Let's Go Play at the Adams' (Paperbacks from Hell)

What thoughts dwell in the minds of children? Brains that are still forming. Ethos. Pathos. How far will humans go when singular responsibility is spread thinner amongst a group? Is there a moment of reflection beyond the point of no return? Mendel W. Johnson’s only published work asks these questions. Do you truly want to know the answers?

Love the book cover. It's recently printed, but the cover work has that classic kitschy 80s styling with regard to font and cover image. It made me feel like I was 12-year-old again and had just walked into the local book store and was flipping through the pages of some paperbacks.Even the quality and texture of the pages felt the same way.Can't wait to read this one!

*May Contain Spoilers*Let's Go Play At The Adams' was not an easy read. At times it was gut-wrenching to continue.I went through a range of emotions while reading this. The things that happened to the babysitter, Barbara, while being tied-up and under the control of the five kids (ranging in age from 10-17) was terrible to say the least.What started out as a game, or experiment, for these kids turns into so much more. For the first 3 chapters or so, it's a bit slow-going. There is a lot of character building in these chapters--which is crucial to this story. As the story continues, we see the innocence and human emotion being stripped away from these children. They become inhumane, cold, and monsterous.It was very hard to see Barbara's optimisim begin to degrade when she realizes that it has become more than a game and she's not going to get out of the situation alive. When she accepts that she is going to die, I felt my heart just drop.The last few chapters of this book were the worst. I just wanted to cry for Barbara. Reading the epilogue was hard as well. Knowing these kids would never get punished for what they did infuriated me.Let's Go Play At The Adams' will get inside your head and turn your emotions inside out. If you think you can handle it, then give it a try.

This is indeed a nasty book. Brilliant, engrossing buy nasty. Barbara the kindly, loving babysitter wakes up to find herself drugged, gagged and tied up to the bed, one of her charge on a chair in the corner.From this we are tipped headlong into a truly disturbing nightmare of torture, both mental and physical.Five kids are responsible for this. It's all just a game to them. A series of small victories inflicted on this woman who represents, in their minds, the entire unfeeling, egotistical adult world.We don't really get to know these kids or Barbara before she's taken hostage and we, the reader, like Barbara don't get any respite or relaxation from the mounting tension as things turn seriously violent and more extreme. Each kid has their own twisted view on the situation. Each kid has their own horrid agenda and reasoning behind what they do and we are stuck in their heads for the majority of the time only leaving them to get sucked into Barbara's nightmarish vision as we are made to go through everything she goes through no matter how gruesome, humiliating and sickening.The writing here is amazing, to make you want to read on even though your skin is crawling is quite an achievement and Mendal Johnson excels in never turning away from the repugnant or chickening out along the way or at the dramatic finale, when most writers soften and cop-out instead of following the logical conclusion to the bitter end. You can't trust this writer, he's liable to do anything which makes for an explosive,gut-wrenching, exciting and unforgettable trip into the darkness.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.For other good books featuring twisted kids,you might like these Apples   Lord of the FliesApplesLord of the Flies

Harrowing. Sticks with you like Jack Ketchum's 'The Girl Next Door.' Horror of the slow-burn variety.