History Literature / LetsGoPlayAtTheAdams

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: The kids who did all this.]]

* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: The epilogue suggests that this is why [[spoiler: Barbara died.]]

* NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization: It most certainly doesn't justify it, but [[spoiler:played with the second time Barbara is raped by Johnny; as the text states, "it is possible to be made to enjoy." Take Barbara's unwanted physical response, lingering hope of an escape, awareness that this will be her last time, and throw them all together, and you get an encounter that even she doesn't fully know how to feel about.]]

* NotIfYouEnjoyedItJustification: It most certainly doesn't justify it, but [[spoiler:played with the second time Barbara is raped by Johnny; as the text states, "it is possible to be made to enjoy." Take Barbara's unwanted physical response, lingering hope of an escape, awareness that this will be her last time, and throw them all together, and you get an encounter that even she doesn't fully know how to feel about.]]

* AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: The epilogue never explicitly states, but contemplates the possibility that [[spoiler:Barbara's spirit did. While the text specifically uses the word "apotheosis", the picture it paints is a grimmer one of Barbara bound and gagged as she was in her lost moments, looking back on her time as a human and at humanity as a whole with deep, tragic knowing.]]

[[spoiler:Barbara's spirit lives on, and while the text refers to this s, and looks back on her time as a human with

* BondageIsBad: Yes, the fetish version. John is implied to at least have a foot fetish; he may have a bondage fetish, or not. But he is the most messed up of the characters.

* CreepyChild: Paul

* PurpleProse: The prose oscillates between flowing, florid descriptions, bone-dry commentary, and extremely concise summaries. It's a pretty brutally effective combination.

* PurpleProse: The prose oscillates between flowing, florid descriptions, bone-dry commentary, and extremely concise summaries. It's a pretty brutal combination.

* PurpleProse: It covers only a couple of weeks, and not much happens.

* FatalFlaw: [[spoiler: Barbara manages to get the upper hand and fight off her captors and nearly forces them to free her... all while still bound and gagged, but relents at the last second because she can't bear to hurt Cindy any more than she already is.]]

The book attracted the attention of TV editor, Barry Schneebeli, who wrote a sequel called ''Game's End''. Due to copyright laws, it was never actually published, but was available online at [[http://barryschneebeli.com/gamesend.html his website]] (the website domain has since expired and the Wayback Machine didn't save the DOC files), and you can find a review [[http://www.foxall.com.au/users/mje/GamesEnd.htm here]]). It begins with [[spoiler:the what-if premise of Barbara being saved at the last minute, and the kids' activities exposed as a result]], and explores the resulting media frenzy and criminal trials, as well as Barbara's physical and emotional recovery from her ordeal. Had Schneebeli's project gone to press, it might have brought the original book out of obscurity.

Published in 1974 by author Mendal Johnson, '''''Let's Go Play at the Adams'''''' is the grim story of Barbara, a 20-year-old babysitter who agrees to take care of a pair of preteen children while their parents spend a week's vacation on Cape Cod. But Barbara wakes up to find herself tightly tied to a bed and gagged, with the faces of her charges--and three of their neighbor friends--grinning down at her. The kids are in charge now, and they have no intent of letting Barbara loose. Except now that they have her captive, they're not sure what they should do with her.

Published in 1974 by author Mendel Johnson, '''''Let's Go Play at the Adams'''''' is the grim story of Barbara, a 20-year-old babysitter who agrees to take care of a pair of preteen children while their parents spend a week's vacation on Cape Cod. But Barbara wakes up to find herself tightly tied to a bed and gagged, with the faces of her charges--and three of their neighbor friends--grinning down at her. The kids are in charge now, and they have no intent of letting Barbara loose. Except now that they have her captive, they're not sure what they should do with her.

%%* FixFic

%%* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Bobby]]

That describes it aptly. Barbara, a 20-year-old babysitter to a couple of preteens, wakes up to find herself tightly tied to a bed and gagged. The kids are in charge now, and with a couple of teenagers from the neighborhood visiting, they have no intent of letting Barbara loose. Thus begins Barbara's never-ending days and nights of torment.

The kids make sure she is literally always restrained in some way. One hand free to eat, that's it. Just enough free to use the bathroom, and that's it. She is always retied, often in different ways for the kids' own amusement. Things go downhill, though, when the teens of the group decide to [[{{Squick}} do other things to her for their own amusement]]. Yes, those kinds of other things...

* KarmaHoudini: ''Game's End'' retcons this trope's occurrence from the first book two ways. First, Barbara is saved at the last moment. Second, most of the book is about the kids answering for their crimes (and the tragedy their parents go through).]] Played straight with [[spoiler:Cindy]], though.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: In the epilogue, a [[spoiler: now-teenaged Bobby]] dies saving a girl who he thought was drowning. She [[spoiler: wasn't really drowning]], she thought he was cute and was just trying to get his attention. His father speculates on whether, in his last moments, [[spoiler: Bobby]] finally found the ability to forgive himself.

** In Bobby's portion of the epilogue, a girl attempts to invoke this [[spoiler:by pretending to drown]]; he ends up [[spoiler: drowning himself when trying to save her.]]

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: The kids who did all this.

* AuthorAppeal - Some people speculate that Johnson was a sadist and the book is nothing more than an exercise in self-indulgence. Others say this isn't the case.
* BondageIsBad - Yes, the fetish version. John is implied to at least have a foot fetish; he may have a bondage fetish, or not. But he is the most messed up of the characters.
* BoundAndGagged - Galore. From beginning to end. Many, many different ways.

* CreepyChild - Paul
* DamselInDistress - Barbara is probably the most extreme version of this trope in existence, since she is held captive and imperiled the entire book starting from the very beginning.
* {{Deconstruction}} - Pretty much does this to the oft-used comedic plot device of the babysitter being tied up by her charges (Series/ILoveLucy for example). When Barbara is first tied up, it seems like the novel will go in a light-hearted direction. She's more surprised and annoyed, than concerned. That changes in the second or third chapter.
* DiedStandingUp - [[spoiler: Perhaps the only time this trope has had no connection to Badassery. Barbara, due to how she is tied at the end.]]
* DownerEnding - [[spoiler: The kids get away with it, and a random homeless person is found guilty of their crime.]]
* FatalFlaw - [[spoiler: Barbara manages to get the upper hand and fight off her captors and nearly forces them to free her...all while still bound and gagged, but relents at the last second because she can't bear to hurt Cindy any more than she already is.]]
* FixFic - At least two professional works, the above mentioned ''Game's End'' by Barry Schneebeli (more on this below), and a subplot in the novel ''The Abyss'' by Steve Vance, were born out each writer's desire to [[spoiler: save Barbara and/or punish the kids]].
** If you've ever read the book, you might be tempted to write one yourself. [[SincerityMode No one would blame you.]]
* FreudianExcuse - Paul
* FromBadToWorse - And worse. And worse. [[spoiler:And it never gets better.]]

* HumiliationConga - ''Game's End''.
* KarmaHoudini - [[spoiler: The kids who did all this.]]
** [[spoiler:''Game's End'' retconned this two ways. First, Barbara was saved at the last moment. Second, most of the book was about the kids answering for their crimes (and the tragedy their parents go through).]]
* KidsAreCruel - They're as cruel as they can get here.

* PeerPressureMakesYouEvil - Many of these kids, it is implied, wouldn't do things to Barbara on their own. Especially Bobby, whose conscience nags at him much of the time. But as a group, they lose their inhibitions, or go along with what the others are doing.
** Depressingly, this is TruthInTelevision. People always tend to mentally degenerate in groups like that - take the Bystander Syndrome for example. If one kid saw a dying person in front of him, he would try to help him because he feels 100% responsible. If it was ten kids, each of them would feel only 10% responsible.
* PunchClockVillain - Bobby, one of the kids Barbara was babysitting.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines - Maybe. Some speculate that it was very loosely inspired by the Sylvia Likens case (which was a tragedy of its own, also involving kids being very cruel to a teen girl, but was of a very different nature than this book). Others say there are more differences than similarities.
* TeensAreMonsters - The premise of the books is teenagers capturing and tormenting an adult.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth - The epilogue suggests that this is why [[spoiler: Barbara died.]]

* TheAtoner - [[spoiler:Bobby;]] this ultimately gets him [[spoiler: killed.]]

* DistantFinale - [[spoiler:Barbara]]'s portion of the epilogue.
* DyingAsYourself - [[spoiler:Paul.]] Right before [[spoiler:he dies]], the cloud of insanity is finally lifted from his mind.
* EarnYourHappyEnding - Barbara's [[spoiler: physical rescue]] comes easily enough, but it takes the rest of the book to emotionally overcome what happened to her.

%%* HeelFaceTurn - [[spoiler:Bobby]]
* HumiliationConga - [[spoiler:John]]; this culminates in him being raped in prison and later [[spoiler: committing suicide.]]
* KarmaHoudini - Played straight with [[spoiler:Cindy]]. Downplayed with [[spoiler:Diane]], who serves out a prison sentence but then later jumps parole when she's released; as of the epilogue, her current whereabouts are unknown.
* {{Mentor|s}} - Bobby's father, [[spoiler:who helps him find the inner strength to testify against the rest of the five in court.]]
* RedemptionEqualsDeath - In the epilogue, a [[spoiler: now-teenaged Bobby]] dies saving a girl who he thought was drowning. She [[spoiler: wasn't really drowning]], she thought he was cute and was just trying to get his attention. His father speculates on whether, in his last moments, [[spoiler: Bobby]] finally found the ability to forgive himself.
* RescueRomance

%%* SpannerInTheWorks - [[spoiler:Jack.]]

%%* KillTheCutie

%%* PurpleProse
%%* RapeAsDrama

%% Zero content examples aren't allowed on the wiki, please add context before uncommenting them. [[quoteright:105:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/adams-cover-crop.jpg]]

* RippedFromTheHeadlines - Maybe. Some speculate that it was loosely, very loosely, inspired by the Sylvia Likens case (which was a tragedy of its own, also involving kids being very cruel to a teen girl, but was of a very different nature than this book). Others say there are more differences than similarities.
* TeensAreMonsters - Very much so.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth - [[spoiler: The epilogue suggests that this is why Barbara died.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Barbara [[spoiler:suddenly quits being a distressed damsel and almost manages to fight her way to freedom, all while still tied up. The only reason she fails is due to her unwillingness to hurt one of the children]].

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:In the very last scene, Barbara and Jack are happily married and have children.]]

* DyingAsYourself - [[spoiler:Paul.]] Right before [[spoiler:he dies, the cloud of insanity is finally lifted from his mind]].
* EarnYourHappyEnding - [[spoiler: Barbara's physical rescue comes easily enough, but it takes the rest of the book to emotionally overcome what happened to her.]]

* HeelFaceTurn - [[spoiler:Bobby]]
* HumiliationConga - [[spoiler:John; this culminates in him being raped in prison and later committing suicide.]]
* KarmaHoudini - [[spoiler:Played Straight with Cindy. Downplayed with Diane, who serves out a prison sentence but then later jumps parole when she's released; as of the epilogue, her current whereabouts are unknown.]]

* RedemptionEqualsDeath - [[spoiler: In the epilogue, a now-teenaged Bobby dies saving a girl who he thought was drowning. She wasn't really drowning, she thought he was cute and was just trying to get his attention. His father speculates on whether, in his last moments, Bobby finally found the ability to forgive himself.]]

** [[spoiler:Barbara and Jack, although their relationship takes its sweet time to get to that point.]]
** [[spoiler:In Bobby's portion of the epilogue, a girl attempts to invoke this by pretending to drown; he ends up drowning himself when trying to save her.]]
* SpannerInTheWorks - [[spoiler:Jack.]]

The author, Mendal W. Johnson, died shortly after the novel was published. There's some speculation as to whether or not this is essentially one massive AuthorAppeal-fest, but most will tell you, the book is '''very''' well-written, and definitely gets under your skin. One review [[http://www.badmovieplanet.com/3btheater/books/pulp/letsgoplayadams.html here]] attests to that.

%%* BondageIsBad

%%* DamselInDistress

%%* DownerEnding
* FatalFlaw: [[spoiler: Barbara manages to get the upper hand and fight off her captors and nearly forces them to free her...all while still bound and gagged, but relents at the last second because she can't bear to hurt Cindy any more than she already is.]]

The book finally ends with... [[spoiler:Barbara's death, and the kids successfully getting away with it.]]

[[quoteright:105:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/adams-cover-crop.jpg]]

* BondageIsBad

* DamselInDistress

* DownerEnding
* FatalFlaw: [[spoiler: Barbara manages to get the upper hand and [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome fight off her captors and nearly forces them to free her...all while still bound and gagged]], but relents at the last second because she can't bear to hurt Cindy any more than she already is.]]

* KillTheCutie

* PurpleProse
* RapeAsDrama

* TookALevelInBadass: Barbara [[spoiler:suddenly quits being a distressed damsel and almost manages to fight her way to freedom, all while still tied up. The only reason she fails is due to her FatalFlaw]].

* TheAtoner - [[spoiler:Bobby; this ultimately gets him killed.]]
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:In the very last scene, Barbara and Jack are HappilyMarried and have children.]]

* FixFic
* ForWantOfANail

* HumiliationConga - [[spoiler:John; this culminates in PrisonRape and later [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]].]]

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue