worked! It even takes place on Halloween -some of it anyway. I was completely blown away by the ending. The secrets revealed and what happens took me by surprise. A great horror!
February 20, 2022
[Snack-Size Review] Bad Things, by Tamara Thorne
Quick Bite: Deliciously scary, but so much more.
What It’s About: Seven-year-old Ricky Piper has always been able to see the Greenjacks - terrifying little nature-imps who surround the house he shares with his parents and twin brother Robin. But they can’t come into the house, so he is safe - until he isn’t. Now, as a newly widowed father, Ricky is compelled to return to his childhood home to face his worst nightmares. And they can’t wait to see him again.
A Word From The Nerd: My beloved Nerdlings, I am not OK. This book messed with my head and my heart and my sleep and my appetite. Ricky and Robin’s story was haunting, brutal and heartbreaking by turns. A terrified child, then an equally terrified but determined father, Ricky isn’t going to leave my thoughts any time soon. And although some aspects of the story touched on the more extreme end of the horror spectrum, which I tend to avoid (child sexual abuse/assault), the rest of the story and characters were so damn amazing, I couldn’t close this book if I wanted to. Which I didn’t.
The Nerd’s Rating: FIVE HAPPY NEURONS (and some fully-cooked and unlicked burgers.)
Quick Bite: Deliciously scary, but so much more.
What It’s About: Seven-year-old Ricky Piper has always been able to see the Greenjacks - terrifying little nature-imps who surround the house he shares with his parents and twin brother Robin. But they can’t come into the house, so he is safe - until he isn’t. Now, as a newly widowed father, Ricky is compelled to return to his childhood home to face his worst nightmares. And they can’t wait to see him again.
A Word From The Nerd: My beloved Nerdlings, I am not OK. This book messed with my head and my heart and my sleep and my appetite. Ricky and Robin’s story was haunting, brutal and heartbreaking by turns. A terrified child, then an equally terrified but determined father, Ricky isn’t going to leave my thoughts any time soon. And although some aspects of the story touched on the more extreme end of the horror spectrum, which I tend to avoid (child sexual abuse/assault), the rest of the story and characters were so damn amazing, I couldn’t close this book if I wanted to. Which I didn’t.
The Nerd’s Rating: FIVE HAPPY NEURONS (and some fully-cooked and unlicked burgers.)
January 31, 2020
When Ricky Piper was small, his twin brother Robin was taken by the greenjacks, amoral nature spirits that only certain people (such as Ricky) can see. Robin’s body still existed, but his mind became alien–and dangerous. Now it is decades later, and Rick Piper has his own children. Financial and family considerations make it a good idea to move back from Las Vegas to Santo Verde, the ancestral estate. Robin’s long dead, and maybe the greenjacks never existed. Surely the bad things are gone?
As widowed Rick moves back to California with his self-absorbed teen daughter Shelly and kindergartener Cody, it becomes obvious that he’s suppressed many of the memories of his traumatic childhood. His abusive aunt still lives in the family home, though she’s been separated into her own suite of rooms with her awful poodles (most of which have been stuffed.) The housekeeper and gardener live in a separate cottage, and avoid being in the main house at night. And no one’s looked in the secret passages for years, not since Rick’s parents were murdered by an unknown intruder.
Turns out the greenjacks are still real, even if only Rick and the family cat can see them. As Rick’s suppressed memories surface and assorted spooky things happen in the present day, readers will catch on to what’s really going on long before our protagonist. There’s a lot of seemingly obvious clues, but since Rick isn’t telling people large parts of the backstory, most other people don’t catch on either.
Quite a bit of the early flashbacks are more mildly gross than scary. Things pick up as Rick gets older.
Bonus diversity points for 1994 in that Rick’s sassy minority best friend is Dakota, a gay female impersonator. But it’s still a sassy minority best friend role. The love interest is heterosexual and cisgendered. Also an optometrist, which allows some semi-scientific talk about vision.
Robin was born without legs, which leads into some use of his “otherness” for spooky effect, but the author tries hard not to fall completely into ableism. (Not all the characters are as polite.) Content notes: child abuse, emotional abuse, rape, incest.
Despite the generic-sounding title (I expect a lot of people to find this review looking for other books and movies), this book has its own distinctive identity by the end and some genuinely funny bits.
Recommended for people who can deal with a bit of dated material in their horror.
As widowed Rick moves back to California with his self-absorbed teen daughter Shelly and kindergartener Cody, it becomes obvious that he’s suppressed many of the memories of his traumatic childhood. His abusive aunt still lives in the family home, though she’s been separated into her own suite of rooms with her awful poodles (most of which have been stuffed.) The housekeeper and gardener live in a separate cottage, and avoid being in the main house at night. And no one’s looked in the secret passages for years, not since Rick’s parents were murdered by an unknown intruder.
Turns out the greenjacks are still real, even if only Rick and the family cat can see them. As Rick’s suppressed memories surface and assorted spooky things happen in the present day, readers will catch on to what’s really going on long before our protagonist. There’s a lot of seemingly obvious clues, but since Rick isn’t telling people large parts of the backstory, most other people don’t catch on either.
Quite a bit of the early flashbacks are more mildly gross than scary. Things pick up as Rick gets older.
Bonus diversity points for 1994 in that Rick’s sassy minority best friend is Dakota, a gay female impersonator. But it’s still a sassy minority best friend role. The love interest is heterosexual and cisgendered. Also an optometrist, which allows some semi-scientific talk about vision.
Robin was born without legs, which leads into some use of his “otherness” for spooky effect, but the author tries hard not to fall completely into ableism. (Not all the characters are as polite.) Content notes: child abuse, emotional abuse, rape, incest.
Despite the generic-sounding title (I expect a lot of people to find this review looking for other books and movies), this book has its own distinctive identity by the end and some genuinely funny bits.
Recommended for people who can deal with a bit of dated material in their horror.
June 7, 2012
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 who stole the soul of his twin brother Robin one Halloween night.
Now a widower with two children of his own, Rick has returned home to build a new life. He wants to believe the greenjacks don't exist, that they were a figment of his own childish fears and the vicious torment he suffered at the hands of his brother. But he can still see and hear them, and they haven't forgotten that Rick escaped them so long ago. And this time, they don't just want Rick. This time they want his children..............
Just finished this book it took me a bit of time but it was well worth it. I love all the well shaped characters and at the end was rooting for the lead ones. Great book from beginning to end. :-)
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 who stole the soul of his twin brother Robin one Halloween night.
Now a widower with two children of his own, Rick has returned home to build a new life. He wants to believe the greenjacks don't exist, that they were a figment of his own childish fears and the vicious torment he suffered at the hands of his brother. But he can still see and hear them, and they haven't forgotten that Rick escaped them so long ago. And this time, they don't just want Rick. This time they want his children..............
Just finished this book it took me a bit of time but it was well worth it. I love all the well shaped characters and at the end was rooting for the lead ones. Great book from beginning to end. :-)
October 15, 2015
With the 'greenjacks' of 'Bad Things', Tamara Thorne has successfully created beings that feels both classic (reminiscent of leprechauns and the like and you do well to hide from them on Halloween of all times :-)) and at the same time are something new.
The story starts in the early 70's, when a couple of twins' lives get horribly affected by the greenjacks. We then meet one of them, Ricky, as an adult, going back to confront what he now believes were his childhood delusions.
Lots of classic horror elements, some genuinely frightening ingredients, great characters and an old mansion/garden with an unprecedented number of secret/hidden passages and tunnels(!). Recommended for fans of classic ghost stories and 'modern horror' both.
The story starts in the early 70's, when a couple of twins' lives get horribly affected by the greenjacks. We then meet one of them, Ricky, as an adult, going back to confront what he now believes were his childhood delusions.
Lots of classic horror elements, some genuinely frightening ingredients, great characters and an old mansion/garden with an unprecedented number of secret/hidden passages and tunnels(!). Recommended for fans of classic ghost stories and 'modern horror' both.
October 27, 2015
A short take:
Thorne's prose is good and the story treads some eerie and occasionally gross territory. The beginning of the story is dynamite.
More thoughts:
Thorne concocts some depraved material and then applies it sparingly, using just enough to keep the story weird and compelling, without going for a full-on gross-out that, likely, would incur fatigue. I loved the creatures she created and how she used them in the story. The supernatural elements fit well with the story. I actually wish that Thorne and given more pages to this material, which speaks to a savvy approach to fantastic elements. Thorne is a new name for me and she has a number of other books, which I will certainly sample in the future.
Thorne's prose is good and the story treads some eerie and occasionally gross territory. The beginning of the story is dynamite.
More thoughts:
Thorne concocts some depraved material and then applies it sparingly, using just enough to keep the story weird and compelling, without going for a full-on gross-out that, likely, would incur fatigue. I loved the creatures she created and how she used them in the story. The supernatural elements fit well with the story. I actually wish that Thorne and given more pages to this material, which speaks to a savvy approach to fantastic elements. Thorne is a new name for me and she has a number of other books, which I will certainly sample in the future.
January 15, 2008
My least favorite subject in books or movies is hauntings. However, this one was pretty good. I liked my characters and there was a certain amount of fun involved. It didn't seem to take itself too seriously.
December 12, 2007
I loved this book and found a new horror author I just love.This story was just so good.
July 27, 2010
Awesome book
August 15, 2023
I read a lot of horror and I'm shocked that I've never heard of Tamara Thorne. I only read this novel because my library app recommended it as similar to Silver Nitrate. Wow, the first three chapters are as horrifying as I've ever read. I was actually grateful that Thorne cut the tension by flash forwarding twenty years and moving the setting to sunny Las Vegas. After that impromptu frog dissection, I was grateful to get the hell away from Santo Verde. The expression "you can never go home again" should be changed in this novel to DON'T GO HOME!!!!! Dakota may be a good friend, but she gives really really bad advice. A transgender character like Dakota appearing in a mid-nineties horror novel (and not as the villain) is pretty unusual. However, Thorne and the novel's characters repeatedly misgender her and treat her identity as something amusing and novel. Making the main villain be legless and constantly referred to as a freak probably would be flagged as too insensitive for contemporary horror as well. The book never regains the level of tension and horror of the first three chapters, though it's still quite scary. What made those chapters so scary was they were told by a child's pov. The greenjacks aren't that scary from an adult POV. Thorne switched from the main character Rick's pov to other characters, but never Cody. I would've loved to read about his first encounter with "Bob" and how Robin was able to gain his trust, and I don't know why Thorne chose not to give Cody the sight. I could've done without the explicit rape scene between Shelly and Robin. I think the book would've been scarier and more impactful if Ricky were the real bad guy. Thorne threw some red herrings out there in that regard, but decided on a more conventional good triumphs over evil finale. Once Robin was revealed to still be alive, everything that happened afterwards was pretty predictable. Rick may not be a murder/rapist, but he was a really shitty father. He essentially used his son Cody as bait, and should've anticipated that Carmen's cabin might have access tunnels. He was so wrapped up in getting revenge, he didn't care that his plan endangered his friend's and family (including Jade, his witch of an aunt). Terrifying at times, this novel loses steam at the end by trying to redeem all the character's actions including Robin's.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2021
Tamara Thorne is such an amazing author. Each book I read of Tamara Thorne I’m never disappointed! Each time I pick up one of her books and start reading I’m hooked on the first couple of pages. I love the way all her books keep you reading and wanting more. I never want to stop reading or to put the book down to come back to my real world (to my job that pays me to buy her books and other authors books). This book “Bad Things” I would recommend everyone to read it; the young and old, anyone that’s ever read any of Tamara Throne’s books this one would be a wonderful book to get you started to check out her work.
I was cheering on Rick Piper, the younger twin brother, the single father of two children and a writer. Rick was tormented by his twin brother Robin (who looked like Rick but had a disability.) Poor Rick that had so many family horror drama’s throughout his early childhood that continued in his teenage years that always made him feel like he was a weakling, a scaredy-cat as well as teased by his twin brother who would call him names “Icky Ricky” and tell him he was crazy. Robin always reminding Ricky that everyone would think he was just a crazed lunatic!
Rick and has moved away for has two children his wife has passed. Then one day out of nowhere, Rick’s life is about to change again. Rick has decided he has to move his children back to his hometown back to his childhood home. This is when Rick had to prove his childhood caretaker, his children, the new lady in his life and his old friend (who is the brother to his new lady in Rick’s life brother) Dakota
but most importantly to himself that he isn’t a crazed lunatic, a scaredy-cat or a weakling. No, Rick Piper will prove he is a loving father, a loving brother, a brave friend and a protective loving, caring boyfriend to everyone. But mostly Rick is his own Hero of his childhood horror story that has followed him all his life!
I was cheering on Rick Piper, the younger twin brother, the single father of two children and a writer. Rick was tormented by his twin brother Robin (who looked like Rick but had a disability.) Poor Rick that had so many family horror drama’s throughout his early childhood that continued in his teenage years that always made him feel like he was a weakling, a scaredy-cat as well as teased by his twin brother who would call him names “Icky Ricky” and tell him he was crazy. Robin always reminding Ricky that everyone would think he was just a crazed lunatic!
Rick and has moved away for has two children his wife has passed. Then one day out of nowhere, Rick’s life is about to change again. Rick has decided he has to move his children back to his hometown back to his childhood home. This is when Rick had to prove his childhood caretaker, his children, the new lady in his life and his old friend (who is the brother to his new lady in Rick’s life brother) Dakota
but most importantly to himself that he isn’t a crazed lunatic, a scaredy-cat or a weakling. No, Rick Piper will prove he is a loving father, a loving brother, a brave friend and a protective loving, caring boyfriend to everyone. But mostly Rick is his own Hero of his childhood horror story that has followed him all his life!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2025
I really, really wanted to like this book. The characters were charming and felt real (especially Dakota, who reminded me of one of my old mentors), the greenjacks were genuinely frightening, the looming dread that was built as each of Rick's traumatic childhood memories came back to him was so well done. Did it stick the landing? No, not really, but I would've been fine with that.
What ultimately ruined this book for me was the gratuitous amounts of graphic incestuous sex and rape that seemed to take up the majority of the book's last half. Seriously, it felt as though the book switched genres midway through from a pretty solid supernatural horror to a gross exploration of kinks and taboos where everyone is horny all the time, and all our main characters can talk about it how horny they are while Rick also relives memories of his twin brother's incest baby that died. The scene with Shelly alone almost made me drop the book entirely.
I'm sure this is a good book. This book is not for me and isn't one I could ever recommend.
What ultimately ruined this book for me was the gratuitous amounts of graphic incestuous sex and rape that seemed to take up the majority of the book's last half. Seriously, it felt as though the book switched genres midway through from a pretty solid supernatural horror to a gross exploration of kinks and taboos where everyone is horny all the time, and all our main characters can talk about it how horny they are while Rick also relives memories of his twin brother's incest baby that died. The scene with Shelly alone almost made me drop the book entirely.
I'm sure this is a good book. This book is not for me and isn't one I could ever recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2021
Bad Things is a creepy story. A good book to read on and around Halloween.
Rick Piper returned to his childhood with his two children to confront his demons. As a child, he and his twin brother, Robin were told by their grandfather about the Green Jacks, a race of leafy monsters that roamed on Halloween. It was said that on Halloween night, the little green jacks would turn into Big Jack, a form of the pagan god, Pan and steal a child leaving a changeling in its stead.
Rick was always a sensitive child and one Halloween in 1975, his brother, Robin played a trick on him. He climbed onto an oak tree beside Rick's room, pretending that Jack was going to get Ricky.
Ricky climbed up the tree to save Robin, but the boy fell down. After this night, Robin was a changed child, playing tricks on Rick and spying on their parents as they made love amongst other sinister crimes. The book shocked me in places. It is both a psychological and supernatural novel.
Rick Piper returned to his childhood with his two children to confront his demons. As a child, he and his twin brother, Robin were told by their grandfather about the Green Jacks, a race of leafy monsters that roamed on Halloween. It was said that on Halloween night, the little green jacks would turn into Big Jack, a form of the pagan god, Pan and steal a child leaving a changeling in its stead.
Rick was always a sensitive child and one Halloween in 1975, his brother, Robin played a trick on him. He climbed onto an oak tree beside Rick's room, pretending that Jack was going to get Ricky.
Ricky climbed up the tree to save Robin, but the boy fell down. After this night, Robin was a changed child, playing tricks on Rick and spying on their parents as they made love amongst other sinister crimes. The book shocked me in places. It is both a psychological and supernatural novel.
April 30, 2021
Wow, I loved this book. Tamera Thorne is a new (to me) author that I've recently discovered and I'm tickled pink. It appears that Tamara has been writing since the early 90's and has quite an extensive back catalog of titles. I'm really looking forward to diving in and reading everything.
Bad Things has the feel and atmosphere of a the horror novels I used to read in the 80's when I was a teenager. I guess now you would call them vintage. This book is gritty, well-written, sometimes funny and downright scary. If you like tales that involve haunted old mansions with secret passages, Halloween and dirty old women, you'll love this book. A++
Bad Things has the feel and atmosphere of a the horror novels I used to read in the 80's when I was a teenager. I guess now you would call them vintage. This book is gritty, well-written, sometimes funny and downright scary. If you like tales that involve haunted old mansions with secret passages, Halloween and dirty old women, you'll love this book. A++
October 30, 2022
This book started out soooo good. But once the main character became an adult, it nose dived hard. The book is also extremely dated. I surprised to see that it was written only 20 years ago, it felt like an early 90s or even 80s book. The author's attempts at being progressive dated the book even worse and came off as transphobic and tokenism. The main characters actions seemed deliberately dumb to push the plot forward. The Vegas part was especially bad. Like his daughter was 16 and he had lived there for 20 years and he didn't realise it was a place he didn't want his kids to grow up in until he saw his daughter in a skimpy dress and noticed how big her boobs were?
June 3, 2022
Fun read, but...
...still, it was fun. I was sorry it wrapped up so quickly at the end, but where else could the story go.
...still, it was fun. I was sorry it wrapped up so quickly at the end, but where else could the story go.
May 5, 2021
Really unique!
I very much enjoyed these Bad Things. The premise was unique, and well executed. The characters were interesting and the story had plenty of creepiness and humor too!
I very much enjoyed these Bad Things. The premise was unique, and well executed. The characters were interesting and the story had plenty of creepiness and humor too!
June 21, 2022
Enjoyed book but thought it may have needed another chapter to finish things off. I think this is Tamara's first book, she has moved forward and wrote many better things but on a positive note its still heads and tails above other horror authors and a good read
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