Playground

by T.M. Wright

The people of Goode's Crossing – mystics and mediums, some charltans, some not – settled in this quaint old town to ply their trade. But all of them are dabbling dangerously with forces they cannot begin to comprehend until it is too late. Playtime has ended. The children are dead. But their games are just beginning.

Genres: Horror, Fiction

315 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 1988

About the author

Terrance Michael Wright (AKA T. M. Wright) is best known as a writer of horror fiction, speculative fiction, and poetry. He has written over 25 novels, novellas, and short stories over the last 40 years. His first novel, 1978's Strange Seed, was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, and his 2003 novel Cold House was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. His novels have been translated into many different languages around the world. His works have been reviewed by Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, and many genre magazines.

Reviews

[Evans Light · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extremely odd book, both in the story and the telling of it. Strangely compelling, but still I can't really recommend it. A unique writing style, and a rather pleasant read. I burned through it in under a day.
My first T. M. Wright, and I will be back for more. Hopefully his other books will be somewhat more substantial in the plot and chills department. This one could barely be classified as horror.
Solid 3 stars for originality in structure and prose.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first blush you think you're going to get a riff on Wyndham's Children of the Damned, but before any Midwich-Cuckoo-ness there are disturbing scenes of anguish and loss and quiet psychological horror and it's a bit confusing and repetitive and dark and it all winds down before the characters or the reader quite gets their handle wrapped around it tightly... wait, what? It's a nicely written shadowy piece and I imagine it has just the effect for which Wright was going, up to and including the excerpt from Macleish's The End of the World. The oddball die-cut raised-type peephole cover that was so prevalent on '80's horror fare has nothing to do with the shadowy shivery pensive story.

[Graham P · Rating 3 out of 5]

As he did with 'The Island', T.M. Wright turns out another obtuse ghost story more concerned with anguish and loss than outright horror. A blizzard hits a small town in the Adirondacks, a town peopled with aging mystics and mediums who meek out a living talking to the dead. Their talents are tested when a school bus crashes into a stranded oil rig, leaving no survivors. A ceremony in a derelict church not only brings the spirits of the children back, but also opens the gates wide enough to allow in other wayfaring souls, some more menacing than others.

At times Wright's reliance on repetition gets a bit tiresome, but it is the images of the mournful dead that make this a memorable read: the chainsaw victim whistling in the woods; the burnt, shriveled boy screaming in the basement; the fat man playing his flute, leading the children out of the pines; the dead father taunting his daughter from the attic, luring her upstairs to play a game of 'Out of the Mirror.'

A delicate horror novel that would pair well with Chet Williamson's "Ash Wednesday"...which is also an understated Tor Horror novel from the 1980s.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

T.M.Wright doesn't seem to get the recognition and the accolades he deserves. I was trying to think why and the only thing that I can come with is the fact that his books are kind of strange, maybe too strange for mainstream tastes. I've read several of his books and really enjoy his style, it's the quiet subtle unsettling horror, insiduous and, unlike some quiet horror, never boring. This book is a fine example of what a great writer he is. Interesting and original premise of a small town, a hamlet really, of mediums whose leader decides to defy death itself. Excellent execution of the premise, with sympathetic well developed characters, realistic dialogue and great pacing. Really good read and very quick too, only a few hours. Recommended.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

T.M. Wright is an extremely under-rated author (except by smart folks like Ramsey Campbell, Peter Straub, and Stephen King, each of whom have been singing his praises all along), and this impressive, parable-like ghost story from 1982 is the best yet of the handful of his books that I've read so far. I will definitely continue cherry-picking from Wright's oeuvre - his quiet, eerie, elusive and poetic (not to mention unnervingly scary) approach to the supernatural is just what the doctor ordered for me.

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read by T. M. Wright - and interestingly enough, featured several characters it was easy to connect to. From an outside perspective as a reader, it seems like one of Wright's main horrors is that people are strange and distant and don't even really know themselves very well...how can anyone know anyone else? Know what they're really like? There's an eerie disconnect between lots of his characters, and often his protagonists experience their horror through the surreal disconnect. The tricky thing there, of course, is that disconnected, distant characters can sometimes be hard for readers to connect to, and I say this as an avid, devoted T. M. Wright fan. In any case, the characters here were a little easier to connect to....and there's a bit of unexpected joy at the end of this, also.

[Jeffrey W Brigham · Rating 1 out of 5]

Usually I complete books that I read. This one I just gave up on. Read it 2/3ds the way through and I was done. T.M. Wright made the mistake, I felt, of starting the book with too many characters and it just got confusing. This guy can write a better book than this.

[Joshua Hair]

Review to come.

[Elyssa Vazquez Bornas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not great.

[Debra]

Stephen King recommended author: "T.M. Wright is a rare and blazing talent!"

[Xssa · Rating 1 out of 5]

i didn't like it. the ending was confusing and lame. it started out well, i wanted to liek it, maybe it was just me. but just didn't like it.