Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Playground of the Dead Review Spotlight

Are you a devourer of horror? Looking for something new and twisted? Well, author Stone Wallace has a dark and twisted treat for you! Welcome to the book tour for Playground of the Dead. 

Beware. Your darkest secrets are coming back to haunt you...and there is no way out.  


Horror has come to town and it has no intention of leaving...ever.

Playground of the Dead is a gripping horror novel by Stone Wallace and readers who enjoy Stephen King's novels aren't going to want to miss out on this book

Playground of the Dead starts off in a local far from Clear Vista, CA. Author Wallace drops readers first in a coastal town of Massachusetts. Why there? Well, it's to set the stage for what is to come later on in the story. Shhhh. Just be patient. All will be revealed in due time. 

Playground of the Dead shifts to another time and place. With the shifting to Clear Vista we're now in the 1980s. It's a beautiful town set in picturesque California. A small town where everyone knows everyone, and life seems quaint and beautiful. But beneath the surface? Something ugly festers. Secrets that will refuse to remain secrets for much longer. 

Now, reader, if you are expecting Playground of the Dead to hit you fast and furious with the horrors that it promises...well, you're going to be a touch disappointed. But don't get too disappointed! Just settle in, enjoy the story, because the horror? It's coming. It's coming and when it's here...there will be no escaping the horrors that will unfold. 

Throughout the years tragedy has struck frequently in Clear Vista. The tragedies have almost always taken the lives of the residents' children. Why is this? Well, that is a mystery that may or may not ever be answered the deeper you delve into this story. But everything kicks off with...you guessed it...the death of not just one child, but two. Sisters. Both girls mysteriously disappear only to turn up dead. What happened to them? Who killed them? And why?

Well, the heat is now on Police Chief Braden Powell. The townspeople want answers. Two little girls, and it appears that a killer walks among them. But the investigation? Well, the investigation has hit a brickwall. No one saw the abduction happen. The people who saw a transient amongst the community can't agree on his appearance, and therefore...there are no clear cut answers. 

While the town demands answers something sinister begins to take shape. It begins out in the cemetery where the children are buried. A mysterious shrouded figure seen by the old grounds keeper. Who is this mysterious person? What are they doing near one of the graves? Prepare for your interest to be piqued in this particular moment. You're going to expect something more to happen, but it doesn't. It's okay. The author has something more in store for us readers. 

As Playground of the Dead continues, around 43% of the book is when things begin to get really interesting. Strange deaths start happening. Go ahead and start scooting forward in your chair because the author is setting the stage for some sinister happenings to come. 

While we know what is happening, and the victims of the moment, Chief Powell has no clue. Neither do his other officers, and the people of Clear Vista? They're becoming more and more afraid with each death that occurs, especially after the tragic death of the two little girls still being unsolved. But few are buying that no one has any answers are present. 

The deeper Playground of the Dead goes the more twisted the situations become. Some deaths can be viewed as poetic justice. Others...dark and twisted and maybe even simply collateral damage. Or are they? It would seem that none will be spared in this twisted sense of judgement. 

The ending of this book...wow. Just wow. Twisted, dark, and absolutely macabre. Readers who enjoy twisted endings...this book is absolutely for you. We just hope you don't mind being left with some questions. Yeah, we wanted to see what one particular character is subjected to, but you have to leave something to the imagination. Right? LOL! 

Playground of the Dead is going to give you chills in those final moments and have the hair raising on the back of your neck. Beware what secrets you harbor deep inside. You just never know when they will come back to haunt you...and reap their twisted vengeance. 

Pros: 


  • Dark
  • Twisted
  • Deliciously horrific
  • Page-turner
  • Delightful

Cons:

  • Slow start

5 out of 5 stars


Thank you to the author, Stone Wallace, and BlackTide Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book! We look forward to what comes next! 



PLAYGROUND OF THE DEAD

by Stone Wallace

Black Tide Book Tours

HellBound Books Publishing

February 27 - March 01

Playground of the Dead is a macabre tale set in a seaside California community of Clear Vista.

There have been a number of unexplained deaths of its citizens - all related to tragic incidents involving the town's children.

The police chief, Braden Powell, a man dealing with his own troubled, tragic history, has been investigating the mysterious occurrences with frustratingly minimal success.

He gradually comes to realize that there may be a sinister, supernatural connection too terrifying to comprehend.

Universal link for the book on Amazon

About the Author

Stone Wallace has worked as a professional writer for over 40 years. He has published 20 books (novels and non-fiction), short stories, scripts/screenplays, and written numerous articles for various North American publications. He has conducted celebrity interviews with such legendary performers as Anthony Quinn, Coleen Gray, Lloyd Nolan, Robert Stack, and 50s horror director Herbert L. Strock (I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, Blood of Dracula, How to Make a Monster). He attended Red River College, The National Institute of Broadcasting and Robertson Broadcast Academy.

Stone has held a lifelong fascination with the paranormal and the macabre, his early interest stimulated by the tales of Poe, Lovecraft, and M.R. James. Later he discovered contemporary masters such as Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, and Richard Matheson. And then came his discovery of Stephen King and James Herbert, and that was when Wallace determined that writing horror fiction was what he wanted to do. After graduating college, he wrote his first supernatural novel, which became a national bestseller and earned him the title "The Stephen King of Manitoba".

Stone is also a fan of crime, gangster and noir films and is the author of DUSTBOWL DESPERADOS: GANGSTERS OF THE DIRTY 30s and GEORGE RAFT: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE BOGART.

His Western novels have brought him critical acclaim, with his second book MONTANA DAWN being recognized by Booklist as one of the “Ten Best Westerns of the Decade”.

PLAYGROUND OF THE DEAD is Stone's first book for HellBound Books. He also has contributed stories to the anthologies GRAVEYARD OF BLOOD and HAPPY HELLIDAYS. Future novels for HellBound Books include the supernatural chillers WENDIGO! and CHILD OF ADAMM, along with the noir thriller WAKING IN HELL WITH A HANGOVER.

Writing as Mason Burgess, Stone has been hailed as the "Stephen King of Manitoba":

https://www.stonewallace.net





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