The bestselling novel that inspired Mervyn LeRoy’s classic horror film about the little girl who can get away with anything—even murder. There’s something special about eight-year-old Rhoda Penmark. With her carefully plaited hair and her sweet cotton dresses, she’s the very picture of old-fashioned innocence. But when their neighborhood suffers a series of terrible accidents, her mother begins … her mother begins to wonder: Why do bad things seem to happen when little Rhoda is around?
Originally published in 1954, William March’s final novel was an instant bestseller and National Book Award finalist before it was adapted for the stage and made into a 1956 film. The Bad Seed is an indelible portrait of an evil that wears an innocent face, one which still resonates in popular culture today.
With a new foreword by Anna Holmes.
Vintage Movie Classics spotlights classic films that have stood the test of time, now rediscovered through the publication of the novels on which they were based.
more
Rhoda Penmark is not your ordinary little girl, and her mother, Christine, senses that something is off about her child. There’s a cold, calculating way about Rhoda that makes her mother uneasy and hesitant to confront her innermost fears regarding her daughter. Others are troubled by Rhoda’s odd behavior and shy away from her. Even the devious, troublemaking maintenance worker, LeRoy Jessup, senses that there’s something amiss about Rhoda. When he catches her alone he taunts her and lets her know he’s got her all figured out. Does he? But then there’s Christine’s wise and intelligent neighbor, Monica Breedlove, who’s intimately acquainted with Rhoda and adores the child. Who’s assessment about little Rhoda stands true? After all, she can be quite sweet with those whom she likes. But it’s quite different when the reverse is true, or if you have something she wants.
I loved listening to this book!! It took me back to the 1956 film of the same name starring Patty McCormack as young Sociopath, Rhoda Penmark. The book was written in 1954, and it was excellent!! Slightly different from the movie version and a bit more detailed. The author is a highly proficient writer and I was frequently caught up by his expressions and viewpoints on various topics and subject matter. Although Rhoda’s behavior factors prominently in the story, this book is not about a child’s murderous rampage. It was written in 1954 after all. It equally focuses on Rhoda’s mother and how she handles the truth about who her daughter really is.
This book was excellent and I highly recommend it. The audio narrator, Elizabeth Wiley, did an INCREDIBLE job portraying each character—both male and female. Her portrayal of Rhoda was so similar to how the young girl sounded in the movie I was enthralled!! Fantastic job.
Thank you, Tantor Audio, for a complimentary download of The Bad Seed. All opinions about it are honest and entirely my own.
I saw the movie many, many years ago before I read the book, and the novel is just as horrifying as the movie (which was made in the 1950s but still holds up today). It was one of the first books about serial killers who are children. It is unnerving to read at night, so if you are in the mood for that sort of thing, this is the book for you. So good! Loved the cast in the movie too. Don’t miss that either.
This was a nice surprise to discover. William March was one of those deeply flawed types he reveals in this story. He had a troubling childhood by all accounts and worked it out in his psychological fiction. His novels didn’t sell well until this one, which made his name just as he lay on his death bed. He had been known in New York as the writer’s writer, underrated and unnoticed for too long. I imagine a young writer like Patricia Highsmith was surely paying attention at the time.
March clearly put everything into this tale, mining all those depths of human nature he knew all too well. In the story, attractive but ordinary and well-meaning Christine Penmark gradually sees her worst fears about her perfect yet strange daughter confirmed, and before long those fears only double and grow. What must a mother do when her own child might be a serial killer? What must that mother do once she dares to look deeper and discovers about herself?
The consequences are chilling and steaming with bloody truths about the human condition. This is more than a psychological thriller but can just as well be read for entertainment. March keeps the story moving, all while exploring his characters’ deepest needs and fears, revealing them all even as his characters do their best to conceal who they truly are. March’s craft is a wonder. He often presents Christine fearing what’s wrong with her daughter while in social situations, putting on a brave face even as she’s aching and eventually imploding in her thoughts—not an easy thing to pull off without diverting the reader. He chose and drew his cast of characters expertly, to bring out the worst. Setting plays its part. Just as Christine begins to sense her worst fears, worrying just where to turn, the rain comes and “the gutters were overflowing, and water ran down to the courtyard with a quarrelsome sound so close to speech that you felt, if you listened more attentively, you could surely know its meaning.”
All the elements serve the story, which is only about creepy little Rhoda Penmark on the surface. It’s really about who we are deep down, where we come from, the horrors we may be wired for. Sometimes, what we do to avoid the worst will create the only thing worse. March understood that.
Horror at its finest.
Rhoda Penmark is an eight year old little girl. She’s smart, precocious, cunning, and cute. She’s also a psychopath. This novel raises issues about the origins of “evil,” (is it inherited or is it learned?) and sent more than one chill up my spine.
I was as riveted by little Rhoda’s twisted antics (when things don’t go her way, very bad things happen) as I was by her mother’s dawning horror as she realizes who – or rather, what – her daughter really is.
Highly recommended to lovers of horror and psychological thrillers.
I love this book. I’ve seen the movie many times before reading the book and the movie is very true to the book. Just a really good read on the psychology of human nature, very, very interesting, highly recommend.
I read it years ago and I still remember it. If I remember it then it’s a good book!!
Really enjoyed this book. I saw the movie many years ago as a teenager and it stayed with me all these years. When i saw the book i had to read it!! It was like watching the movie all over again, i could picture each character. Didn’t want it to end yet couldn’t wait to get thru it. Loved it!
The Bad Seed was published long before the idea of child murderers crept into the public consciousness and its ending is far more realistic and terrifying than the 1954 movie, excellent as that film was. Brilliant and compelling. Originality of the first order!
Has to be one of the best books I have read! Disturbing, and keeps your attention