Our perspective matches that of shy Nora ( Maya Vanderbeque), a seven-year-old struggling to acclimate to her new environment of extreme sensorial stimulation and over-socializing. As she slowly tries to make friends, she notices her brother Abel ( Günter Duret), a few grades above her, suffer violent harassment from older boys. He doesn’t defend himself, nor does he want to inform their father of the ongoing, severely dangerous, mistreatment. 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. I think the ending worked really well and followed how the reader sees the events played out. Beauregard does a great job of showcasing the hurt that was created with Geraldine’s actions as well as how this directly impacted the various characters in the novel.

And now for the gore and violence. I will say that the book isn't nearly as brutal as I expected going into it. The hardest part for me to read, gore wise, is at the very beginning and involves a slide and zero deaths. Once the bodycount begins, I found that the emotional distress hit me harder than the physical violence, and while the kills are plenty visceral, they aren't so hardcore that they swerve into goofy territory. I honestly found myself so caught up in the story that while the deaths resonated, I couldn't wait to see what was coming next. Aron Beauregard is now well recognised as a major force in the subgenres of Extreme Horror and Splatterpunk. His works are eagerly awaited by his rapidly expanding fan base, and he has been receiving recognition in the form of Splatterpunk Award nominations and wins.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: This book is not for the faint of heart - and unfortunately, it has gotten some bad wrap from some Tiktokers who did not research the book before reading. This is a hardcore gore book with very triggering topics.

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 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. If you are at all familiar with Aron's writing, then you should be well prepared for the darkness that lies within his storytelling. But you should also be expecting superb character developement, well developed plots, and unique settings. The thing about Playground though that I appreciate about it is the way it doesn't shy away from abuse. That's what this book is about. Abuse. Objectively that is what this is about. 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.

Synopsis Playground

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) Of course there is also the bloody, disgusting gore and putridness. Yes, there are descriptions of smells that will possibly engage that gag reflex. While the plot is fairly minimal, this story is more about how the characters interact with the premise they are forced into, with the children reacting to the situation and each other, the parents forced to watch on and try to convince their captures into letting them go, and the antagonists watching each scene with glee.