Johnson tries to justify it by making it a daring extension of their outdoor army games, yet it remains a stretch. 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. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. 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)

Still, a bummer babysitter, slightly older, less fun and more restrictive, would have enhanced the story’s believability as well as ratcheted up its kids-versus-adults dynamic. 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. 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? Barbara, a twenty-year-old college student, fun and friendly, and only mildly disciplining, isn’t an especially plausible kidnapping target.Unclipped dust jacket has light general wear including some sunning and edge wear, faint impressions of scratches. Fearing that she may not survive, she starts fighting back, at which point the brutality escalates even further.

Let s Go Play at the Adams - AbeBooks

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. Johnson’s LET’S GO PLAY AT THE ADAMS’ (1974), a vintage shocker newly reissued in mass market paperback. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. This is an impressively serious and richly detailed work—a parable of adolescent savagery drenched in sweaty late-summer atmospherics. 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.

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. 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.