In this beautiful and chilling tale, Rick Hautala moves us with a coming of age story like no other. It's 1960. A young boy and his friends spend most of their time in the treehouse they built in The Big Tree in front of Old Lady Wayrenen’s front yard. But when Hurricane Donna comes, it leaves more than just a trail of property damage. A chain of events pushes the natural and supernatural worlds at odds with one another and a young girl's life hangs in the balance. But is she even real? Combined with the words and artwork of some of Mr. Hautala's dearest friends: Christopher Golden (Foreword), Thomas F. Monteleone (Afterword), and Glenn Chadbourne (cover art); The Big Tree is one of Rick's most autobiographical and personal stories from the heart.
Author
AKA A.J. Matthews Rick Hautala has more than thirty published books to his credit, including the million copy, international best-seller Nightstone, as well as Twilight Time, Little Brothers, Cold Whisper, Impulse, and The Wildman. He has also published four novels—The White Room, Looking Glass, Unbroken, and Follow—using the pseudonym A. J. Matthews. His more than sixty published short stories have appeared in national and international anthologies and magazines. His short story collection Bedbugs was selected as one of the best horror books of the year in 2003. A novella titled Reunion was published by PS Publications in December, 2009; and Occasional Demons, a short story collection, is due in 2010 from CD Publications. He wrote the screenplays for several short films, including the multiple award-winning The Ugly Film, based on the short story by Ed Gorman, as well as Peekers, based on a short story by Kealan Patrick Burke, and Dead @ 17, based on the graphic novel by Josh Howard. A graduate of the University of Maine in Orono with a Master of Art in English Literature (Renaissance and Medieval Literature), Hautala lives in southern Maine with author Holly Newstein. His three sons have all grown up and (mostly) moved out of the house. He served terms as Vice President and Trustee for the Horror Writers Association. Sadly, Rick died on March 21, 2013.
