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Bad Seed

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It's a shame this book has become all but unknown behind the enormously successful movie with its God-awful copout ending (although Patty McCormick's deliciously chilling perfomance of its anti-heroine is a gem in itself), because the book is infinitely better than the movie (I can't speak for the Broadway production because I never saw it). In fact, most people who saw or heard of 'The Bad Seed' as a play or a movie never knew it was derived from William March's terrific book.

March tells the story of Rhoda Penmark, eight years old, a devil lurking inside an angel's facade. To her adult neighbors, she's every parent's dream: obedient, unassuming, compliant, always neat and well-groomed, quiet, polite to her elders. She does her homework without being prodded and she gets all the answers correct on her Sunday school quiz. Those who know her more intimately suspect there's something ugly underneath all the surface charm; her peers can't stand her, her teachers see a disturbing lack of feeling or sensitivity in her, and her parents, who dote on her, wonder if she is capable of love, affection, remorse, or any of the characteristics that make us human. For Rhoda goes after what she wants with a single-minded purposefulness and anybody who gets in her way better watch out.

Rhoda's father is absent throughout all but the last few pages of the book (he's away on a business trip that is important to his career advancement), so Christine, her mother, is left to deal with Rhoda on her own. Christine is a fascinating character, one of the most tragic in contemporary fiction, a decent, compliant, earnest woman, whose identity is totally bound up in being a good wife and a devoted mother; what she learns about her own history shatters her world, especially when she realizes that her daughter is the 'bad seed' she unwittingly transmitted from her own diabolical mother. And as Christine cannot accept that she is blameless in this transmission, that she did not cause her daughter's criminal behavior any more than she caused her own mother's, so she feels she must not drag anyone else, even her husband, into her private hell; she created it, so she must deal with it alone, and it undoes her.

How else could Christine have acted, is left to the reader to speculate. I'm not going to tell how the book ended, except to say that it's a much more satisfying (because more realistic) ending than in the movie. But it's a spooky little gem of a horror story that deserves a much wider readership. It's well written, well plotted, and a great read. I loved it!

Judy Lind

Although first written in 1954, March's The Bad Seed has lost none of its vibrancy through the passage of time, and holds itself in the lead of creeping, stealthy horror that will curl your toes and straighten your hair.

Christine Penmark is a beautiful young wife, recently moved with her husband Kenneth and daughter Rhoda to a languid town, finding appropriate lodging, and enrolling their precocious little girl into the Fern Grammar School. With her husband away all summer on business, Christine's social life centers around Rhoda, her effervescent neighbor Mrs. Monica Breedlove, Monica's brother Emory, and the shifty groundskeeper Leroy Jessup.

Christine is a gentle and well-bred lady, and often looks upon her daughter's fastidious dress and immaculate room and wonders how she deserved such a beautiful, normal child. On the morning of the Fern Grammar School annual picnic, Rhoda is already up and dressed, her hair neatly braided, and eager to go. Christine and Mrs. Breedlove drop Rhoda off with the three aging Fern sisters, Miss Octavia, Miss Burgess, and Miss Claudia, who take the children to their old home at Pelican Bay.

When a little boy mysteriously drowns at the picnic, the same little boy who won the penmanship medal that Rhoda had wanted so badly, Christine's world begins to fall apart with doubts. Memories flood back to her of Rhoda's strange friendship with an old woman back in Baltimore who had promised Rhoda her opal necklace when she died, the same necklace that hangs in Rhoda's room. Memories of the school Rhoda was expelled from for telling lies and being "a cold, self-sufficient child who plays by her own rules".

Christine turns to Emory's friend Reginald Tasker, who is writing a novel about females who have committed atrocious murders, and in his research she finds something terribly familiar. In the meantime, the Fern Sisters have informed Christine that Rhoda will not be welcomed back next year to the Fern Grammar School, stating that "they can do nothing for her in their environment."

Christine begins to wonder, when she looks upon her daughter, whether she is gazing at the angel or the beast. As the summer unfolds, Christine digs deeper into Reginald's research, fearful of what she will find and terrified not to learn more of her and Rhoda's past, until Rhoda takes a bold step and openly shows her mother where the real truth lies.

The well-bred gentility of the characters, their languid and imperturbable lifestyles, is what gives The Bad Seed such creepiness. Looking for a black spot in a picture filled with pretty flowers is harder than looking for one in a dreary landscape, but when you find it, it seems to grow until it mars the entire painting.

That is the feeling I got reading The Bad Seed, the creeping sensation of low terror that shudders like a soft vibration down your spine, leaving you uneasy and often short of breath. The Bad Seed is a must-read for any horror fan, simply because the soft touch of death will kill as certainly as the bludgeon. Enjoy!

The term "bad seed" has become a much used phrase to describe a person who is thoroughly evil from birth. William March wrote "The Bad Seed" in the 1950's and it was later adapted for the stage and screen. After reading this compelling story, I can well understand its popularity.

Rhoda Penmark is an eight-year-old girl who is so self-contained, aloof and uncaring that her peers shun her. Rhoda's gentle parents, Kenneth and Christine, know that Rhoda is not exactly like other little girls. When she plays, she never gets dirty. She has trouble expressing genuine affection. On two occasions, a mysterious death has occurred (one involving an elderly lady and the other a pet dog), and Rhoda was the only witness. It turns out that Rhoda had a motive for wanting both the old lady and the dog dead. Is it possible that this innocent looking girl could be a murderess?

Things come to a head when the Penmark family moves to Alabama to start fresh. Kenneth is away on business while Christine tries to cope alone. Rhoda is a student at the Fern grammar school. She covets a gold medal that is given for penmanship at school, but the prize goes to a mamma's boy named Claude Daigle. Rhoda is incredulous and she refuses to accept her defeat. She hounds the boy to give her the medal that she feels is rightfully hers, until at an outing one day, Claude mysteriously drowns. You guessed it. Rhoda is the last person to have seen the boy alive.

The book focuses not so much on Rhoda as it does on her mother, Christine. March lets us observe through Christine's eyes her growing horror, as she realizes that her daughter may very well be a monster. When Christine finds the penmanship medal hidden among Rhoda's things, she is sure that Rhoda must have killed Claude Daigle to get the medal for herself.

March masterfully builds Christine's psychological horror as the book progresses. She learns that there is a secret in her own past that may explain her daughter's warped personality and she cannot bear the burden of guilt which this secret imposes on her.

In the skilled way of good suspense writers, March does not just pile on the horror. "The Bad Seed" has a great deal of humor, much of it centered on the character of Monica Breedlove. She is an insufferable and interfering busybody who talks incessantly and who thinks that she is an expert on psychological analysis. Another memorable character is Leroy, a caretaker who himself is evil and who is obsessed with Rhoda. Leroy recognizes too late that he is no match for the little girl, and that teasing Rhoda can be dangerous to his health.

A few passages, in which some characters discuss the age of violence and anxiety in which we live, are a bit heavy-handed. March seems to be conveying a message about the potential for evil that lurks within all of us. These remarks are superfluous, since Rhoda's story is so filled with horror, dark irony, and psychological suspense that it speaks for itself.

Despite a few ham-handed attempts to throw psychological jargon into his narrative, William March delivered a solid piece of literature when "The Bad Seed" was published. In young Rhoda Penmark, he gave us one of the most accurately yet subtly drawn portrayals of simple, single-minded, self-interested evil that one could imagine. And in developing the novel's other characters, he did equally fine work. The story remains engaging even to a reader who comes to it almost 50 years after its initial publication. The focus is never fully on Rhoda and this is what makes the novel work so well. By showing us the actions and reactions of her mother, Christine and the other people around Rhoda, we see a more complete, realistic view of her world. This broadening of the novel's perspective creates a more humane environment and puts Rhoda's evil deeds in context. This is a much greater work of literature than many of today's popular murder stories. There are no faceless victims in "The Bad Seed" and the effects of evil are not taken lightly. In an interesting way, the ending is much like that of a classical tragedy -- but with a modern twist. I'll say no more about that. Just know that I recommend this book highly!

This story raises the question can people be born killers. On the outside Rhoda Penmark seems like the perfect little girl, sugar and spice and everything nice. However under her perfect exterior Rhoda is a cunning deciving child who is willing to kill for what she wants, even if it's only a penmanship medal.

A the start of the novel Rhoda's mother Christina thinks she is the perfect child always clean, and polite. However as the novel goes on Christina discovers that if her little girl does not get what she wants she kills. Christina is horrifed at her discovery but is more terrifed when she discovers that her gentics make be responsible for Rhoda's lack of morality. The reader gets a great view into Christina's mind as she decides what is to be done about her daughter.

This is a great story Rhoda and her mother are great charcters, and the other characters are well potrayed as well. Overall a quick and spoky read that is worth the time.

First published in 1954, this book, the last of the six novels written by the author, became a huge bestseller, a modern classic with well over a million copies sold to date. It spawned a Broadway show and an enormously successful film adaptation of the book. I am happy to report that time has not diminished the ability of this book to hold the reader's interest. It is certainly one of the most chilling stories ever written.

Written in clear, straightforward prose, it tells the story of Rhoda Penmark, an adorable eight year old girl with impeccable manners and poise not often found in one of her years. Yet, this same little girl is unable to make friends, and her own parents have had some misgivings about some of the terribly distressing events that have transpired around her. So much so, that they have pulled up stakes, relocating from Baltimore to a small town where no one knows them. There, Rhoda is enrolled is an exclusive school. It appears, however, that Rhoda, while bearing the countenance of an angelic little girl, has the cool, calculating, acquisitive nature of a true sociopath. While her parents have intuitively sensed something amiss about their little darling, they are somewhat in denial.

The reader is introduced to a host of memorable characters. Rhoda's mother, Christine, is a sensitive and attractive woman with an absentee husband who is trying to rebuild his career after his requested transfer. Christine is, therefore, left to handle Rhoda's transition in their new environs. Christine secretly fears the worst of the daughter whom she loves but suspects of not being quite like other little girls. Monica Breedlove, the upstairs neighbor and owner of the apartment building in which the Penmarks live, befriends Christine and adores Rhoda, seeing Rhoda as a perfect little angel. Leroy Jessup, the illiterate but cunning janitor of that apartment building, has a sense of what Rhoda is, but his clumsy attempts at playing a cat and mouse game with her results in Rhoda getting the better of him. Of course, there is Rhoda, as memorable and chilling a character as ever was created.

The book slowly involves the reader in the daily workings of Rhoda's life and the odd ways in which she approaches that which she desires. Her determination is relentless and unforgiving. When a school incident results in tragedy, Christine picks up the scent and from then on will not let go until she discovers who and what her daughter really is. Her voyage of discovery will give voice to mysteries of Christine's own past. It will also shed much light on Rhoda's behavior and on some of the disturbing and distressing events that seem to follow Rhoda wherever she goes. When Christine's worst fears are ultimately realized, she takes desperate measures. Her solution, however, does not work out quite as she expected.

This is a marvelous book, the author having written a cleverly crafted story that will grip the reader. At just over two hundred pages, the book is a relatively quick and easy read, but it certainly packs a big wallop. With its host of memorable characters and great storyline, it is little wonder that this book has emerged as a timeless classic in its genre. It is simply a must read book. Bravo!

This book stands up beautfully even today. The story of "sweet" little Rhoda actually seems more plausible today than it did when first written. The author did have to go to considerable pains to create suspension of disbelief in the story's plausibility, and he succeeded.

The book was made into a stage play and a movie. The movie suffered because the book ending was in that day and age contrary to the production code. So if you saw the movie, absolutely read the book and don't expect the same ending.

Maxwell Anderson's stage adaptation of William March's famous horror novel isn't quite as engulfing as March's novel. Still it is intriguing, fairly faithful to the source, and packs a whollop at the end.

The plot seems rather simple. Little Rhoda is the perfect little girl. Everything about her is perfect, from her hair to her clothes to her grades in school. Then one day, one of Rhoda's classmates mysteriously dies during a school picinic. Rhoda seems unaffected by the whole situation and acts as though the child deserved to die. When Rhoda's mother, Chrisitne, finds a missing medal worn by the dead boy on the day of his death in Rhoda's treasure chest, she begins to think that both she and Rhoda may not be quite who they think they are.

Psychology doesn't always do very well on stage. In fact, most psychological plays are terrible because there is too much talk and jargon and not enough action. Surpisingly, Anderson's drama isn't like that. It discusses the core psychological issues of March's novel, but without dragging the reader or audience in a bunch of psycho-babble that makes no sense. Intriguing.

Please note that the item at hand is the bound play of THE BAD SEED, not the novel. There is a paperback novel available but at this time (Aug. 2010) it costs a little more.

Apparently quite a number of reviews found their way here from people who had intended to review the novel, not the play.

Most people who are familiar with "The Bad Seed" probably recall the Warner Bros. film, with Nancy Kelly and Patty McCormack. But William March's original novel is worth discussing and revisiting. In its elegantly clipped language, its understated sense of morbid horror and its exploration of the complex themes of guilt and punishment, it's a very American classic. Though in the fifty-odd years since its publication, killer children have become sadly commonplace, the book's contrast between the "innocence" of the Eisenhower era and corruption lurking beneath the surface are still compelling. The book is actually more about the devil child's mother, Christine--a simple, honest, and well-meaning woman who finds herself completely undone when she discovers the homocidal tendencies in her eight-year old daughter. Events and images that bordered on camp in the film are so cleverly rendered here that the chills remain, and Christine's journey from confusion to tension to fear to breakdown is startlingly presented by a writer who understood guilt extraordinarily well. For those who loved the film, the book should be required reading. For those who feel bludgeoned by the excesses of modern horror, this is a stylish and worthwhile alternative that still delivers its share of shudders and scares. Beautifully done.