The Bad Seed: A Vintage Movie Classic

William March

Feb 2015 · Sold by Vintage

About this ebook

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 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.

Ratings and reviews

My mother's boyfriend read this book in 1971. He tortured me relentlessly. He used this book to enlist her aid. Yep, he told her "she's the bad seed" He actually told her what he did to me and promised it wouldn't happen again. An entire six months went by when she asked me if he was still "doing it" I said yes. She asked if I wanted to call the police. I knew she didn't want me to so I said no. I was going to read the book. After reading all the hurrah I guess I won't.. i like fiction. I just don't like this story I guess. This book became personal. I will get the courage to read it someday. I should not have berated it. READ ON

I read this in 1 1/2 days, it would have been less except a little thing called sleep. I've seen the movie many times and I'm so happy I've read the book. Suspenseful

I believe also that some things are inherited from PARENTS, some good things and also some bad things... if we cultivate the bad things. By not disciplining, watching a child's character traits... You can raise a child in a good home and they may in up like their mothers or fathers... or opposite... it can go either way... Like for instance, my mother drink liquor and I do not drink... my husband came up in an abusive family but he's not abusive... My oldest son father was in prison, when he was 1 year... My son grew up getting in trouble and went to prison... he was never brought up by his father, AND WE lived in a good environment my husband was military.

About the author

William March (1893–1954), born William Edward March Campbell in Mobile, Alabama, was an American novelist and short-story writer. He served in the Marines during World War I, and was recognized with the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, and the Croix de Guerre. His first novel, Company K, was based largely on his wartime experiences. A prolific writer of short stories, he was a four-time winner of the O. Henry Prize. The Bad Seed was an immediate critical and commercial success, the source for a Tony Award-winning Broadway play and a finalist for the National Book Award. Sadly, March died of a heart attack just weeks after publication.