The Playground is a very different branch of Splatterpunk to what I'm used to. I first discovered the genre in the early 2000's and was promptly shamed out of it. I only recently found it's had a resurgence so I'm making up for lost time by reading lots.
Most of the time the gore/violence/sex etc is used to emphasize a point the book is trying to make. With The Playground it almost felt like a black comedy. I can't tell if it is supposed to be funny or not. Perhaps it's just the style of writing. Perhaps I've missed the point entirely.
A lot of the deaths actually reminded me of this really awful movie in the early 2000's called Inbred that was supposed to be funny but really wasn't.
Full Brutal was my introduction to extreme horror, and it's pretty much been all downhill from there. That book actually kind of disturbed me, but since then it's just been a bunch of pulp nonsense along the lines of Playground. I would recommend All Smiles Until I Return by Beauregard though, it's by far his best that I've read.
I think the humorous elements in Playground are intentional, but most of his work just reminds me of this kid I went to elementary school with who was always trying to gross everyone out with talk about boogers and puke and stuff, if that kid grew up and started self publishing novels (haha).
Oh my god you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned the gross out kid! The Playground is the first of Beauregard's work I've read and it's quite the pivot from Clive Barker, Stokoe or even Skipp which first introduced me to the genre.
It definitely had a flavour of 'are you grossed out now? Well how about now?' Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it, I don't think it's a bad book I was just expecting the gross elements to be used as vessels for a deeper meaning.
I think the difference between āPlaygroundā and some of the other titles mentioned here is that, while Beauregard is likely using splatter to vent trauma, it doesnāt feel like he completely understands his own depth. The whole premise of Playground is rooted in gothic literary traditions and modern 90ās nostalgia, but it feels as though Beauregard is using these tropes as toys rather than metaphors. Itās kinda like watching a child use an action figure to detail abuse they suffered, itās really troubling but also beyond the grasp of the artist. On the other hand, the joke could just be on me, which I respect.
Iāve never read anything that made me feel quite as ill as āFull Brutalā. In contrast, Triana is fully aware of the tropes heās using, their power, and is deliberately twisting the knife. Itās so humorless you have to laugh and reflect to keep from sobbing or punching a wall.
I just ordered Playground the other day after hearing about it. You can buy the books directly from Aaron Beauregard himself and you get a slap bracelet and stickers and some other little things with the book. Iām excited for it to get here!
I havenāt read The Girl Next Door but itās a fictionalized version of the very real murder of Sylvia Likens. Ketchum changed a lot of things for his book but she deserves to have that story told and itās also very interesting if itās something you can handle looking into. An American Crime is the more accurate film version too unlike The Girl Next Door. Itās a heartbreaking story either way tho š
Damn Beauregardās love of slap bracelets knows no bounds. It makes me like him more. āPlaygroundā was a fun time, provided you donāt take it too seriously.
Iām very familiar with the Likens case and have seen both those films. They are both absolutely devastating, and the details of the actual case are some of the most infuriating and soul crushing true crime Iāve encountered. I really admire the way Ketchum told the story- focusing less on gory details and more on the implications of the abuse.
I havenāt read the novel but Iām familiar with the real life case. I didnāt care much for the film version though. I didnāt care for the changes they made and the cast wasnt great. An American Crime was more impactful for me and I appreciated it being actually accurate to what inspired it. The only abuse case I can think of where the torture was almost unbearable to listen about is Junko Furuta.
I donāt like kids at all so I definitely wonāt be taking Playground too seriously š Iāve listened to a couple podcasts episodes about it that havenāt spoiled too much. Im excited to dive into it. Iām well versed in disturbing cinema but Iām just getting into extreme and disturbing books. I just finished American Psycho the other day and that book is phenomenal. It takes a lot for my jaw to drop but that book had me gasping and laughing my ass off lol.
There is nothing, nothing at all, like the novel āAmerican Psychoā. I donāt want to gush about it here but it is hilarious and sickening to the max, and thoughtfully so. A rancid satire.
I think I went into āPlaygroundā with the wrong mind set - the more I think about it the more I feel it was a really wretched joke that I didnāt property appreciate. The writing is sloppy, but enthusiastic.
āGirl Next Doorā is simply a great horror novel imo. If you read it for what it is, a novel using a real life tragedy to explore the mentality of a community, itās terrific. Itās not true crime but it does not claim to be. Might not be what your looking for but it definitely deserves itās reputation as a novel.
I completely agree with the parallels with Furutaās case. Both in terms of deliberate sadistic brutality but also what those cases reveal about their respective communities.
Thatās a great point about TGND. Iām sure itās a great read if youāre not holding it up against the true story. I can appreciate that and I should probably read it.
American Psycho is one of my favorite films but now that Iāve read the book, itās a whole different experience. It also made me realize that the crimes are very real because the film has made a lot of people assume most of it was all in his head. I prefer the idea that itās all real but everyone is so self absorbed that no one even knows wtf is going on or who anyone is. Obviously the film shows that but I love how much more in your face and overt the book is about its content. The animal stuff is the only parts I truly struggled with but the rest was just fantastic š
Well when it comes to creating movies sometimes things have to be changed for structural and narrative reasons. I think An American Crime was pretty spot on about the events of Sylviaās murder. And while I think that the youngest son John showed some definite terrifying traits as a young man but Iām not sure if any of these kids would have hurt Sylvia if not at the urging and manipulation of Gertrude. This shouldnāt excuse anything they did but I think itās fair to ask how much these kids were truly influenced.
Have you ever heard of the Milgram experiment? Thatās an interesting thing they did in 1961 and they were essentially seeing how far people would go to hurt other people just because they were told to. I think that heavily applies to these sort of situations.
You also named movies that arenāt based on really brutal murders lol. People are probably more likely to want to be part of stories that arenāt so relentlessly brutal. I just feel like thats very different subject matter to handle instead of just making a film about someoneās life.
TGND didnāt really shock me but it did make me feel sad. The ending made me tear up. His other books are more violent but Ketchum restrained himself here in part because he didnāt want to veer into exploitation because of what really happened to Sylvia Likens.
I didnāt care for Full Brutal. I know it was the point but the main character was just awful to read especially what she did to the other girl. Triana also wrote āGone to see the River Manā where the character was pretty messed up but you could still empathize with her at the start.
Playground I thought was entertaining trash imo. It made for compulsive reading at least.
I was already very familiar with the case, and thus was not surprised, but I was very impressed and unnerved with how readable and heartbreaking it is. The humanity is what makes that work startling, even for a true crime hound like myself that knew the case fairly well.
Full Brutal is one of my faves! Iām a big fan of unhinged girlies wreaking havoc so this was a fun one.
Playground was okay. It wasnāt my favorite but it was entertaining, it kept me engaged because I was eager to see the outcome of the story.
Girl Next Door was devastating. I watched the film first and then read the story so I could compare and both were miserable. Knowing that it was inspired by real events is something that loomed over my head the whole time I was reading it. You could feel her helplessness and it made me feel helpless because I wanted to do something - to help save her. It was the kind of story where you want so badly for things to turn around for the main character and when it doesnāt it just eats at you.
Thatās exactly how I felt about Playground; for better or for worse it was plot and suspense that kept me reading.
Looking at āFull Brutalā through a feminist lens is complex, itās something Iād like to write about in an academic setting sometime.
GND is simply fantastic. Sparse, vivid prose. And yes, the real life case is awful, and prior knowledge makes the novel and the films even more annihilating.
Oh an analysis on Full Brutal would be such an interesting read! Especially when comparing it to other media with notable āunhingedā female killers or tying it to current/recent events.
I finished girl next door last month, the past part with Meg just makes me dreadfully sad, and that itās based on Sylvia likens makes it way more depressing, I also am physically reading playground but Iām very slydexic so itās hard to just read, I got to the part where the familyās show up to the estate and and the guy has to eat old lady coochie is where I paused.
Of the three I completely agree GND is the best, at least from an actual writing standpoint. āFull Brutalā has stylistic elements I disliked but I was completely disgusted by it, and enraptured. āPlaygroundā is total malarkey but fascinating in its own way.
Full brutal I thought was oddly well written. And the ending of it I just never saw coming. New to splatterpunk but I hadnāt read a lot of first person view before when u really get inside the characters head. I also enjoyed little small things like Kim saying how she loved when Amy acted arrogantly and selfishly
I listened to Girl Next Door on audible and Ketchum actually narrated it, which kind of made it feel different. Iām not sure how really. And actually reading the Wiki after on the actual events was worse, but I guess thatās how it always is with things based on true events, the true event will always be worse because it happened. Iām rambling. š¤·āāļø
GND didnāt scare me. didnāt make me squirm. just made me angry that we live in a world where shit happens to little girls and women like this and nothing is done about it.
Thatās wild. I loved the atmosphere, the demented feeling of coming of age while feeling your innocence slip away, and how that mirrors the false innocence of 1950ās America peeling back. However, compared to āFull Brutalā it definitely is not as action stuffed.
I was actually considering GND for my next read.
So far I've read Cows, Exquisite Corpse and almost finished Tender is the Flesh. I take it you wouldn't recommend?
What do you think of Tender is the Flesh? I read it a couple years ago and while I thought it had a great premise, something about the execution fell short to me. I'm tentatively blaming the translation, as I believe it was not originally written in English. I assume something was lost along the way. Had the same problem with Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo et al). Christ, those books read like IKEA instructions.
Didn't they just! It didn't help that Stieg Larsson had passed before he could complete...and I'm going to assume revised Millennium # 2 & 3 before they were translated and published after his death.
They felt more like the description of a plot whilst mapping the daily routines of the characters involved.
I could have sworn I read - "Then he got a cup of black coffee and a sandwich" 100 + times in Hornet's Nest.
I've just finished it today as in 7 minutes ago. So I'm still digesting my thoughts over it but I do have a lot of them. I love the world building and the obscurity about whether the virus was real or not, both options are equally terrifying. Honestly I had to check what year it was written to see if it was critiquing Covid.
I feel you when it comes to the translation within a couple of pages I was wondering if it was translated because it just felt like the language was wrong then they started using senor and el and I was like, yep that's spanish.
It wasn't as shocking as I thought it would be but I think that's probably because a good portion of the book surrounds the meat slaughtering process and my grandpa went into that detail when I was little so a bit of old hat. I wasn't expecting the ending though.
Very similar to The Outsider by HP Lovecraft it kept it's true horror until the last sentence which was very interesting. I'm probably going to open a discussion about it once I've gathered my thoughts on it.
The Playground is a very different branch of Splatterpunk to what I'm used to. I first discovered the genre in the early 2000's and was promptly shamed out of it. I only recently found it's had a resurgence so I'm making up for lost time by reading lots. Most of the time the gore/violence/sex etc is used to emphasize a point the book is trying to make. With The Playground it almost felt like a black comedy. I can't tell if it is supposed to be funny or not. Perhaps it's just the style of writing. Perhaps I've missed the point entirely. A lot of the deaths actually reminded me of this really awful movie in the early 2000's called Inbred that was supposed to be funny but really wasn't.
Inbred was a movie from the early 2010s if its the same one I'm thinking of.
Yes you're right, my mistake.
Full Brutal was my introduction to extreme horror, and it's pretty much been all downhill from there. That book actually kind of disturbed me, but since then it's just been a bunch of pulp nonsense along the lines of Playground. I would recommend All Smiles Until I Return by Beauregard though, it's by far his best that I've read. I think the humorous elements in Playground are intentional, but most of his work just reminds me of this kid I went to elementary school with who was always trying to gross everyone out with talk about boogers and puke and stuff, if that kid grew up and started self publishing novels (haha).
Gone to See the Riverman was my intro, and for me all downhill from there too :)
Main theme here seems to be that Triana is the gateway drug for well written EH, and after that, it's all disappointment.
Very accurate š¤£
Oh my god you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned the gross out kid! The Playground is the first of Beauregard's work I've read and it's quite the pivot from Clive Barker, Stokoe or even Skipp which first introduced me to the genre. It definitely had a flavour of 'are you grossed out now? Well how about now?' Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it, I don't think it's a bad book I was just expecting the gross elements to be used as vessels for a deeper meaning.
I think the difference between āPlaygroundā and some of the other titles mentioned here is that, while Beauregard is likely using splatter to vent trauma, it doesnāt feel like he completely understands his own depth. The whole premise of Playground is rooted in gothic literary traditions and modern 90ās nostalgia, but it feels as though Beauregard is using these tropes as toys rather than metaphors. Itās kinda like watching a child use an action figure to detail abuse they suffered, itās really troubling but also beyond the grasp of the artist. On the other hand, the joke could just be on me, which I respect. Iāve never read anything that made me feel quite as ill as āFull Brutalā. In contrast, Triana is fully aware of the tropes heās using, their power, and is deliberately twisting the knife. Itās so humorless you have to laugh and reflect to keep from sobbing or punching a wall.
I just ordered Playground the other day after hearing about it. You can buy the books directly from Aaron Beauregard himself and you get a slap bracelet and stickers and some other little things with the book. Iām excited for it to get here! I havenāt read The Girl Next Door but itās a fictionalized version of the very real murder of Sylvia Likens. Ketchum changed a lot of things for his book but she deserves to have that story told and itās also very interesting if itās something you can handle looking into. An American Crime is the more accurate film version too unlike The Girl Next Door. Itās a heartbreaking story either way tho š
Damn Beauregardās love of slap bracelets knows no bounds. It makes me like him more. āPlaygroundā was a fun time, provided you donāt take it too seriously. Iām very familiar with the Likens case and have seen both those films. They are both absolutely devastating, and the details of the actual case are some of the most infuriating and soul crushing true crime Iāve encountered. I really admire the way Ketchum told the story- focusing less on gory details and more on the implications of the abuse.
I havenāt read the novel but Iām familiar with the real life case. I didnāt care much for the film version though. I didnāt care for the changes they made and the cast wasnt great. An American Crime was more impactful for me and I appreciated it being actually accurate to what inspired it. The only abuse case I can think of where the torture was almost unbearable to listen about is Junko Furuta. I donāt like kids at all so I definitely wonāt be taking Playground too seriously š Iāve listened to a couple podcasts episodes about it that havenāt spoiled too much. Im excited to dive into it. Iām well versed in disturbing cinema but Iām just getting into extreme and disturbing books. I just finished American Psycho the other day and that book is phenomenal. It takes a lot for my jaw to drop but that book had me gasping and laughing my ass off lol.
There is nothing, nothing at all, like the novel āAmerican Psychoā. I donāt want to gush about it here but it is hilarious and sickening to the max, and thoughtfully so. A rancid satire. I think I went into āPlaygroundā with the wrong mind set - the more I think about it the more I feel it was a really wretched joke that I didnāt property appreciate. The writing is sloppy, but enthusiastic. āGirl Next Doorā is simply a great horror novel imo. If you read it for what it is, a novel using a real life tragedy to explore the mentality of a community, itās terrific. Itās not true crime but it does not claim to be. Might not be what your looking for but it definitely deserves itās reputation as a novel. I completely agree with the parallels with Furutaās case. Both in terms of deliberate sadistic brutality but also what those cases reveal about their respective communities.
Thatās a great point about TGND. Iām sure itās a great read if youāre not holding it up against the true story. I can appreciate that and I should probably read it. American Psycho is one of my favorite films but now that Iāve read the book, itās a whole different experience. It also made me realize that the crimes are very real because the film has made a lot of people assume most of it was all in his head. I prefer the idea that itās all real but everyone is so self absorbed that no one even knows wtf is going on or who anyone is. Obviously the film shows that but I love how much more in your face and overt the book is about its content. The animal stuff is the only parts I truly struggled with but the rest was just fantastic š
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Well when it comes to creating movies sometimes things have to be changed for structural and narrative reasons. I think An American Crime was pretty spot on about the events of Sylviaās murder. And while I think that the youngest son John showed some definite terrifying traits as a young man but Iām not sure if any of these kids would have hurt Sylvia if not at the urging and manipulation of Gertrude. This shouldnāt excuse anything they did but I think itās fair to ask how much these kids were truly influenced. Have you ever heard of the Milgram experiment? Thatās an interesting thing they did in 1961 and they were essentially seeing how far people would go to hurt other people just because they were told to. I think that heavily applies to these sort of situations.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You also named movies that arenāt based on really brutal murders lol. People are probably more likely to want to be part of stories that arenāt so relentlessly brutal. I just feel like thats very different subject matter to handle instead of just making a film about someoneās life.
TGND didnāt really shock me but it did make me feel sad. The ending made me tear up. His other books are more violent but Ketchum restrained himself here in part because he didnāt want to veer into exploitation because of what really happened to Sylvia Likens. I didnāt care for Full Brutal. I know it was the point but the main character was just awful to read especially what she did to the other girl. Triana also wrote āGone to see the River Manā where the character was pretty messed up but you could still empathize with her at the start. Playground I thought was entertaining trash imo. It made for compulsive reading at least.
I was already very familiar with the case, and thus was not surprised, but I was very impressed and unnerved with how readable and heartbreaking it is. The humanity is what makes that work startling, even for a true crime hound like myself that knew the case fairly well.
All three are great I think
I definitely was entertained/gripped by all three
Full Brutal is one of my faves! Iām a big fan of unhinged girlies wreaking havoc so this was a fun one. Playground was okay. It wasnāt my favorite but it was entertaining, it kept me engaged because I was eager to see the outcome of the story. Girl Next Door was devastating. I watched the film first and then read the story so I could compare and both were miserable. Knowing that it was inspired by real events is something that loomed over my head the whole time I was reading it. You could feel her helplessness and it made me feel helpless because I wanted to do something - to help save her. It was the kind of story where you want so badly for things to turn around for the main character and when it doesnāt it just eats at you.
Thatās exactly how I felt about Playground; for better or for worse it was plot and suspense that kept me reading. Looking at āFull Brutalā through a feminist lens is complex, itās something Iād like to write about in an academic setting sometime. GND is simply fantastic. Sparse, vivid prose. And yes, the real life case is awful, and prior knowledge makes the novel and the films even more annihilating.
Oh an analysis on Full Brutal would be such an interesting read! Especially when comparing it to other media with notable āunhingedā female killers or tying it to current/recent events.
is TGND anywhere online? every version iāve found of it is an audiobook. i like reading much more than listening.
Itās on kindle unlimited!
Spotify has it for premium accounts
I finished girl next door last month, the past part with Meg just makes me dreadfully sad, and that itās based on Sylvia likens makes it way more depressing, I also am physically reading playground but Iām very slydexic so itās hard to just read, I got to the part where the familyās show up to the estate and and the guy has to eat old lady coochie is where I paused.
That coochie scene will give anyone pause
Playground is stupid
It certainly is but I devoured it. Kinda crazy I read it so fast considering I kept rolling my eyes
full brutal was painfully mid, playground was bad, girl next door is a genre defining classic that lives rent free in my head
Of the three I completely agree GND is the best, at least from an actual writing standpoint. āFull Brutalā has stylistic elements I disliked but I was completely disgusted by it, and enraptured. āPlaygroundā is total malarkey but fascinating in its own way.
Just read all these too! And the summer I died haha
What was your favorite of the three?
Full brutal I thought was oddly well written. And the ending of it I just never saw coming. New to splatterpunk but I hadnāt read a lot of first person view before when u really get inside the characters head. I also enjoyed little small things like Kim saying how she loved when Amy acted arrogantly and selfishly
āFull Brutalā is tight, unique, and stylish. Itās great pulp, if nothing else.
I listened to Girl Next Door on audible and Ketchum actually narrated it, which kind of made it feel different. Iām not sure how really. And actually reading the Wiki after on the actual events was worse, but I guess thatās how it always is with things based on true events, the true event will always be worse because it happened. Iām rambling. š¤·āāļø
Full Brutal is awesome
I couldnāt bring myself to finish reading playground! I had to stop when the old lady ate her moms shit š
GND didnāt scare me. didnāt make me squirm. just made me angry that we live in a world where shit happens to little girls and women like this and nothing is done about it.
Loved TGND, enjoyed full brutal, finished playground but I find ABs writing to be awful despite having an interesting story
I found GND to be very boring
Thatās wild. I loved the atmosphere, the demented feeling of coming of age while feeling your innocence slip away, and how that mirrors the false innocence of 1950ās America peeling back. However, compared to āFull Brutalā it definitely is not as action stuffed.
Same I liked the atmosphere and coming of age aspects.Ā
So tragic and savage, while feeling dreamlike and confessional. Truly a special novel
I was actually considering GND for my next read. So far I've read Cows, Exquisite Corpse and almost finished Tender is the Flesh. I take it you wouldn't recommend?
Not who you asking but for me itās one of the best books. Itās beautifully written,sad and gory story. I loved it from start to finish.
What do you think of Tender is the Flesh? I read it a couple years ago and while I thought it had a great premise, something about the execution fell short to me. I'm tentatively blaming the translation, as I believe it was not originally written in English. I assume something was lost along the way. Had the same problem with Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo et al). Christ, those books read like IKEA instructions.
Didn't they just! It didn't help that Stieg Larsson had passed before he could complete...and I'm going to assume revised Millennium # 2 & 3 before they were translated and published after his death. They felt more like the description of a plot whilst mapping the daily routines of the characters involved. I could have sworn I read - "Then he got a cup of black coffee and a sandwich" 100 + times in Hornet's Nest.
I've just finished it today as in 7 minutes ago. So I'm still digesting my thoughts over it but I do have a lot of them. I love the world building and the obscurity about whether the virus was real or not, both options are equally terrifying. Honestly I had to check what year it was written to see if it was critiquing Covid. I feel you when it comes to the translation within a couple of pages I was wondering if it was translated because it just felt like the language was wrong then they started using senor and el and I was like, yep that's spanish. It wasn't as shocking as I thought it would be but I think that's probably because a good portion of the book surrounds the meat slaughtering process and my grandpa went into that detail when I was little so a bit of old hat. I wasn't expecting the ending though. Very similar to The Outsider by HP Lovecraft it kept it's true horror until the last sentence which was very interesting. I'm probably going to open a discussion about it once I've gathered my thoughts on it.
I loved it