Playground

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This story is told in third person in multiple timelines from the swamps of 1893 Louisiana to 1927 Hollywood and an old hotel in the desert of 1967. I usually enjoy a book with dual timelines, but this one was weighted a little heavier on the central timeline than the others and one timeline just felt pointless. I think I would have enjoyed this more if it had just been dual timelines with equal time spent on both. Southard is still going strong after many years of great writing. Try Again, Cruel Summer, One for the Road, and many more short stories and full length novels show why he is a fixture in the current wave of horror. Three low-income families are invited to test some "state-of-the-art" playground equipment. Geraldine and her team have spent years trying to make this work, all for one day's worth of fun. Fun for whom though? The children have to strategically make their way through multiple playgrounds in the hope of seeing their loving parents once again.

Relatively new upon the scene, Volpe’s success is a byproduct of navigating the current evolving platforms online with great finesse. He’s worked for his audience both in the skill with which he writes and the effort he’s put into promoting. Works like Talia, Only Psychos, and Left to You mark the beginning of an impressive catalog of work.Geraldine Borden: The mastermind behind the revolutionary playground equipment and the host of the fateful day at her estate.

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. It's 1927. Mary Rourke, a Hollywood studio "fixer," is called to the home of a silent film actress named Norma Carlton, where it appears Norma has died by suicide. Norma's most recent project is a film called The Devil's Playground, which is already, even during filming, being called the best silent horror movie ever made. But as Rourke well knows, in Hollywood, things are not always as they seem... Award-winning, best-selling and critically-acclaimed author. His novels have been published in twenty-five languages around the world. The movie rights to the Devil Aspect have been bought by Columbia Pictures. Biblical, his science-fiction novel, has been acquired by Imaginarium Studios/Sonar Entertainment, four Jan Fabel novels have been made into movies (in one of which Craig Russell makes a cameo appearance as a detective) for ARD, the German national broadcaster, and the Lennox series has been optioned for TV development. Extensively researched…A large cast of characters and extensive use of red herrings make this a complex and atmospheric novel, perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia.” ONCE IN A LIFETIMEThree 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.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? and “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. and “- Brian KeeneThis volume contains 15 interior illustrations.WARNING: This book contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised. Playground by Aron Beauregard – eBook Details

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This book is an essential read, not just for horror fans but for book readers in general. Mark my words, this book is going to shoot Aron into the stratosphere more than he already is. Unike Hyde, the author’s previous novel which I thought was a real snoozefest, The Devil’s Playground strikes a good balance between atmosphere and action. I found myself swept up in the puzzle that was Norma Carlton’s death, and Mary Rourke was the perfect amateur detective to lead the investigation. Despite the book’s horror tag, the murder mystery was where I found the most enjoyment. There’s also something so apropos about the setting, where nothing is as it seems. Hollywood, where make-believe comes to life and anyone can become anything they wish to be, was even more duplicitous during the silent film era before the talkies changed the landscape of the movie industry. Pretty much everyone is keeping a secret or wearing a fabricated identity; the mystery practically writes itself as Mary dives headfirst into this roiling whirlpool of unreality and falsehoods.

I love Bradbury's writing, and recently read Dandelion Wine (see my review HERE), which is semi-autobiographical interludes of a summer of his childhood, in a town he calls Green Town. I was startled that this was also set there, as it's much darker, and with a stronger supernatural element. Beauregard, ever the prolific writer, has released yet another intriguing piece of devastation. As a member of the aforementioned “extreme-light” clique, though, I have yet to read any of his works. They’re fantastic in theory, but severe horror has never held any interest for me. This work was nominated for Best work at this year’s Splatterpunk Awards, and as I strive to support as many authors as I can, I decided it was a good choice.The three narratives are expertly intertwined in this richly textured and erudite Hollywood gothic… Russell brings the decadent L.A. scene alive.” Playground is a very terrifying and uncomfortable thriller that will make even the most hardened horror fan tremble, according to one critic. It was a relentless nightmare of a book that left me gasping for oxygen. The writing is great too. Everything, even the things you don't want, is described in such detail that you feel like you're in the room with the characters. The character's actions also feel consistent with how they're depicted too. The ending also feels appropriate for how the story led up to it. 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." (Brian Keene) Not to say that he is a writer of children’s stories, a conveyer of fun in the sun and a chronicler of innocence; Bradbury documents the autumnal child, that channel towards adulthood that remains long after the ascent to older age has been accomplished.