Playground

Product Information

Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Librarians Group is the official group for requesting additions or updates to the catalog, including: Over the last number of years, Aron Beauregard has emerged as one of Extreme/Splatterpunk Horror’s true Heavy Weights. His books are hotly anticipated by his ever-growing throng of fans and he has been raking up the accolades as well – becoming Splatterpunk Award nominated and Splatterpunk Award winning during that time. With Playground, Aron Beauregard transcends himself, delivering a genuinely chilling, uncomfortable novel that will make even the most jaded horror fan squirm. A harrowing, relentless read that left me breathless." Three low-income families have been given a handsome retainer to join Geraldine Borden for a day at her cliffside estate. All the parents must do to collect the rest of their money is allow their children to test out the revolutionary playground equipment Geraldine has been working on for decades. But there’s a reason the structures in the bowels of her gothic castle have taken so long to develop—they were never meant to see the light of day.

What I didn’t like: You’ll need to go into this fully allowing yourself to just believe. Sure the scope/scale of these indoor rooms is insane. And so are the elaborate punishment devices that have been booby-trapped within each one to decimate the participants, but that’s part of the joy of reading something to just read and have fun. If you struggle to suspend belief for any amount of time, you’ll most likely want to stay clear of this one.

The children have been chosen for a reason. Geraldine feels that the parents are undeserving of the lives they are living and the children they have. Somewhat broken families, the daily life struggles of parenthood, and the product the children are becoming because of those parental choices. The story follows a crazy old lady, Geraldine, who gets sexual gratification from others misery. The worse that happens to them, the more turned on she gets. So, as one does, she creates this insanely intricate indoor playground and invites three low-income families with kids to test it out. They just don’t realize this is more ‘Saw’ meets ‘Hostel’ meets ’31’ than Sesame Street.

The characters are well fleshed out, the story makes sense, but deep inside all the gore there is a commentary about parenthood and the ills of the world we live in. Psychologically speaking, this is a study in all that can be done incorrectly to a child.

I did not like this book. I wanted to, I could see that there was a point haunting the edges of the book. But I just, I just couldn't. The children will surprise you as your going on this vile and twisted adventure right along with them. The choices they will have to make, the choices some of them do make, and the consequences of thier actions. The familiarity of their childhood is captured really well. The soft hearted, the hard hearted, the shy and meek, the conformed and the broken. I loved them all and was routing for them no matter their character, after all they are just kids. Why you should buy this: If you’re a fan of Aron’s you probably have already snagged this and most likely have read it. If you’re new to extreme horror and want to see what it’s all about, this is an excellent place to dive in and discover how these novels will contain really well done plots with fantastic writing and some of the most horrific gore-filled scenes you’ll ever read. Years ago I was going through a movie slump, when I saw the preview for a new movie during a coffee break while doing night shift, which made me sit up and go:

When a band of dysfunctional children is suddenly thrust into a diabolical realm of violence, they must grow up instantly to have a chance at survival. Will they find a way to put their differences aside, or be swallowed up by the insidious architecture all around them? I did, and it became one of my top 5 movies ever. The concept, while simple, was utterly brilliant and superbly executed.Of course there is also the bloody, disgusting gore and putridness. Yes, there are descriptions of smells that will possibly engage that gag reflex.