Tamara Thorne’s tale of Halloween terror, Bad Things, is based on a childhood game she played as twilight stole the day away. She loved to sit on the swing in her backyard and watch as shadowed breezes swirled through bushes and flower beds. She imagined little creatures she called greenjacks cavorting and playing among the leaves and flowers, and pretended they watched her, too, giggling and whispering. They weren’t evil, exactly, nor were they to be trusted.
Later, Tamara became entranced by the tales of green men and loved to go the museum and study English tapestries, always looking, often finding, the mysterious Green Man lurking among the trees. For Bad Things, she drew on folklore about this lusty earth elemental, from the Green Knight in Arthurian legend, to Greek satyrs, Robin Hood, and all other forms. She tooks those and made up her own green man, Big Jack. His minions are the greenjacks, and if you’re lucky – or unlucky – you just might see them, especially around Halloween. If you do, be very careful, because they know, and they will want you for their own.
Bad Things is the story of one such encounter. It’s on sale now in all e-readers.
BIG JACK
Winter cold, winter dreary
Winter leaves
No sap, no fool
Winter bones
No need to panic
Big Jack sleeps, the little ones too.
~
March buds, April flowers
May blood
So green, so new
Springs veins pump
And children panic
Big Jack wakes, the little ones too.
~
Summer heat, summer passion
Summer nights
So hot, so hungry
Dark desires
The children cower
Big Jack stands, the littles too.
~
Autumn red, autumn brittle
Autumn cravings
So harsh, so clear
Child, run
Before he gets you
Big Jack walks, the little ones, too.
~
~
Bad Things by Tamara Thorne
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. . .
Thorne & Cross 