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The Black Slide: A Scary Middle Grade Horror Adventure of Portals and Creatures for Kids
An ominous new slide on the playground leads to a world of fear in The Smashed Man of Dread End author J.W. Ocker's latest middle grade horror, perfect for fans of R.L. Stine and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
Griffin Birch isn't known for being brave, but there's something about the new black slide on the elementary school playground that's made him curious. Against his better judgement, he just has to follow his best friend Laila down.
But the Black Slide is no ordinary piece of playground equipment. What Griffin and Laila find at the other end of this strange portal is a cruel world, populated by bloodthirsty creatures on a quest to become immortal.
And it's up to Griffin to save himself, his best friend--and the future of earth itself.
Fans of classic horror will devour this creepy adventure packed with more twists and turns than the ominous black slide itself.
Griffin Birch isn't known for being brave, but there's something about the new black slide on the elementary school playground that's made him curious. Against his better judgement, he just has to follow his best friend Laila down.
But the Black Slide is no ordinary piece of playground equipment. What Griffin and Laila find at the other end of this strange portal is a cruel world, populated by bloodthirsty creatures on a quest to become immortal.
And it's up to Griffin to save himself, his best friend--and the future of earth itself.
Fans of classic horror will devour this creepy adventure packed with more twists and turns than the ominous black slide itself.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2022
7 people are currently reading
3406 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
July 23, 2022
4.0 Stars
Kids vs the evil slide…. What an incredibly fun idea for a horror story!
This was such an enjoyable story. The story hit some of classic tropes of the genre, while still feeling fresh. The premise was fantastic and I was delighted when the actual story lived up to it's potential. The slide was legitimately creepy! Despite being written for a middle grade audience, this story managed to actually feel spooky (more than a lot of the adult books I read).
I would recommend this to any adult reader who is open to middle grade. This one definitely has all ages appeal. Of course, I think young readers will also love this one. It would make a great gift for any budding horror fan.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
Kids vs the evil slide…. What an incredibly fun idea for a horror story!
This was such an enjoyable story. The story hit some of classic tropes of the genre, while still feeling fresh. The premise was fantastic and I was delighted when the actual story lived up to it's potential. The slide was legitimately creepy! Despite being written for a middle grade audience, this story managed to actually feel spooky (more than a lot of the adult books I read).
I would recommend this to any adult reader who is open to middle grade. This one definitely has all ages appeal. Of course, I think young readers will also love this one. It would make a great gift for any budding horror fan.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
April 14, 2022
Thanks for checking out my book. I wanted to push the bounds of middle grade horror a bit with this one. The kids deserve so much more from their scares.
May 9, 2022
"He could do this. He could slide down the Black Slide. Even with the darkness chewing at his sneakers, he could do it."
I adore middle grade horror. So a book that promises that the ‘playground isn’t fun anymore’ sounded right up my alley. Not to mention that the cover is absolutely awesome and made me wonder what happens when the kids slide down it. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations.
The story starts off terrific. There’s a torture chamber (classroom) that looks out onto the playground where a new black slide has been put in. But there is something ominous about this slide. Every kid can feel it and no one wants to go on it. But eventually someone does – Griffin, our main character, when he is bullied into sliding down it and that’s where the horror and mystery really starts.
But then I found the next sections a little too slow, which was a shame. The kids are in a nightmare-type world, but it was more of them going or running to places and I never felt the same dramatic tension that I did when the slide was first being introduced. The nightmare world gets to described to us, but I never felt the kids fear and as a result I didn’t feel any fear on their behalf. The creepiest part to me ended up being how one of the kids, a girl, seemingly accepted the pain and the nightmare, as if it were inevitable. She didn’t want to be free or maybe she did, but felt she had to experience pain first. The action picks up in the second half of the book when the kids start interacting with those in the nightmare world. The plot progresses a little faster and I enjoyed it more at that point.
All in all, there were parts I most definitely enjoyed, but there were parts that were a little slow for me. So, a mixed bag. But, then there is the ending, which I loved. Perfect for a horror book.
Rating: 3 Stars
Thanks to HarperCollins and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.
I adore middle grade horror. So a book that promises that the ‘playground isn’t fun anymore’ sounded right up my alley. Not to mention that the cover is absolutely awesome and made me wonder what happens when the kids slide down it. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations.
The story starts off terrific. There’s a torture chamber (classroom) that looks out onto the playground where a new black slide has been put in. But there is something ominous about this slide. Every kid can feel it and no one wants to go on it. But eventually someone does – Griffin, our main character, when he is bullied into sliding down it and that’s where the horror and mystery really starts.
But then I found the next sections a little too slow, which was a shame. The kids are in a nightmare-type world, but it was more of them going or running to places and I never felt the same dramatic tension that I did when the slide was first being introduced. The nightmare world gets to described to us, but I never felt the kids fear and as a result I didn’t feel any fear on their behalf. The creepiest part to me ended up being how one of the kids, a girl, seemingly accepted the pain and the nightmare, as if it were inevitable. She didn’t want to be free or maybe she did, but felt she had to experience pain first. The action picks up in the second half of the book when the kids start interacting with those in the nightmare world. The plot progresses a little faster and I enjoyed it more at that point.
All in all, there were parts I most definitely enjoyed, but there were parts that were a little slow for me. So, a mixed bag. But, then there is the ending, which I loved. Perfect for a horror book.
Rating: 3 Stars
Thanks to HarperCollins and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.
March 21, 2022
This is a book of every weird kid’s dream. It’s refreshing that horror is becoming bigger in middle grade. I come from the generation that only really had Goosebumps and I was obsessed. Unfortunately as my reading level progressed they didn’t do much for me but I wasn’t quite ready for the adult horror. I would have LOVED having this book as a kid. It pushes the boundaries of middle grade. It’s uncomfortable but also one heck of an adventure. But I will say….this is not for the faint of heart. It is creepy and cringey and downright weird. Just what a weirdo like me loves. It’s also not dumbed down so it’s perfect for kids that have a higher reading level.
I was lucky enough to to be apart of a book club meeting that the author attended. Something he said that made me like the book even more was that he wasn’t writing it to have some great lesson bestowed upon the readers but to create a sense of wonder. And I liked that. I liked the idea that there are books out there that’s only purpose is to fuel the imaginations of kids. Especially when it comes to horror. And adults like me I guess.
I would recommend this for teens/adults and middle grade kids that really enjoy some weird stuff and have a good stomach.
I was lucky enough to to be apart of a book club meeting that the author attended. Something he said that made me like the book even more was that he wasn’t writing it to have some great lesson bestowed upon the readers but to create a sense of wonder. And I liked that. I liked the idea that there are books out there that’s only purpose is to fuel the imaginations of kids. Especially when it comes to horror. And adults like me I guess.
I would recommend this for teens/adults and middle grade kids that really enjoy some weird stuff and have a good stomach.
April 23, 2025
I had previously read Ocker's adult horror novel, 12 Nights at Rotter House, and when I saw this middle grade horror novel by him, its cover and premise compelled me to snag a copy.
Griffin, our main character, notices a new black slide on the playground at school, and is dared to go down it. Something strange happens in his descent, and later on he notices fellow classmates use the slide and don't come out at the end of it.
He goes down the slide again in pursuit of one of his friends, and they are transported into some kind of nightmare realm, filled with various creatures and obstacles they must overcome - along with a hellish race of beings known as The Merciless that plan to keep them there forever.
POSITIVES:
I loved the setup and characterization to this. Ocker does a great job at character development early on, as well as building tension and scares as we first learn about the black slide.
There were also some deeper elements that I appreciated, such as our protagonist dealing with bullying and an abusive father, and a well written relationship between him and his only friend, Laila.
I also liked some of the weird and nightmarish concoctions Ocker comes up with throughout the book - eventually the story evolves more into fantasy than horror as we get lots of weird creatures and other things happening in the dimension the kids get stuck in.
NEGATIVES:
After the initial setup, around the halfway mark or so, things just got a little too weird, crazy, and random for my tastes. Things become a bit too action packed, to the point where it feels a bit mind numbing and there's not much breathing room to focus on the characters, or explanation of exactly what the heck was going on in this otherworldly realm. It was all just too much for me.
I would've preferred a more simple story than what we got. I struggled to make sense of the convoluted ideas presented throughout the book, especially in the last third or so.
Also, it was kind of longer than it needed to be, coming in at about 250 pages. This definitely could've been tightened and streamlined a bit.
One last nitpick: the ending was a bit sudden and sappy for my tastes. I don't think getting a summary of the kids' future lives as adults was really necessary.
Overall, I enjoyed this, even if it lost me a bit the second half of the book. Ocker takes things a bit further with the scares and violence than what's typical of middle grade horror, and I dug that, but I also wished things would've stayed a bit more grounded and not gone full-on fantasy with what transpires.
I give The Black Slide a solid 3⭐ - even though it wasn't quite a homerun for me it was still a cool read and I'll probably check out the author's other titles in the future.
Griffin, our main character, notices a new black slide on the playground at school, and is dared to go down it. Something strange happens in his descent, and later on he notices fellow classmates use the slide and don't come out at the end of it.
He goes down the slide again in pursuit of one of his friends, and they are transported into some kind of nightmare realm, filled with various creatures and obstacles they must overcome - along with a hellish race of beings known as The Merciless that plan to keep them there forever.
POSITIVES:
I loved the setup and characterization to this. Ocker does a great job at character development early on, as well as building tension and scares as we first learn about the black slide.
There were also some deeper elements that I appreciated, such as our protagonist dealing with bullying and an abusive father, and a well written relationship between him and his only friend, Laila.
I also liked some of the weird and nightmarish concoctions Ocker comes up with throughout the book - eventually the story evolves more into fantasy than horror as we get lots of weird creatures and other things happening in the dimension the kids get stuck in.
NEGATIVES:
After the initial setup, around the halfway mark or so, things just got a little too weird, crazy, and random for my tastes. Things become a bit too action packed, to the point where it feels a bit mind numbing and there's not much breathing room to focus on the characters, or explanation of exactly what the heck was going on in this otherworldly realm. It was all just too much for me.
I would've preferred a more simple story than what we got. I struggled to make sense of the convoluted ideas presented throughout the book, especially in the last third or so.
Also, it was kind of longer than it needed to be, coming in at about 250 pages. This definitely could've been tightened and streamlined a bit.
One last nitpick: the ending was a bit sudden and sappy for my tastes. I don't think getting a summary of the kids' future lives as adults was really necessary.
Overall, I enjoyed this, even if it lost me a bit the second half of the book. Ocker takes things a bit further with the scares and violence than what's typical of middle grade horror, and I dug that, but I also wished things would've stayed a bit more grounded and not gone full-on fantasy with what transpires.
I give The Black Slide a solid 3⭐ - even though it wasn't quite a homerun for me it was still a cool read and I'll probably check out the author's other titles in the future.
July 14, 2023
Verdict: Imaginative alternate world filled with torture and terrifying creatures.
The black slide appeared on the playground of Osshua Elementary on a clear day in late September.
- first line
Griffin knows the new black slide on the playground is creepy. He notices his classmates go down the slide and don’t come out. But no one else seems suspicious. When Griffin’s best friend, Laila, goes down the slide, he has to follow her. It leads them to an alternate world called The Painful Place, populated by beings called the Merciless. This world is no Narnia. It’s dark and filled with pain & suffering.
The story is strange, imaginative, and like no middle-grade book I’ve read. It’s intense and scary - not for the fainthearted. It sort of reminded me of Stranger Things with mystifying creatures and a dark, terrifying alternate world (ala the Upside Down). I would recommend this to 5th grade and up, especially those who have read Goosebumps and are ready for something scarier.
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The black slide appeared on the playground of Osshua Elementary on a clear day in late September.
- first line
Griffin knows the new black slide on the playground is creepy. He notices his classmates go down the slide and don’t come out. But no one else seems suspicious. When Griffin’s best friend, Laila, goes down the slide, he has to follow her. It leads them to an alternate world called The Painful Place, populated by beings called the Merciless. This world is no Narnia. It’s dark and filled with pain & suffering.
The story is strange, imaginative, and like no middle-grade book I’ve read. It’s intense and scary - not for the fainthearted. It sort of reminded me of Stranger Things with mystifying creatures and a dark, terrifying alternate world (ala the Upside Down). I would recommend this to 5th grade and up, especially those who have read Goosebumps and are ready for something scarier.
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 27, 2022
THE BLACK SIDE is on the younger side of middle grade, the characters about nine-years-old and in fifth grade. I must have missed the elementary school part in the blurb. Not that I didn’t know this was MG. I just didn’t realize it was as young as it was. Thankfully, it didn’t affect the reading any. In fact, I think the ages of the students are largely irrelevant when it comes to them being nine, ten, eleven, twelve. The voices were pretty fluid that way.
There’s definitely a classical horror element to the storytelling. It actually reminded me of Stranger Things, especially when the kids got into the Painful Place and started walking around. It was basically an upside down world of our own, where there was a painground instead of a playground, and none of the creatures made sense to their normal world sensibilities.
I liked how the story led into the black slide and that whole world. How the focus was originally on the teacher, Mrs Pitts, and how she ended up being just a brick in the wall, as it were. I also really liked the notion that something as innocuous as a slide is what transports kids to another world to get tortured, basically. That adds a layer of creepy to it.
It was a fun read, but it didn’t really resonate with me (and no, not just because it’s a middle grade books there are plenty that do). I’m not too thrilled with how it tries to shoehorn child abuse into the storyline (and I don’t mean by the Merciless). Like, it works with the plot, but it also tries to add a depth that feels disingenuous to the story. It just sat a little odd with me.
The storytelling style was a little standoffish too. It kept the characters at a bit of a distance and prevented me from really immersing myself in the story and taking the ride with the kids. I wanted to be more involved in it, but the story wasn’t letting me. It’s kind of odd to explain, but there’s just a narrative distance there.
THE BLACK SLIDE isn’t a bad story. It’s fun and creepy and does the trick for a scary tale. But it didn’t blow my hair back.
3.5
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
There’s definitely a classical horror element to the storytelling. It actually reminded me of Stranger Things, especially when the kids got into the Painful Place and started walking around. It was basically an upside down world of our own, where there was a painground instead of a playground, and none of the creatures made sense to their normal world sensibilities.
I liked how the story led into the black slide and that whole world. How the focus was originally on the teacher, Mrs Pitts, and how she ended up being just a brick in the wall, as it were. I also really liked the notion that something as innocuous as a slide is what transports kids to another world to get tortured, basically. That adds a layer of creepy to it.
It was a fun read, but it didn’t really resonate with me (and no, not just because it’s a middle grade books there are plenty that do). I’m not too thrilled with how it tries to shoehorn child abuse into the storyline (and I don’t mean by the Merciless). Like, it works with the plot, but it also tries to add a depth that feels disingenuous to the story. It just sat a little odd with me.
The storytelling style was a little standoffish too. It kept the characters at a bit of a distance and prevented me from really immersing myself in the story and taking the ride with the kids. I wanted to be more involved in it, but the story wasn’t letting me. It’s kind of odd to explain, but there’s just a narrative distance there.
THE BLACK SLIDE isn’t a bad story. It’s fun and creepy and does the trick for a scary tale. But it didn’t blow my hair back.
3.5
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 24, 2022
The Black Slide by J.W. Ocker has earned itself a place in my favorite middle-grade horror books of all time. Ocker himself describes it perfectly when he refers to it as "Hellraiser for kids."
There is something about the eerie black slide that appears in the playground of Griffin and Laila's school overnight that just isn't right. Griffin and Laila have been best friends practically since they were born. Griffin has always been a bit timid, making himself an easy target for school bullies, while Laila has always had a courageous streak and will always show up to Griffin's aid. When Griffin is dared (more like threatened) by the school bully, Ozzie, to go down the new creepy slide, Griffin unwittingly starts a chain reaction that will put not only him, but all of his classmates and possibly the entire world in grave danger.
Fellow students start disappearing the adults are acting as if nothing is out of the norm. When Laila herself is drawn down into the depths of the black slide, Griffin quickly follows. What they find on the other end is another world filled with horror and despair, and mysterious robotic creatures that have no mercy for any living thing that comes between them and their search for immortality.
With wholly unique world building, Ocker takes his readers on a journey that brims with suspense and terror. I absolutely loved this book and I can't wait for other's to have a chance to read this one in October!
Thank you so very much to Netgalley and HarperCollin's Children's Books for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
There is something about the eerie black slide that appears in the playground of Griffin and Laila's school overnight that just isn't right. Griffin and Laila have been best friends practically since they were born. Griffin has always been a bit timid, making himself an easy target for school bullies, while Laila has always had a courageous streak and will always show up to Griffin's aid. When Griffin is dared (more like threatened) by the school bully, Ozzie, to go down the new creepy slide, Griffin unwittingly starts a chain reaction that will put not only him, but all of his classmates and possibly the entire world in grave danger.
Fellow students start disappearing the adults are acting as if nothing is out of the norm. When Laila herself is drawn down into the depths of the black slide, Griffin quickly follows. What they find on the other end is another world filled with horror and despair, and mysterious robotic creatures that have no mercy for any living thing that comes between them and their search for immortality.
With wholly unique world building, Ocker takes his readers on a journey that brims with suspense and terror. I absolutely loved this book and I can't wait for other's to have a chance to read this one in October!
Thank you so very much to Netgalley and HarperCollin's Children's Books for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
June 7, 2022
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
***
The Torture Chamber is exactly how a child might feel about a classroom with a playground view. I loved that detail.
This is the kind of book that would have drawn me into reading as a child, the kind that fostered a healthy love of books throughout my life.
I think middle grade readers will find several things to love about this book. It's relatable, exciting, and just the right dose of spooky.
***
The Torture Chamber is exactly how a child might feel about a classroom with a playground view. I loved that detail.
This is the kind of book that would have drawn me into reading as a child, the kind that fostered a healthy love of books throughout my life.
I think middle grade readers will find several things to love about this book. It's relatable, exciting, and just the right dose of spooky.
June 9, 2023
HUGE disappointment after reading '12 Nights at Rotter House' and 'Smashed'!! This book took a turn for the worst at 60%.
Cannot recommend.
Cannot recommend.
June 12, 2023
This had some really creepy parts, especially the beginning where all of a sudden there is a new slide in the school playground - a very ominous black slide. As the story progresses it does slow down and many parts didn't hold my attention. The pacing just seemed a bit everywhere. Overall a truly scary middle grade book that I would have loved when I was younger.
June 6, 2022
Review in 10-ish words: Middle grade read filled with horror and friendship.
Synopsis: Boy goes down terrifying, huge black slide in school playground and emerges in a terrifying, metal filled world.
My Thoughts:
I haven't read middle grade horror for a hot minute so this was fun!
Some of the visuals and sensory experiences created were so effective for me and made for a terrifying background to the story at hand. I will say this is the probably the scariest book I've read that has been aimed at a middle grade audience. I don't necessarily think that's a good or bad thing, but it's worth mentioning! I would encourage (especially for younger audiences) you to check CW.
I liked the two main characters in the story. I thought their friendship was warming and I loved seeing them interact through the story. The adult characters in the book (mostly Griffin's mother and the teacher) did come across as shallow, but then again they were not the focus of the story.
The story itself started a little slow for me. It felt like I was waiting to 'get to the point,' but it did eventually pick up in terms of plot and tension.
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for providing a copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review
Synopsis: Boy goes down terrifying, huge black slide in school playground and emerges in a terrifying, metal filled world.
My Thoughts:
I haven't read middle grade horror for a hot minute so this was fun!
Some of the visuals and sensory experiences created were so effective for me and made for a terrifying background to the story at hand. I will say this is the probably the scariest book I've read that has been aimed at a middle grade audience. I don't necessarily think that's a good or bad thing, but it's worth mentioning! I would encourage (especially for younger audiences) you to check CW.
I liked the two main characters in the story. I thought their friendship was warming and I loved seeing them interact through the story. The adult characters in the book (mostly Griffin's mother and the teacher) did come across as shallow, but then again they were not the focus of the story.
The story itself started a little slow for me. It felt like I was waiting to 'get to the point,' but it did eventually pick up in terms of plot and tension.
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for providing a copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review
June 11, 2022
While I love the concept of the story, it just didn’t work for me as a middle grade horror book. If this book was being marketed as adult horror and the characters were a bit older, then I would have given 4 stars. The world building was fantastic and I really enjoyed the relationship between the main character and his best friend, but I just didn’t feel comfortable with the violence and torture in a book for middle grade-age kids. I read a comment on Goodreads by the author about how he wanted to push the boundary and kids deserve more from their scary stories, and while I’m all for pushing boundaries and upping the scare factor in the MG/YA genres, this was a bit too much for me.
CW/TW: Child abuse, animal abuse, torture, and bullying
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.
CW/TW: Child abuse, animal abuse, torture, and bullying
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.
January 14, 2023
A creepy black slide on a school playground? Sign me up! This book definitely brought a fresh new idea to the spooky/horror middle grade. Although it was slow at parts, I really loved the story, the characters, and the metal creatures/creepy world within the black slide. I do encourage checking the TW for this book before giving it a read, but I definitely recommend it!
3.5 stars ⭐️
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars ⭐️
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
December 11, 2021
The craziest and most terrifying middle grade book I’ve ever read. You’re going to love this one.
November 21, 2023
4.5 stars. A ridiculous premise, but the landscape Ocker created was fantastic. A great allegory for growing up with a touching conclusion.
May 29, 2022
[This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review]
1 star
TW: Parental abuse of a child, animal abuse
I believe that horror, particularly horror for young readers, is a particularly powerful genre because it provides a metaphoric language through which we can explore the difficult, indescribable, and particularly negative emotions and experiences that exist in the real world. Where this book fails, in my opinion, is when it abandons the fantasy for the real thing. At a point in the novel, the alien monsters that torture kids fade into the background as our main character, an eleven-year-old boy, vividly recounts his experience being physically abused by a parent, including a scene of graphic animal abuse of a beloved pet. Personally, I don’t believe that these scenes, as explicitly portrayed here, belong in a book for middle-grade audiences; moreover, I think the scene’s inclusion does the book a disservice.
While monsters torture kids in this book, it’s undertaken in a setting so alien as to be total fantasy, a layer of removal from the ‘real’ that invites the reader (young or old) to think about the role pain has in human life, and how other life forms might conceive of it. It also allows for an exploration of how these kids respond to difficulty, betrayal, and helplessness, all in a fantasy setting that magnifies and distorts the difficulties of real life. Then actual, graphic child abuse—more graphic than the veiled and mysterious torture the kids undergo at the hands of the actual monsters—pops up on the page. Any intended tie-in to the themes of the horror fantasy is clumsy and tenuous; the metaphor is literalized and loses all power it could have had.
I had issues with the novel before the on-screen child and animal abuse, but that scene knocked my rating down a full star. So let’s take a moment to examine the story independently of that aspect:
To be honest, I think the story’s ratios are off. The length, subject, and age target are all slightly mismatched; it’s too fantasy-adventure to be horror, too abstract to be fantasy-adventure, too brutal for eleven-year-olds, too slow and colorless to be properly gruesome. I found myself thinking of May Bird and the Ever After, a middle-grade horror-tinged fantasy adventure that I think absolutely nails that genre tightrope; in comparison, The Black Slide just felt underwhelming.
I think a big part of the problem lies with the bizarro world the kids slide into down the titular Black Slide. It’s just too alien to be properly horrifying. The monsters are described in terms that make them hard to visualize without just looking, well, goofy: skinny beings with round, chalky-white heads clad in the Organization XIII uniforms from Kingdom Hearts, except somehow more emo.
Where I think the book shines the best is in the relationship dynamics between our human kid protagonists. None of them are very interesting on their own, but Griffin and Laila’s friendship, and insistence upon hope through their individual passions, is very nice, as is the fact that they must team up with (and see new sides to) Griffin’s schoolyard bully, who I wish got more screentime as I feel we didn’t do more than scratch the surface of his personality.
But I just felt so let down by the nightmare world, which felt more frustrating than scary, and the heavy-handed way in which Griffin’s traumatic real-world past was included. This is not to say that I don’t think middle-grade books shouldn’t tackle the tough subjects: they absolutely should. But the way it was handled in this book left a bad taste in my mouth. Rather than provide language and room to explore feelings about the various injustices of the real world, the scenes just landed as the sort of gratuitous cruelty that characterizes bad adult horror. Seeing it in kids’ horror just made me angry. It reads as shock value, and as written I think it would retraumatize rather than empower kids who have lived that experience.
There’s better middle-grade horror out there, including far scarier middle-grade horror, that handles equally dark and disturbing content in a way that I think is actually productive to living with and working through those experiences. This book, in my opinion, misses the mark.
1 star
TW: Parental abuse of a child, animal abuse
I believe that horror, particularly horror for young readers, is a particularly powerful genre because it provides a metaphoric language through which we can explore the difficult, indescribable, and particularly negative emotions and experiences that exist in the real world. Where this book fails, in my opinion, is when it abandons the fantasy for the real thing. At a point in the novel, the alien monsters that torture kids fade into the background as our main character, an eleven-year-old boy, vividly recounts his experience being physically abused by a parent, including a scene of graphic animal abuse of a beloved pet. Personally, I don’t believe that these scenes, as explicitly portrayed here, belong in a book for middle-grade audiences; moreover, I think the scene’s inclusion does the book a disservice.
While monsters torture kids in this book, it’s undertaken in a setting so alien as to be total fantasy, a layer of removal from the ‘real’ that invites the reader (young or old) to think about the role pain has in human life, and how other life forms might conceive of it. It also allows for an exploration of how these kids respond to difficulty, betrayal, and helplessness, all in a fantasy setting that magnifies and distorts the difficulties of real life. Then actual, graphic child abuse—more graphic than the veiled and mysterious torture the kids undergo at the hands of the actual monsters—pops up on the page. Any intended tie-in to the themes of the horror fantasy is clumsy and tenuous; the metaphor is literalized and loses all power it could have had.
I had issues with the novel before the on-screen child and animal abuse, but that scene knocked my rating down a full star. So let’s take a moment to examine the story independently of that aspect:
To be honest, I think the story’s ratios are off. The length, subject, and age target are all slightly mismatched; it’s too fantasy-adventure to be horror, too abstract to be fantasy-adventure, too brutal for eleven-year-olds, too slow and colorless to be properly gruesome. I found myself thinking of May Bird and the Ever After, a middle-grade horror-tinged fantasy adventure that I think absolutely nails that genre tightrope; in comparison, The Black Slide just felt underwhelming.
I think a big part of the problem lies with the bizarro world the kids slide into down the titular Black Slide. It’s just too alien to be properly horrifying. The monsters are described in terms that make them hard to visualize without just looking, well, goofy: skinny beings with round, chalky-white heads clad in the Organization XIII uniforms from Kingdom Hearts, except somehow more emo.
Where I think the book shines the best is in the relationship dynamics between our human kid protagonists. None of them are very interesting on their own, but Griffin and Laila’s friendship, and insistence upon hope through their individual passions, is very nice, as is the fact that they must team up with (and see new sides to) Griffin’s schoolyard bully, who I wish got more screentime as I feel we didn’t do more than scratch the surface of his personality.
But I just felt so let down by the nightmare world, which felt more frustrating than scary, and the heavy-handed way in which Griffin’s traumatic real-world past was included. This is not to say that I don’t think middle-grade books shouldn’t tackle the tough subjects: they absolutely should. But the way it was handled in this book left a bad taste in my mouth. Rather than provide language and room to explore feelings about the various injustices of the real world, the scenes just landed as the sort of gratuitous cruelty that characterizes bad adult horror. Seeing it in kids’ horror just made me angry. It reads as shock value, and as written I think it would retraumatize rather than empower kids who have lived that experience.
There’s better middle-grade horror out there, including far scarier middle-grade horror, that handles equally dark and disturbing content in a way that I think is actually productive to living with and working through those experiences. This book, in my opinion, misses the mark.
November 11, 2022
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Griffin Birch isn't a huge fan of school, and refers to his classroom as the "Torture Chamber", where his fifth grade teacher demands that the children not look out the window at the playground. It's hard not to, especially when a weird black slide appears there. It looks like it is made of leather, and no one knows where it came from. When Griffin is the first one to go down it, he has a very weird experience; he feels like he was falling for a very long time and everyone, including his best friend Laila, blames this on the concussion they say he suffered after being injured in the slide and breaking his arm. When classmates start to go missing, and Griffin sees them approaching the slide, going down it, and never coming out, he has his suspicions. It only seems to affect the fifth graders, so when he sees Laila at the slide, he rushes out to save her. The two go down the slide together and end up in a weird and horrible world. There are weird, metal beings whose voices grate on the senses, and the children seem hypnotized and hopeless. There seems to be no escape, and the children are subject to horrible experiments, so that the area is dubbed the "Painful Place" or "the painground". They suffer at the hands of the Merciless, who have told the children that when the experiments are done, they will go home. To Griffin and Laila, along with classmates Desda and Ozzie, this seems unlikely. There are constant, senseless attacks by creatures of frightening intensity, and nothing makes sense. After running and fighting for ages, they meet Leech, who claims he can help them defeat the Merciless and escape, if they help her get inside the Forge. Can Griffin accomplish this, and even if he can, will it help him and his friends get out?
Strengths: This was certainly very rich in gruesome imagery and horrible descriptions, from cold air that smelled like "the chemical smell a bathroom has after it's cleaned", to the Merciless, who have "white heads glowing like moons above their shiny black robes". There's constant screaming and torture; the best description I can offer is a middle grade fever dream that starts on a very, very dark playground. The writing felt very cinematic, like someone describing a horror film to me. It's super creepy, and I started to wonder if Griffin and his classmates would ever get out. At first I thought this was going to be a bit like Dr. Fell's Playground of Doom, but the book this really reminded me of was Alexander Gordon Smith's Lockdown (2009) (Escape from Furnace) series, and that was mainly because of the violence and gore. This gets bonus points for novelty of form and content; I went into this thinking it would be like The Smashed Man of Dread End, but if Ocker's first novel is a dark and twisted Monkees' television episode, The Black Slide is the Monkee's Head.
Weaknesses: Because of the fever dream feel, the plot is rather secondary to all of the descriptions of torture. There is also a disturbing scene of Griffin's father abusing him and harming his lizard which should be mentioned in case this book is handed to tender hearted elementary school students; we have hints all along that Griffin's father has left the family because he was abusive, but I was a bit surprised at the graphic nature of this abuse. Supernatural monsters ripping people apart is different from human-on-human violence. Somehow.
What I really think: I am honestly not sure. This felt very experimental, and I feel like my students are either going to love it to pieces or not know what to do with it. I'm going to have to feel out my horror lovers on this one; it's quite effective, but an odd convergence of fifth grade playground and horrific monsters torturing children! Certainly one to read if you are a fan of scary books.
Griffin Birch isn't a huge fan of school, and refers to his classroom as the "Torture Chamber", where his fifth grade teacher demands that the children not look out the window at the playground. It's hard not to, especially when a weird black slide appears there. It looks like it is made of leather, and no one knows where it came from. When Griffin is the first one to go down it, he has a very weird experience; he feels like he was falling for a very long time and everyone, including his best friend Laila, blames this on the concussion they say he suffered after being injured in the slide and breaking his arm. When classmates start to go missing, and Griffin sees them approaching the slide, going down it, and never coming out, he has his suspicions. It only seems to affect the fifth graders, so when he sees Laila at the slide, he rushes out to save her. The two go down the slide together and end up in a weird and horrible world. There are weird, metal beings whose voices grate on the senses, and the children seem hypnotized and hopeless. There seems to be no escape, and the children are subject to horrible experiments, so that the area is dubbed the "Painful Place" or "the painground". They suffer at the hands of the Merciless, who have told the children that when the experiments are done, they will go home. To Griffin and Laila, along with classmates Desda and Ozzie, this seems unlikely. There are constant, senseless attacks by creatures of frightening intensity, and nothing makes sense. After running and fighting for ages, they meet Leech, who claims he can help them defeat the Merciless and escape, if they help her get inside the Forge. Can Griffin accomplish this, and even if he can, will it help him and his friends get out?
Strengths: This was certainly very rich in gruesome imagery and horrible descriptions, from cold air that smelled like "the chemical smell a bathroom has after it's cleaned", to the Merciless, who have "white heads glowing like moons above their shiny black robes". There's constant screaming and torture; the best description I can offer is a middle grade fever dream that starts on a very, very dark playground. The writing felt very cinematic, like someone describing a horror film to me. It's super creepy, and I started to wonder if Griffin and his classmates would ever get out. At first I thought this was going to be a bit like Dr. Fell's Playground of Doom, but the book this really reminded me of was Alexander Gordon Smith's Lockdown (2009) (Escape from Furnace) series, and that was mainly because of the violence and gore. This gets bonus points for novelty of form and content; I went into this thinking it would be like The Smashed Man of Dread End, but if Ocker's first novel is a dark and twisted Monkees' television episode, The Black Slide is the Monkee's Head.
Weaknesses: Because of the fever dream feel, the plot is rather secondary to all of the descriptions of torture. There is also a disturbing scene of Griffin's father abusing him and harming his lizard which should be mentioned in case this book is handed to tender hearted elementary school students; we have hints all along that Griffin's father has left the family because he was abusive, but I was a bit surprised at the graphic nature of this abuse. Supernatural monsters ripping people apart is different from human-on-human violence. Somehow.
What I really think: I am honestly not sure. This felt very experimental, and I feel like my students are either going to love it to pieces or not know what to do with it. I'm going to have to feel out my horror lovers on this one; it's quite effective, but an odd convergence of fifth grade playground and horrific monsters torturing children! Certainly one to read if you are a fan of scary books.
June 29, 2022
School is not Griffin’s favorite place. He is in fifth grade and is in the torture chamber class. The teacher of this class is Miss Pitts who is perfectly fitted to the adjective for the class. The torture chamber is the only room that has a view of the playground. But you better not get caught gazing toward the window or the wrath of Miss Pitt will reign down. One day a tall, steep, black, tubular slide just appears on the playground. It seems ominous, but when a relentless enemy, Ozzie, promises to stop bullying Griffin, he is the first to go down the black gaping mouth of the slide. The misery of the unknown wins over the known torment of Ozzie. His experience is traumatic and leaves him with a broken arm, but at least he survived the strange and long decent into darkness. But his best friend and fifth-grade peers don’t fare as well. It seems the black slide is eating the fifth graders of the torture class one at a time. Griffin tosses aside his better judgment and follows them, but this time he lands in a gruesome, harsh world. This place is filled with hideous creatures that desire immortality and are using humans for their experimentation. His peers are locked in cages, tortured in the hopes they can be useful to the aptly named Merciless. Griffin teams up with his best friend, Laila and his nemeses, Ozzie to escape. The horrors of this world do not end with the Merciless, and success will require unimaginable pain, sacrifice, and endurance.
This book is a tale where The Maze Runner meets Stranger Things. Definitely, a horror book for the non-queasy reader. I felt Ocher pushed the boundaries of middle grade horror, and vividly describes violence, torture, and casual cruelties. I was disturbed by the father’s abuse. However, Griffin is well-developed and slowly emerges as a hero. There is a happily ever after factor, but I can’t help but think an experience like this would leave lasting scars.
The concept of this book is incredible and I have no doubt teen readers will be fascinated by this story.
This book is a tale where The Maze Runner meets Stranger Things. Definitely, a horror book for the non-queasy reader. I felt Ocher pushed the boundaries of middle grade horror, and vividly describes violence, torture, and casual cruelties. I was disturbed by the father’s abuse. However, Griffin is well-developed and slowly emerges as a hero. There is a happily ever after factor, but I can’t help but think an experience like this would leave lasting scars.
The concept of this book is incredible and I have no doubt teen readers will be fascinated by this story.
August 24, 2022
2.5 stars for my own personal enjoyment, 3 stars for writing and story quality.
August 26, 2022
Thanks to HarperCollins Kids for providing me a copy of this via Netgalley!
Oofa doofa! This is the most disturbing middle grade story I have ever read. It was weird, creepy, and kind of graphic. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I'll be recommending it to students because of all this.
I really appreciate how much credit J. W Ockler gives middle grade readers. I know I have some middle schoolers who could handle this. no problem. But I also know some who will struggle with this. I think this would almost work better in a classroom or book club setting because of the darker subjects it tackles. It follows a group of kids who are transported to another world, aptly called the Painful Place, via a strange black slide. The things they experience are horrific. It is quite literal torture. I have to credit the author. This is like no horror I've ever read. But some of it felt needless. For example. it rains needles at one point, and we are graphically told how this hurts our child protagonists. I almost had to set my e-reader down. Also, never felt fully connected to the kids. I rooted for them, but only because they were innocent kids in a horrible situation. I wanted to learn more about what they were thinking and feeling.
Still. I can't really say I don't recommend this. I think there are some great themes of persevering and bravery, and a relatable side plot about abusive parenting. Still, I'm not sure this is enough to endure the trauma of the Painful Place.
Oofa doofa! This is the most disturbing middle grade story I have ever read. It was weird, creepy, and kind of graphic. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I'll be recommending it to students because of all this.
I really appreciate how much credit J. W Ockler gives middle grade readers. I know I have some middle schoolers who could handle this. no problem. But I also know some who will struggle with this. I think this would almost work better in a classroom or book club setting because of the darker subjects it tackles. It follows a group of kids who are transported to another world, aptly called the Painful Place, via a strange black slide. The things they experience are horrific. It is quite literal torture. I have to credit the author. This is like no horror I've ever read. But some of it felt needless. For example. it rains needles at one point, and we are graphically told how this hurts our child protagonists. I almost had to set my e-reader down. Also, never felt fully connected to the kids. I rooted for them, but only because they were innocent kids in a horrible situation. I wanted to learn more about what they were thinking and feeling.
Still. I can't really say I don't recommend this. I think there are some great themes of persevering and bravery, and a relatable side plot about abusive parenting. Still, I'm not sure this is enough to endure the trauma of the Painful Place.
February 24, 2022
trigger warning
Suddenly, the slide in the playground is black. And it is calling to them.
Griffin is dared to slide down the new, menacing slide that everyone avoids. And he does it.
I don't really know how to say this, because I am afriad it sounds very harsh. This was what I personally don't like in horror novels parsed down to middlegrade.
The depiction of the class teacher felt jarringly flat, as she is reduced to this idea of what you don't want a teacher to be like, without trying to make her a real character. Of course, the focus is not on her and this one is short, for early readers who want something different. Still, I don't like it.
The first half of the book is basically anyone running, which was boring. The second half was with more plot, and appealed more to me, but... It just didn't work for me in any way, which is a shame.
Would not read more by this author or recommend it. It felt like senseless violence and I am not sure that that's appropiate for the age. If your young reader likes horror, there are better options out there. Use the tags, they'll take you to further reviews.
The arc was provided by the publisher.
Suddenly, the slide in the playground is black. And it is calling to them.
Griffin is dared to slide down the new, menacing slide that everyone avoids. And he does it.
I don't really know how to say this, because I am afriad it sounds very harsh. This was what I personally don't like in horror novels parsed down to middlegrade.
The depiction of the class teacher felt jarringly flat, as she is reduced to this idea of what you don't want a teacher to be like, without trying to make her a real character. Of course, the focus is not on her and this one is short, for early readers who want something different. Still, I don't like it.
The first half of the book is basically anyone running, which was boring. The second half was with more plot, and appealed more to me, but... It just didn't work for me in any way, which is a shame.
Would not read more by this author or recommend it. It felt like senseless violence and I am not sure that that's appropiate for the age. If your young reader likes horror, there are better options out there. Use the tags, they'll take you to further reviews.
The arc was provided by the publisher.
February 10, 2022
This is hands down the scariest MG novel I’ve ever read but also the most beautiful. Between existing in my own trauma and teaching kids who have and hold onto trauma, this is so necessary. There is always this mindset that everyone needs grit and resilience to survive. But what about joy? What about those feelings of hope that everyone deserves to not only get through and conquer, but also to overcome and LIVE. This is the story of 5th grader Griffin, his best friend, and his school yard bully. What happens when you go down your playground slide but don’t arrive at the end? What happens when a world of rock and metal is out to grind your very being? This is terrifying to the point where it hurt, but my eyes tears rolling on the last page. Kids need to see books where being tough and made of “metal” isn’t what life is made of, that culture needs to change. We need more books just like this to be able to do that.
March 31, 2022
May I be frank about The Black Slide? This book was so f’d up and I’m considering it the scariest MG I’ve ever read. Bravo. I expected nothing less, but Jesus Christ did you deliver with this one.” was the message I sent to J.W. Ocker upon laying down my kindle after the last page. I think that he took all of the rules of middle grade horror and absolutely gutted his reader with them. In the best possible way. The first review I ever gave Ocker mentioned a “brain carnival” and man, he hasn’t relented since then. I dare you to find a book of his that isn’t fun from the very first page. I think his premise here is new and refreshing and his characters are easily some of his most likable. I am once again blown away by Ocker and just can’t get enough. When will I get my first 500 page book?
November 12, 2023
Considering the book in it's entirety, I enjoyed reading it. Some parts were paced more slowly but it does pick up and I found myself wanting to know what happened next, not wanting to put it down. There were themes and feelings I could relate to, having experienced them myself. The Black Slide is difficult to read at times and I'm both glad and sad that those scenes exist were represented in the book. I'm glad that children can read this book, find it relatable and feel represented and sad that children experience these situations in the first place. I thought the concepts and plot line were really interesting and fun while also being wholly terrifying. It's a very imaginative and creative piece of work and I'd be interested in reading another book by J.W. Ocker.
December 12, 2023
What can I say about this book?! It’s not good. Sounded like a good premise. Lots of people touting this book on Goodreads and other book forums. Not sure why and now makes me distrust BookTube and Goodreads reviews. 1) Plot dumb 2) world makes no sense 3) writing and dialogue terrible. Then I find out it’s written for middle schoolers. That’s fine but I have read many children’s books that are very well written; however, this is not! Nothing against the author. I say Don’t waste your time. Really is like 1.5. Only reason above a 1 is because I managed to finish it and I can honestly say not predictable for the most part. And I feel bad saying that but want to save someone else from wasting their time on this. Go read something better. Life’s too short!
April 20, 2022
When a new slide emerges in the school playground, Griffin is challenged to be the first to go down it to stop his bully. But when Griffin emerges, the world he comes to is no longer the same bright colorful world, but filled with cold dark metal.
What an amazing horror middle grade read! Honestly, this is more up the lines of a YA horror in my opinion just because the author is so good at imagery. He paints the picture so wonderfully that you really start to feel like you are the one in the book. The only thing with this book is the beginning is insanely slow! I almost wanted to give up, I just felt like it was taking forever to take off.
What an amazing horror middle grade read! Honestly, this is more up the lines of a YA horror in my opinion just because the author is so good at imagery. He paints the picture so wonderfully that you really start to feel like you are the one in the book. The only thing with this book is the beginning is insanely slow! I almost wanted to give up, I just felt like it was taking forever to take off.
June 14, 2023
RIMSBA 2024 Nominee #18
THIS. BOOK. IS. TERRIFYING.
So scary in fact, that I couldn’t finish it!
Griffin, a bullied 5th grader who loves reptiles and lives with his mom, is drawn to a nefarious new piece of playground equipment that shows up unexpectedly at school.
He is dared to try it. Danger ensues. Children go missing, and, essentially a portal to the netherworld is exposed.
The author somehow managed to create a Stephen King-esque middle grades book that combines the evil amusement park of Neil Shusterman’s Full Tilt with a much scarier Stranger Things populated with the bullies reminiscent of Ray Bradbury’s All Summer in a Day.
I mean WHAT THE WHAT?!?!?!?
THIS. BOOK. IS. TERRIFYING.
So scary in fact, that I couldn’t finish it!
Griffin, a bullied 5th grader who loves reptiles and lives with his mom, is drawn to a nefarious new piece of playground equipment that shows up unexpectedly at school.
He is dared to try it. Danger ensues. Children go missing, and, essentially a portal to the netherworld is exposed.
The author somehow managed to create a Stephen King-esque middle grades book that combines the evil amusement park of Neil Shusterman’s Full Tilt with a much scarier Stranger Things populated with the bullies reminiscent of Ray Bradbury’s All Summer in a Day.
I mean WHAT THE WHAT?!?!?!?
October 6, 2022
I didn't find this one as scary as Smashed Man of Dread End, because (and this is a weird complaint) I think the worldbuilding was too interesting. Like, I wanted to know more? And it didn't feel like I was peeking through my fingers, simultaneously repelled and compelled by the horror.
Regardless, I think Ocker's writing the kind of books I can recommend to tweens at my library. These kids are reading, like, Five Nights fanfiction and creepypasta written by internet-poisoned freaks. They're definitely looking for something gritty and weird and maybe a little "too much." I'm here for it.
Regardless, I think Ocker's writing the kind of books I can recommend to tweens at my library. These kids are reading, like, Five Nights fanfiction and creepypasta written by internet-poisoned freaks. They're definitely looking for something gritty and weird and maybe a little "too much." I'm here for it.
November 7, 2023
Didn’t fulfill the promise of the premise. What a fantastic premise, an evil black slide shows up at your school. However, as soon as we learn what the slide is about, the book gets really repetitive and uninteresting. A real chore yo finish. There’s nothing scary about the slide. It’s more sciFi but it started off as a promise of horror. I wish the story would’ve stayed in the realm of horror. I did like the main characters, but they deserved a more interesting “playground” to play in.
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