It's funny, but my experience was about the same. My first exposure to it was from a girl in high school band class with me. She was reading it and said it was horrifyingly amazing. She showed me the "girl tied to a chair behind a door" cover and gave me a quick synopsis. I wasn't really into horror genre stuff, but out of social courtesy I flipped through it, skimming bits and pieces, until I came to the end about Barbara getting tied to the gate and the barbecue grill. I knew I had to have that book, but I was too cool to ask her about it so I gave it back. But that cover stuck with me.Ralphus wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 4:32 pm I have a hard time finding words to describe my reaction to reading "Let's Go Play At The Adams" for the first time. I was in my 20s then, and my girlfriend at the time had told me about this paperback she read when she was younger. It even had a girl tied to a chair right on the cover.
Fast forward to the Internet, this website, and disposable income, and I picked up an original edition hardcover (no dust jacket unfortunately). Read the whole thing. The ending wasn't what I was expecting, but when I tried to envision a better one, nothing really clicked. The only way he could've improved the book for the mainstream would have been a trial scene and sentencing, but that wasn't really what this book was about.
But here's to his bringing bondage into horror in an intelligent way.