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Aron Beauregard
Aron Beauregard writes extreme horror and splatterpunk fiction. He is best known for his graphic books Playground and The Slob. His work focuses on intense, dark stories that push the limits
Playground
Synopsis
Playground is a 2022 splatterpunk horror novel by Aron Beauregard that became a word-of-mouth phenomenon for its unrelenting brutality. Three low-income families are offered a generous sum to spend a day at the cliffside estate of Geraldine Borden, an elderly millionaire. The catch is simple: their children must test the revolutionary playground equipment she has spent decades designing.
But the structures hidden in the bowels of Geraldine's gothic mansion were never built for play. Unable to have a child of her own and contemptuous of the adopted son she considers a failure, Geraldine has turned her grief and rage into a machine for murdering other people's children. Thrust into a realm of engineered violence, a band of mismatched kids must grow up in an instant if any of them hope to survive.
Notorious for pushing the boundaries of extreme horror, Playground is a short, savage read built on graphic gore and mounting dread. It is emphatically not for the squeamish.
Genres
Characters
Geraldine BordenAntagonist
A wealthy, embittered elderly woman, unable to have a child of her own, who lures poor families' children to her cliffside estate to die in her underground playground of death traps.
Splatterpunk Award (2023)Splatterpunk Award for Best Novel (2023)
Frequently asked questions
Does this book include any visual elements?
The physical edition of this novel features 15 interior illustrations that accompany the narrative.
Has Playground won any awards?
Yes. Playground won the Splatterpunk Award for Best Novel at the 2023 Splatterpunk Awards, presented at KillerCon in Austin, Texas — Aron Beauregard's second Splatterpunk Award after winning Best Collection the previous year for Beyond Reform.
Is Playground part of a series?
Playground is the first book in Aron Beauregard's Playground series. A follow-up, Playground: Child of Divorce, was later published as a prequel that expands on Geraldine Borden's backstory.