Let's Go Play at the Adams

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The author has never written another novel again (He died shortly after publishing this one). There's some speculation as to whether or not this is essentially one massive Author Appeal-fest, but most will tell you, the book is very well-written, and definitely gets under your skin. One review here attests to that. An interesting side note is that Mr Johnson passed away in 1976 at the age of 48 from cirrhosis of the liver. Two years after the release of his lone novel, he was dead. Mendal W. Johnson was a one-hit wonder as a novelist, but his one novel, Let’s Go Play at the Adams’, was a doozy. Released in 1974, the novel about a babysitter held captive and tortured by five children was perhaps inspired by the very real (and very horrible) story of young Sylvia Likens. Johnson slowly builds the tension to an unbelievable level, and the ending is perhaps one of the most vile and unsettling endings of a horror novel I have ever read. It’s the type of ending that will haunt one forever, which perhaps partly explains its cult popularity.

Died Standing Up - Perhaps the only time this trope has had no connection to Badassery. Barbara, due to how she is tied at the end. I'm not a glass half-full kinda guy. I know that children can often (usually?) have little to no moral compass. more importantly, I know how the world can be a cruel and relentless place; I've seen the horrible things it can inflict on people. thank you, work history. but there is always context for why people do the things they do. not context that excuses those things, but context that allows an understanding of why they occurred.Redemption Equals Death: In the epilogue, a now-teenaged Bobby dies saving a girl who he thought was drowning. She wasn't really drowning, she thought he was cute and was just trying to get his attention. His father speculates on whether, in his last moments, Bobby finally found the ability to forgive himself.

Next morning their older friends Dianne, Paul and John, came home joining the game in the secluded Adams' mansion. That's because where Ketchum's classic is a perfect blend of psychology, pathos, pacing, and grueling horror, Johnson's version is slow, repetitive, devoid of soul, and cruel for cruelty's sake. So, while I spend probably another decade considering whether I dare read this again, it will sit on my bookshelf where I know it can behave itself. It is one of those books that I thought was very good, but I do not take pleasure in recommending it to others in case it makes them feel how I did as a young girl. After I had finished less than half of the book, I felt I had already gotten as much out of it as I ever was going to get. And would you believe that it was boring? Oh yes! Never had I before read something with this intense of content and had so much trouble staying awake, like Droopy Dog with sleep apnea.three children and two teens, ages 10 - 17, trap a 20-year old babysitter; over the course of a week, she is repeatedly tortured and raped. in the end, they torture her to death. I have to say LET'S GO PLAY AT THE ADAMS' surprised me. It was more well written than I thought it would be, and the psychology seemed spot on. The facts remain however, this denouement was the same as in Ketchum's book, and as in real life. It was a tragedy and these kids were monsters.

And just a final warning here – some of the subject matter may be difficult for some people to digest or read. Here are the problems as I see them. First of all, the premise. I just never could buy in to how the babysitter ends up in this predicament in the first place. And once the children have her captured and begin torturing her, you are not kept in any kind of suspense. The kids are just evil. Budding sociopaths created by rich parents and years of indulgence and excess. There seems to be no redeeming human quality in them, no chance that one could have a spark of realization of what they are doing to a fellow human being and save their victim.

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Peer Pressure Makes You Evil - Many of these kids, it is implied, wouldn't do things to Barbara on their own. Especially Bobby, whose conscience nags at him much of the time. But as a group, they lose their inhibitions, or go along with what the others are doing. I’m not saying LGPATA is an accurate appraisal of your average child’s mind. Freedom Five are a little isolated. They are a little odd. A situation arises in which their earlier games together can be explored further. One thing leads to another and group ‘morality’ overcomes the morality of the individual. But what I’m also not saying is that these things never happen. They do and it’s well documented. Cases occurred before the book was written and many more have occurred since. And that, perhaps, is what makes the book so utterly chilling. Whether victim or perpetrator, it could be your child. It could have been you. Maybe it was. Who is really prepared to speak of the questionable things we did in our ‘innocent’ youth?

If you are easily offended, I don't think you should read this but for everyone else who likes their horrors realistic, foul and unpleasant but intriguing and thrilling, this book is highly recommended. Thank you. Let’s Go Play At The Adams’ begins with a very simple premise. Barbara is hired to work as a babysitter and caretaker of the Adams’ house and their two children, Bobby and Cindy, while they spend a week away. One fine morning, she finds herself tied spread-eagle to the bed, gagged with a washcloth, and under guard by Bobby, Cindy, and their friends. At first it seems like a game to the kids, but as the captivity continues, they find themselves getting bored of just having a prisoner and think up fun new games to play with their “toy” while Barbara tries desperately to appeal to their humanity and escape. Eventually, as all these stories do, it becomes a battle for survival, because if they let Barbara go, she’ll probably tell and they’ll get caught, but the longer they keep her prisoner, the more she becomes a living, breathing burden that they have to either let go or kill eventually. The reason it doesn't work is because Johnson's choice for the motivation for their actions was not very compelling. Again, let's compare to Ketchum, where his novel has the victim an object of projected anger. Ever hear kids argue? I'm listening to it right now. My own kids started screaming at each other while I am writing this review, both sounding like Bette Davis screeching at Joan Crawford. Eh, I'm sure they'll be fine. Let's Go Play at the Adams' is about a twenty year old babysitter, Barbara, who is taking care of Cindy and Bobby (ten and thirteen) while their parents are away on holiday for two weeks. Three local friends (between ages thirteen and seventeen) are regular visitors to the Adams' home and the six of them are all getting along fine. Until one day Barbara wakes up tied to the bed.Barbara was an attractive 20 year old competitive swimmer whose summer job was to baby-sit the Adams’ children, Cindy (age 10) and Bobby (age 13), while their parents are away for 10 days. Efficient and proper, Barbara likes and is liked by everybody, young and old. Barbara’s proper world turned seriously wrong when she woke up one morning to find herself tied to the bed, under the mercy of the Freedom Five. The Freedom Five composes of Cindy and Bobby, John Randall (almost 17), Paul McVeigh (age 13), and his sister Dianne (age 18). As Barbara became further degraded and objectified by the children, she became a different object for each children. She was an object of nurture but became an object of blame for Cindy, a duty for Bobby; an object to study the effect of torture for Paul, an object of lust for John, and an object of jealousy for Dianne. The further Barbara became objectified, the deeper the children transitionned into their cruel roles. Cindy became more vengeful; Bobby became coldly efficient; Paul became sociopathic; John gave in to his lust; and Dianne seized her leadership role like a cold tyrant. We get each characters POV and it makes it all the more disturbing. Seeing each child's reasoning with what they're doing. Seeing what they think and how they feel about it. Barbara's POV is tough to take. We join her in her descent from initial confusion to denial to realisation to terror. The only times I found Barbara a bit frustrating was when she kept blaming herself for everything but then maybe that's a natural reaction. Her thought process was there too. We had insight into the minds of the captors and the captive, and neither was easy to take in.