Genre: Supernatural Horror
Release Date: August 20, 2024
ADD TO GOODREADS
A cemetery filled with innocents. A ghostly chill in the air. Will a short walk through the woods awaken a dark power?
Kylie Macklin is eager to live a normal life. Freshly moved from Florida to Alabama and finally in remission from cancer, the optimistic nine-year-old is used to dodging her overprotective mom’s warnings. So when a new playmate invites her to hang out, the happy girl thinks nothing of the playground being located in a graveyard for young victims of the Spanish Flu… and a local serial killer.
Kayla Macklin hates starting over. Forced to relocate after her little sister’s recovery, the sullen nineteen-year-old despises her new home more when she sees a terrifying vision in the nearby crypt. And as kids around town start to fall gravely ill, she begins to suspect there is something sinister at play.
Tormented by a frightening specter’s ever-closer appearances, Kylie turns to her older sibling for help. But as Kayla digs into the history of the haunted ground, the twisted truths she discovers hint at a bloodthirst that can never be sated.
Can they face down the malevolent force without tripping into their own graves?
The Dead Children’s Playground is the bone-chilling first book in the American Horrors series. If you like dark twists, scary puzzles, and poignant moments, then you’ll love James Kaine’s supernatural spine-tingler.
Buy The Dead Children’s Playground to start a fatal game today!
MY REVIEW – 3 1/2 stars
It took me several chapters to get into this story. Even then, the pacing felt slow until the book was nearly over. I didn’t get a creepy/horror vibe from this one. I think, for me, the tension was lacking. However, the epilogue was incredibly sad and emotional.
I felt the characters were well developed, and I wanted to smack their mom for most of the book. I enjoyed the relationship between Kayla and Desiree. The scenes between the two of them felt more three dimensional than the interactions between the others.
If you like a slower paced story that’s on the lighter side of horror, this story had some interesting plot points. It was a good story, but it just fell a bit flat for me.
And seriously, how gorgeous is this cover? The cover alone made me want a copy of this book.
*Disclaimer: I’m voluntarily leaving a review. The review above is only my opinion. I received an ARC from Book Sirens.