By JAMES BURRELL
First published in 1973, BAD RONALD tells of a teenaged outcast, Ronald Wilby, who attacks and murders a young girl and is hidden away in a secret room of the family home by his mother—only to be left behind in the large house after she passes away. When the residence is sold to a couple and their three daughters, the unhinged young man—who has remained holed up in the house—sets his sights on the unsuspecting girls. The story was adapted into a fondly-remembered 1974 made-for-TV movie starring Scott Jacoby, and as a 1992 French film, Méchant garçon.
After periods of unavailability over the years, the novel is being reissued by independent publisher Fathom Press, under its Savage Harvest imprint. Formed in 2020, the New York-based company has resurrected several hard-to-find horror novels from the 1970s and ’80s. The book’s vintage-styled cover artwork is courtesy of prolific illustrator Stephen Andrade.
“Getting to create covers for Fathom Press for these long out-of-print horror classics has been an amazing experience,” says Andrade. “I get the chance to read some infamous books that, because of their rarity, I hadn’t been able to find in my semi-regular gleaning in the horror sections of my favorite used bookstores. Then the challenge is to create cover art that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with previously published artwork.”
Other releases so far in the Savage Harvest line include Return of the Living Dead by Night of the Living Dead co-screenwriter John Russo; The Brain Eaters by the author of The Howling, Gary Brandner; The Light at the End by John Skipp and Craig Spector; and the recently published Cold Front by Barry Hammond—a title that was previously out of print for more than 40 years. The mass market-sized paperbacks often include an introduction or afterword, with Bad Ronald featuring an intro by literary horror expert and Paperbacks from Hell co-author, Will Errickson.
Andrade has created the cover art for all of the Savage Harvest releases and says he aims to craft imagery that captures the overall mood of the book. “After reading the text, I try to come up with an image that will best encapsulate the mood of the book, rather than focus on any one specific scene,” explains Andrade. “My goal is to translate the action, the eeriness or the madness that the reader experiences reading the book with one singular image.”
Be sure to check out James Burrell’s interview with Creative Director Justin Bacolo in RUE MORGUE #224 (May/June 2025). Visit Fathom Press for more information on Savage Harvest releases and to order BAD RONALD.
