Preview
  • The Dead Children's Playground

  • American Horrors, Book 1
  • By: James Kaine
  • Narrated by: Melinda Melendez
  • Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (43 ratings)

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The Dead Children's Playground

By: James Kaine
Narrated by: Melinda Melendez
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Publisher's summary

A cemetery filled with innocents. A ghostly chill in the air. Will a short walk through the woods awaken a dark power?

Kylie Macklin is eager to live a normal life. Freshly moved from Florida to Alabama and finally in remission from cancer, the optimistic nine-year-old is used to dodging her overprotective mom’s warnings. So when a new playmate invites her to hang out, the happy girl thinks nothing of the playground being located in a graveyard for young victims of the Spanish Flu… and a local serial killer.

Kayla Macklin hates starting over. Forced to relocate after her little sister’s recovery, the sullen nineteen-year-old despises her new home more when she sees a terrifying vision in the nearby crypt. And as kids around town start to fall gravely ill, she begins to suspect there is something sinister at play.

Tormented by a frightening specter’s ever-closer appearances, Kylie turns to her older sibling for help. But as Kayla digs into the history of the haunted ground, the twisted truths she discovers hint at a bloodthirst that can never be sated.

Can they face down the malevolent force without tripping into their own graves?

The Dead Children’s Playground is the bone-chilling first book in the American Horrors series. If you like dark twists, scary puzzles, and poignant moments, then you’ll love James Kaine’s supernatural spine-tingler.

Buy The Dead Children’s Playground to start a fatal game today!

©2024 James Kaine (P)2024 James Kaine
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What listeners say about The Dead Children's Playground

Average customer ratings
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the title caught my eye

I liked the whole the thing I predicted the end, I am glad you made it so she gets to play on the playground.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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ancient and modern

I don't typically like ghost stories. However the title and the cover art grabbed my attention. with just the title and prolong I was intrigued. he does an amazing job mixing modern folklore with anancient mythology. and the narrator did and amazing job making it feel like your sitting around a campfire listening to a truly edge of your seat ghost story. I'm truly excited to see what he brings us next I will be reading the rest of his books definitely. A GREAT haunting story.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining ghost story

I really disliked the narrator and wonder how she ever got hired. She consistently glottal stopped her t's, which is just bad enunciation and irritating for the listener. I hope she doesn't narrate book 2.

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Kaine knows how to write

This book is a straight ghost story. The stakes are real. Kaine continues to connect with the reader, and draw you into his worlds. This is much more tame than his other works, but being the masterful story teller he is, he pivots without missing a beat.

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LOVED THIS STORY

I've always been a fan of supernatural stories, and this book had me hooked. I look forward to more on this series from the author.

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One of the best ghost stories I’ve ever read

James Kaine I have a bone to pick with you.

How could you do this to me? My heart is shredded.

Seriously though, if you haven’t read this you are missing out. This book was so damn good. It had me hooked from start to finish and never let me go.

This one was a lot lighter on the gore compared to James’ other books but damn… it packed some emotional punches.

I loved it.

An easy 5 stars!

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Amazing!

Best ghost book I’ve ever read. Sucks you in and you don’t want to put it down, First time with this author for me and planning on reading more of his books.

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Just Wow

I loved this book from beginning to end! I literally could not…did not want to sleep so I could see what happened next!! Scary, thrilling, heartbreaking, all of it!! I cannot wait until the next installment in this series!!

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What an ending!

Awesome ghost story that really sucks you in. It's not crazy violent or gross, which I really liked. The ending is really impactful and it's cool that it's based on a real place.

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Urban Legend Expanded into a modern classic

The author takes a well known place in Huntsville Alabama known as the Dead Children's Playground and built a great story from the inspiration of the urban legend. Having been to that playround myself and taken videos of the swings moving on their own with the requisite sounds and groaning of the chains as if weight was on them, I was excited to delve into this. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in both urban legends and modern horror.

The narration was pretty good. I think the narrator captured moods and tones properly for conversation. It might have been better if a male narrator was added for the male speaking parts. But for a woman doing all the characters, it was very well done.

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