A review by stephanieluxton
The Dead Children's Playground by James Kaine

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

6/32 for the indie horror brawl.

I would have never read this book if it wasn't for the brawl because I don't like the title and I don't like the cover. Also based on the couple previous books I'd read in the brawl, I was reluctant to see what kind of shack value involving dead children this author was going to throw at me.

I was surprised to find out that this book gave a totally different experience than what I expected. It's a ghost story, but more than that, It's a story about bond between two sisters: 19yo Kayla, and 10yo Kylie. Five years ago, Kylie was diagnosed with cancer and although she's in remission, her family moved to Alabama so their dad can take a job with better health benefits. Their new backyard backs onto forest and through the forest, there's a playground and a cemetery. Almost immediately, strange things begin to happen.

I want to give this author a gold star for giving us time to care about our characters. Kayla and Kylie are both well-rounded Their parents are less important, but the author gave them enough of their own problems that it creates a complicated family dynamic. Desiree (Kayla's new 'friend/crush') and Emily (the mysterious girl from the playground) are also both really interesting characters. The Caretaker makes for a very ominous presence throughout the story. The other characters are all pretty flat and uninteresting, except for maybe Aunt Ethel. The relationships between main characters feel believable. The romance aspect of this story didn't feel forced at all and blended well with the other events.

The setting is excellent. There's a good amount of dread and atmosphere around the house, woods, playground, and cemetery. Instead of straight up blood and guts, the author makes us fear the tapping on a window, the figure at the edge of the forest, and locked doors. The setting does a lot to build tension.

There was a time when I suspected this could have been a 5 star read but it started to lose me towards the end for a few reasons. Towards the end, there's way too much exposition. The author really didn't need to spoon feed us as much as he did. For example:
When Kayla accidently breaks the rocking chair, I immediately had an "Oh shit" moment because it isn't rocket science that that was the goal of the entity. Spending more time explaining that later took away from the bombshell moment where it happened.
I'd say the last quarter of the book is where things got messy for me. I'll take a moment to complain about the other things I didn't like.
I don't like the Ethel was brutally killed for a few reasons. This should have traumatized Kayla and her friends way more than it actually does. I don't feel like Abel would have killed her because she would have reminded him of Eunice. Did no one in the town hear about this grisly murder? You'd think the entire town would be on lockdown after that. There's no way you'd let your daughter even go to the movies with her friend right after she found her friends aunt dead in a bloody violent crime scene. I wish they gave some of Ethels character traits to Jasmine instead of having Ethel as a character. Because Jasmine was pretty boring. Anyways, why would the demon write her name on the wall in Ethel's blood? Knowing the name of a demon gives power over it. There was a moment where I thought maybe Abel did that to tip off the girls, but its clearly established that he's illiterate. Also, Eunice already knew the name of the demon, so writing it on the wall was just a strange choice. Moving on - the final battle was too easy. I'm surprised the priest didn't question Kayla's motives more when she wanted him to bless the knives. I kept waiting for him to ask her if she was planning on stabbing someone, because that is the natural first question. I thought it'd be a bigger deal that Kylie let the demon possess her but the problem was solved almost immediately. Killing the demon was so simple. Lastly, I didn't like the epilogue. The author says in the afterword that you can pretend the last chapter doesn't exist if you want, and I am conflicted by this. I don't hate that Kylie died, but I think it was missing something. I think when the demon was trying to convince Kylie to become the new vessel and explaining that the reason she's special is because of her unwavering strength, the demon should have made it clear that by letting her in, she's giving up that strength to the demon and would never get it back. That would have been the perfect amount of foreshadowing for her cancer to later come back and her to not have the strength to fight it. Another cool way this could have went would be if the story was more focused on Kylie and her relationships rather than on Kayla - especially her relationship with Drew. If that was more fleshed out, we could have had a tragic story with an energy similar to My Girl. Anyways, in that case, I think it would have been interesting if there were signs that her cancer was already relapsing but as the audience, it would be unclear if its signs of cancer or just demonic possession. The demon could convince Kylie to let her in because she will cure her cancer, and spare the other children. I could see Kylie agreeing to this, not for selfish reasons of wanting to be cancer-free, but because Kylie is very aware that her diagnosis has destroyed her family and they're just starting to heal. Then when the demon is revealed as being a liar, Kylie could use the last of her strength to fight off the demon, and then the ending could be the same but also with her and Drew being reunited. I just have ideas, okay?


It doesn't matter. It's still a good book.
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