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Let's Go Play at the Adams' by Mendal W.…
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Let's Go Play at the Adams' (original 1974; edition 1984)

by Mendal W. Johnson

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3451174,460 (3.41)13
Fiction. Horror. HTML:

??They're just kids ... It's only a game.? That's what Barbara, a lovely twenty-year-old babysitter told herself when she awoke bound and gagged. But the knots were tight and painful and the children would not let her go.

 ??They're just kids ... It's only a game,? she told herself again. But the terror was real ... and deadly!

 In the decades since its original publication, Mendal W. Johnson's bestseller Let's Go Play at the Adams' (1974) has gained a reputation as one of the most harrowing horror novels ever written, and copies have long been unobtainable except at exorbitant prices. This edition reproduces the original paperback cover art and features a new introduction by Grady Hendrix (Paperbacks from Hell), in which details about this cult masterpiece's enigmatic author are revealed for the firs… (more)

Member:antmusic
Title:Let's Go Play at the Adams'
Authors:Mendal W. Johnson
Info:Golden Apple (1984), Paperback
Collections:Your library
Rating:
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Let's Go Play at the Adams' by Mendal W. Johnson (1974)

  1. 00
    A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes (Cecrow)
    Cecrow: A better study of the "chaotic morality of children" theme.
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Showing 1-5 of 10 (next | show all)
This book was, understandably, hard to read. Not only due to the torture and other things done to poor Barbara, but the author goes into the depths of the children's and their captures psyche. Explaining why they did it, and Barbara as she slowly breaks down with each passing day. Not to be taken lightly, it is a reflection on what human beings are capable of doing to other human beings...just because they can. ( )
  LinBee83 | Aug 23, 2023 |
I read this book last year (2020) and a year later am still haunted by it. I've never had a book do that before. Some compare this book to Girl Next Door though that book was written over a decade later. I do think that this book might have been inspiration for King's Children of the Corn short story published only a few years after this book. This story LGPatA might have been inspired by the Sylvia Likens true crime case. I think this story was more likely inspired by Lord of the Flies.

I've analyzed, and reanalyzed this story over and over again. There is lots of psychology going on and some politics as well. Briefly I think political symbolism is that adults are like the ruling class. Kids are the working class. And the 20 y.o. babysitter is in the smallest class, the intellectual class. The kids resent being ruled by the adults, but the intellectual people are a wild card not fitting in with either. I will stop with that here as I'm not trained in political science. But my point is that I think LGPatA mirrors some aspects of politics.

I see this book as more than just a typical horror story such as Dracula. I think LGPatA is a cautionary tale more like Frankenstein. Yes, there is horror in this book, but a message too. These kids, through a childish prank, create a problem. The problem worsens as time goes on. And like problems do, it reaches a tipping point. This happens halfway through the book. The solution is unclear. The problem cannot simply be reversed. There is a crisis quickly approaching. A drastic solution seems the only one which might work. The message is about how easy it is for people (kids and adults too) to convince themselves that an ends justifies a means no matter how horrific. And the means has to be horrific for the solution to work. I'm going to leave it that abstracted. I could go on with my analysis of each character, but wont.

But this is why I say this book is more than just a horror story. It's a warning what people might do when in a dilemma. And that is to take the easy, most controllable, way out. We adults do this frequently and kids watch us doing it. The kids in this story actually mimicked adults rather closely. That, to me, is what made this story so horrible and disturbing. Because the kids ARE doing what adults do. I have pages of analysis but will stop here. I do recommend the book, but be warned what you are getting into. I have given this book a rating of 4/5 numerous places. ( )
  Henry.Tjernlund | Aug 15, 2023 |
There's not much for me to say about this book that has not already been said. It is a nasty, mean-spirited book. It is well-written for the most part (I would've cut down the first chapter to up the pace a tiny bit). It does avoid the torture-porn moniker (if that's even still in use) at least from me due to not fixating on graphic blow-by-blow descriptions, it gets the understanding of what exactly happened very quickly and holds more on the aftermath but not fixedly so. For the most part, I did enjoy the book for what it was, however, I found the ending plainly unsatisfying.
To me it felt as if the ending chapter was a patchwork of the climax of a first half and a tacked-on series of questions meant to set the author onto exploring the second part of the story with the bridge between these two being stuck at the very end. I did hear of this book before I read [b:Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction|33670466|Paperbacks from Hell The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction|Grady Hendrix|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504436657l/33670466._SX50_.jpg|54542087] and have always wanted to read it because of the "shocking" content. And it is brutal but the ending just felt incomplete. I did appreciate a glimpse at the utterly tragic worldview of the story and accepted the lack of logical motivation for the children to behave in the ways that they did. The babysitter was portrayed so innocent a soul contrasting so sharply with the children that the text seemed to hint at a purpose aside from horror. Social class seemed to be an undercurrent or weak theme when contrasting the babysitter and the children but that could just be me. The lack of parents as entities in the story also took away any potential explanations for the children's actions.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, but only to those with the constitution for it and the ability to take an unsatisfying spoonful at the end. ( )
  Ranjr | Jul 13, 2023 |
Hmm......not sure how I feel about this one. I went in prepared to be horrified, but honestly, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the hype surrounding this book leads you to believe. Maybe I've read too much shock horror to be reached so easily. Any number of Jack Ketchum books are certainly more disturbing than this. One thing unique about this book is the psychological aspect. You spend alot of time in the heads of Barbara, the hostage, and the children.

I think one reason this book didn't have a strong effect on me, was the unbelievability of it all. The children, their actions, thought process, group dynamics, speech patterns, were all just so off. The nonchalant way the children went about everything was just too unbelievable. Barbara's thoughts and actions didn't seem all that realistic at times either.

The story also moves slowly, going through the daily rituals of keeping a hostage just isn't that interesting to read about.....as horrible as that sounds, its reality.

Overall, it was pretty well written and I'm glad I finally read it. ( )
  Jfranklin592262 | Jun 4, 2022 |
Jesus. ( )
1 vote whatmeworry | Apr 9, 2022 |
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To my wife, Ellen Argo Johnson
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In the first moments, her mind floated up still webbed in memory of the most recent hours.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fiction. Horror. HTML:

??They're just kids ... It's only a game.? That's what Barbara, a lovely twenty-year-old babysitter told herself when she awoke bound and gagged. But the knots were tight and painful and the children would not let her go.

 ??They're just kids ... It's only a game,? she told herself again. But the terror was real ... and deadly!

 In the decades since its original publication, Mendal W. Johnson's bestseller Let's Go Play at the Adams' (1974) has gained a reputation as one of the most harrowing horror novels ever written, and copies have long been unobtainable except at exorbitant prices. This edition reproduces the original paperback cover art and features a new introduction by Grady Hendrix (Paperbacks from Hell), in which details about this cult masterpiece's enigmatic author are revealed for the firs

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