This is an impressively serious and richly detailed work—a parable of adolescent savagery drenched in sweaty late-summer atmospherics. It’s at least safe to say, though, that Barbara has the author’s fullest sympathy and respect; if a reader doesn’t feel and root for her, the fault is with the reader, not the author.

Let s Go Play at the Adams - AbeBooks

Cover artwork by: Dan Rempel A beautiful book with printed endpapers and paste-downs, full-color frontispiece and illustrations and with marking ribbon etc.LET’S GO PLAY AT THE ADAMS’ is part of Valancourt’s reissue of various titles discussed in the excellent PAPERBACKS FROM HELL (2017), Grady Hendrix’s book about the paperback horror market of the ‘70s and ‘80s. In a few key scenes, such as when the increasingly guilt-stricken Bobby argues against the group’s final plan, the author breaks the spell by digressing into a snoozy civics lesson. In group scenes, such as when the coldly reasonable Dianne registers that the leadership role has shifted from John to her, LET’S GO PLAY is often startlingly perceptive. Their wealthy parents were away in Europe, and in this rural area of Maryland, the next house was easily a quarter of a mile away. Indeed, due to scenes of youth-administered brutality and for having been so long out of print, LET’S GO PLAY has acquired an unholy contraband mystique.

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

Johnson tries to justify it by making it a daring extension of their outdoor army games, yet it remains a stretch.Each child was consumed by his own individual lust and caught up with the others in sadistic manipulation and passion, until finally, step by step, their grim game strips away the layers of childishness to reveal the vicious psyche, conceived in evil and educated in society's sophisticated violence, that lies always within civilized men. The surprise, however, is that this notorious book, which depicts the worst bad behavior imaginable, is so good. Or to see Barbara, naked and traumatized, through the perspective of not one, not two, but three different teenage male gazes? It's Only a Game, Barbara, the lovely twenty-year-old Babysitter, told herself as she awoke bound and gagged; Tonight the KIDS are Taking Care of the Babysitter; >> Minor spine creasing; Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" Tall. Horror fans owe Hendrix and Valancourt a debt of gratitude for resurrecting this brutal lost classic.

BOOK REVIEW: “LET’S GO PLAY AT THE ADAMS’” IS A BRUTAL LOST

Barbara, a twenty-year-old college student, fun and friendly, and only mildly disciplining, isn’t an especially plausible kidnapping target. The 1980 paperback cover art, which ranks among the most gloriously sinister in publishing history, has been lovingly retained, and Grady Hendrix contributes an insightful introduction. When Johnson strays into philosophizing narrator territory, the result is sometimes effective, sometimes not. Barbara is minimally cared for by the five children; their objective, initially, is simply to do away with all adult supervision. Set in a rural but affluent Maryland countryside, told in fluid third-person omniscience, Johnson’s novel is an imperfect but unforgettable plunge into hell.The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Fearing that she may not survive, she starts fighting back, at which point the brutality escalates even further.

Granted, Barbara’s sheer likeability is in one way a useful choice; it makes their escalating disregard for her even creepier. The portrayal of her trapped, terrified mind is grimly heartbreaking, and the POV shift to other characters, especially to the torture-obsessed Paul, the knife wielder, or the sexually malicious John, is rarely much of a breather. Unclipped dust jacket has light general wear including some sunning and edge wear, faint impressions of scratches. The reputation isn’t unjustified; the scene described above isn’t the novel’s most disturbing, or even a strong contender.Light wear only to bright red boards with bright gilt titles on spine, edges tanned, light toning to end papers, pages are clean, binding is tight. Johnson’s LET’S GO PLAY AT THE ADAMS’ (1974), a vintage shocker newly reissued in mass market paperback. Soon, however, John and Paul, the neighbor boys, strongly abetted by Paul’s sister Dianne, push for further victimization. But then, what else can we expect from a book whose 1980 paperback cover features the tagline “Tonight the kids are taking care of the babysitter” and a door opening onto a woman tied up in a chair?