The Baddies: a wickedly funny picture book from the creators of The Gruffalo

Product Information

The genius of old Hum is how compelling he is—that is, despite the horrible thing he spends the entire novel doing (kidnapping a young girl whose mother he has murdered, driving her around the country and coaxing her into sexual acts, self-flagellating and self-congratulating in equal measure), you are charmed by him, half-convinced, even, by his grand old speeches about Eros and the power of language. In the end, of course, no amount of fancy prose style is enough to make you forget that he’s a murderer and worse, but for this reader, it’s pure pleasure getting there. It’s true that the monster is the murderer in Shelley’s classic novel—and also, you know, a monster—but it’s Dr. Frankenstein who decided he had to play God and build a creature in his own image without thought to the possible ramifications! Shelley treats him as a tragic figure, but that only makes him a much more interesting villain.

I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. Isn’t it awesome? We can just make dinosaurs! There is no foreseeable problem with this. We can totally handle it. Oh, Henry—brooding, brilliant, bone-tired Henry. Some in the Lit Hub office argued that it was Julian who was the real villain in Donna Tartt’s classic novel of murder and declension, but I give Henry more credit than that. His villainy is in his carefulness, his coldness, his self-preservation at all costs. He is terrifying because we all know him—or someone who could oh-so-easily slide into his long overcoat, one winter’s night. More about Julia: “I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).Axel Scheffler was born in 1957 in Hamburg, Germany. At school, although always good at art, he never really considered a career in illustration. But long before he began his professional life, he had won his first drawing prize for an international chocolate company – his prize was a cuddly lilac cow. Here’s a villain you can’t help but root for—I mean, sort of. You feel his pain as he tries to insinuate himself into the life of the man he so admires (and perhaps loves), and as he is first welcomed and then pushed away. Less so when he murders his beloved and assumes his identity—but somehow, as you read, you find yourself holding your breath around every corner, hoping he will escape yet again. Possibly the most terrifying character in modern literature (or any literature?), Glanton’s deputy is over six feet tall and completely hairless. More importantly, despite the fact that he might be a genius, he inflicts senseless and remorseless violence wherever he goes. The man murders (and, it is suggested, rapes) children and throws puppies to their doom. He might actually be the devil—or simply evil itself. He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die.

The villainess of choice for every man who has ever claimed his wife made him do it. But I’ve always found Lady Macbeth more interesting than Macbeth himself—she’s the brains behind the operation, not to mention the ambition. Her sleepwalking scene is one of the best and most famous of all of Shakespeare’s plays. Even this makes me shiver: Every villain is very controversial. Do you love them or do you hate them? I’ve never seen a thing like the emotions the Darkling causes. He is the creator of the Shadow Fold, a space of darkness that houses horrifying creatures. He is in need of a Sun Summoner, and when he finds Alina he uses everything in his arsenal to have her. The Bonner Sisters from When the Moon Was Ours Ramsay is cruel, unapologetic, and very, very evil. We can all agree that he’s better off dead. He did a lot of bad things like mutilating victims, raping Sansa Stark, killing children, and lots of other people, and more. His crimes are huge. He is one book villain that we can’t never forget about. Be it if you read about it or watch the series, in either version you hate him with all your guts. A cynical, manipulative, intelligent beauty with many artistic talents and a premium can-do attitude at her disposal. You’ve never met a more dedicated hustler. By the end, the novel seems to judge her pretty harshly—but I’ve always loved her.

Best Book Villains in Children’s Books

At the Baddies Book Shop, we are passionate about indie romance. Our baddies book box was born out of a desire to provide more opportunities for indie authors to cultivate fandom, and to give readers a chance to discover new favorite authors. The Cohort are horrible people. They believe in the restriction of Downworlders’ rights, because they fear them. They have feared them for a very long time. They also have pushed for internment camps for werewolves. And to be honest, every single thing sounds very Nazi-like, so a very big yikes. They’re the true book villains of this series. The curse (but also Khalid?) from The Wrath and the Dawn