Sunday, May 04, 2008

THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND

Public play areas for children have acquired a rather seedy reputation (at least in the UK?) possibly dating back to the Mary Bell case: at times feral teenager hang-out, others low-level drug dealer rendezvous, yet others stalking ground for sexual predators - but rarely safe happy places for kids to have fun. Or at least that's a perception.

That all said, it's amazing to witness another startling picture collection from around the world of some aesthetically disturbing, if not truly nightmarish, playgrounds. Don't miss the second part either - you may never sleep soundly again.

Thanks to my dear friend Heike for directing me to this compilation.

6 comments:

Sypha said...

Those pictures are incredible... I kind of wish the playgrounds I frequented as a kid had stuff like that.

John McAndrew said...

Saw these the other day on BoingBoing.net (bookmark this site if you haven't already)... words fail to describe the discomfort these give me, although screams and yelps get approximately close.

morelikespace said...

i grew up playing in a graveyard and i still think these would have frightened me.

on the other hand, knowing that these exist is almost enough to make me want to have a child i can warp in my own image...

Anonymous said...

Nothing was very startling...until I saw that last monkey on the second part...

Richo said...

Fantastic stuff. I'd have been perfectly happy playing in such places as a child. It's just good to see some imagination at work in some of the places captured in these photos, and not all young folk are so readily perturbed either. I always loved the idea of there being monsters, strange creatures, demons and aliens, etc. around when I was a child (maybe I still do, in fact!), and I'm sure I was far from alone.

CliftonSantiagoTeleVasquez said...

... Is it wrong to think "Hey, I wish my playgrounds had been that interesting."?