As I believe I’ve mentioned before, part of my motivation for writing this blog was to give myself a reason to reinvestigate one of my “lost loves”: horror fiction. I’ve been reading massive amounts of horror since then, from some of the oldest Gothic works to the most recent publications. Some of it has been edifying, but some of it has also been rather disappointing.
One of the contemporary authors I’ve been investigating is Richard Laymon, who has been in print since 1980. I’ve never read his stuff before, but recently I gave two of his books a try. One, The Beast House, is from his early phase, and the other, To Wake the Dead, is only a few years old. I discuss both books, which are… okay, below the fold, but they also remind me of one of my pet peeves of contemporary horror fiction, which I feel like ranting about a bit.
The Beast House (1986) is a story about, well, a beast’s house. Numerous murders have taken place in the house over a hundred year duration, and legend has it that “The Beast” will slay anyone who wanders in the house at night. When a local women uncovers the diary of one of the house’s original inhabitants, who claims to have seen the beast and been violated by it, events quickly draw numerous people into the fold.
I found The Beast House to be rather unsatisfying, for my tastes. The hero and heroine of the story are somewhat stereotypical (she’s a woman trying to get over a long lost love, he’s a military man who immediately falls for her). For my money, the main characters are just as important as the “monster”: if I don’t care at all about the protagonists, good or bad, I’m not going to feel particularly affected by anything that happens to them. The creature and its origin didn’t really do much for me, either.
To Wake the Dead (2003) tells the story of Amara, once a beautiful princess of Egypt, now a vicious, inhuman mummy. When the seals on her coffin, long held by a private collector, are broken, the mummy is released to go on a flesh-eating rampage. The story here is a bit more satisfying, and the flashbacks (through journal entries) regarding the mummy’s discovery in Egypt are nice and effective. In the end, though, events seem to happen at random and the ending feels a bit like an afterthought. The characters did little for me here, too.
The thing that really got me about both novels, however, is the complete overuse (to me) of sexual situations. In Beast House, the hero and heroine meet when he saves her from being raped. Later, numerous characters have sex that is more or less unrelated to the storyline, though it is described in erotic detail. Then the beast itself likes to have its way with the ladies, though at least that is arguably part of the story. In To Wake the Dead, several characters get trapped in an S&M dungeon which is described in detail over numerous chapters, and has almost nothing to do with the main storyline. A runaway teen is forced to perform sexual acts on a drug dealer, under threat of violence, and again it has nothing to do with the main storyline. And numerous characters have lots of sexual encounters, described in detail.
I don’t have a problem with sexual situations appearing in horror novels; in fact, two of my favorite horror authors, Clive Barker and Ramsey Campbell, have written some of the most explicit sexual scenes you will ever read outside of Penthouse Forum. These scenes are integral to the story, however, and both authors are exploring the horrific possibilities that sex and relationships hold. The scenes in the books described above, however, are not integral to any part of the story, and seem to be there to shock, or even worse, titillate.
Here’s the thing: if I really feel the need to be titillated, I can go have sex or, at the very least, watch some porn. Sex scenes in horror fiction that are present just for the heck of it feel like the worst sort of exploitation, kind of like trying to sell beer by making commercials filled with hot, bikini-clad ladies. It cheapens the genre, making it look like little more than porn that can’t be honest with itself.
To be fair, this isn’t a flaw of just the author and the books mentioned above. This horror-writing tic is quite common and turned me away from horror fiction for a number of years. I wonder how many others have had the same experience.
Skulls in the Stars 
Dr. Skull wrote: “…like trying to sell beer by making commercials filled with hot, bikini-clad ladies. It cheapens the genre, making it look like little more than porn that can’t be honest with itself.”
I completely agree that bikini girls have cheapened the once-noble beer commercial genre.
PD: MUST you ridicule everything I say? 😦
Dr. Skullstars wrote: “if I really feel the need to be titillated, I can go have sex or, at the very least, watch some porn.”
Ahem…
babs67: Oh, now don’t you start in on me, too! 🙂
So basically what you are saying is your don’t like mixing your genres? i.e. porn/horror/beer commercials?
Did someone mention mixing genres?
babs67: Actually, I would say I want more porn in my beer commercials, and less in my horror! 😛
Blake: Interesting… one of those videos where I’m not sure at times whether to laugh or be creeped out!
Don Hertzfeldt is good at that.
Without getting to deeply into discussing the merits of Laymon’s works, I’ve always believed love and death are to horror fiction exactly what heaven and hell are to theology… metaphors for the hope and despair of everyday life.
Horror fiction confronts those two extremes a little more directly than most other genres, so they almost always intertwine.
If you’re interested in a really good horror author’s take on the subject, I reccomend Dan Simmon’s 1994 book of three novellas, LOVEDEATH.
I’m now really bored of Horror Fiction. I was really into it till just a few months ago, it’s all so repetitive now! I would read Stephen King, Brian Keene, Jack Ketchum, Richard Matheson, and Clive Barker. Tim Lebbon wasn’t bad either at least he did some Dark Fantasy which was a nice change once in awhile.
But honestly, I feel that I’ve read so much and watched so much, nothing really scares me anymore. It’s all just sick, twisted, and blood and guts crap with no story to it. If their is a story then it’s all this Romantic crap like the Twlight series, which is the most stupid series that I’ve ever seen.
Anyway, I like to have a good laugh with my movies now more than trying to scare myself with them. So I’ve been going to see some good Comedies, I also like Action and Super-Heroes type movies.
I think that’s where I’m going to go with reading and watching movies for awhile.
Back in the day Laymon would have been a pulp writer, and a damn good one. His books are targeted at a specific market, the kind of people weaned on the likes of Friday 13th and Elm Street. Laymon’s books are slasher books, even the non – slasher ones are structured like a slasher script. It’s all teen angst, middle aged angst and loads of tits. That was the market and that’s what the late Laymon wrote for.
A minor point – both the books you read are actually from Laymons’ early career. “To Wake The Dead” was an unreleased novel titled “Dead Corse” written in 1980, six years before “The Beast House”, which was dusted down & released posthumously along with three other books. His latter books branched out, if not in subject, definitely in style & structure. Still mucho sex though I’m afraid.
You should avoid Edward Lee like the plague.
Thanks for the comment — I was unaware of the chronology. I still have a Laymon book or two at home that I haven’t read, so maybe I’ll give them another try. As I said, it’s not the sex so much that bugs me as the use of sex simply in an exploitative way.
I *do* tend to avoid Lee, though I have enjoyed a few of his novels!
Been a year & I just stumbled upon your reply to my post. I should have also said that “Beast House” was the second of 3 books in the Beast House chronicles. Actually reading those 3 books in order (The Cellar 1980, The Beast House 1986, The Midnight Tour 1997) perfectly showcases the development in Laymons style over the years. The first is short sharp & nasty, the second was more rounded & the third is an epic.
I have been re-reading a lot of his books this last year, inspired by the release of “In Laymons Terms” last summer. I hadn’t read him for about 5 years & its been fun. His novels are very much set in his world, a world of perpetually horny people, overweight psychopaths & plucky female leads who have an ability to recover from sexual assaults in record time. They are not books that will change the world but they are entertaining & well written & sometimes that’s all you need.
I am actually a huge Ed Lee fan, my comment was regarding the amount sex & violence in his small press material…it makes Laymon seem like a prude lol.
Interesting to read your thoughts. I have a soft spot for Laymon and thought I would try and at least point you in the direction of some of his better work as the two you chose to read are particularly appauling examples of what he does. I would suggest staying clear of every posthumous book he did for a start. There is lots of sex in his work but I would try Body Rides, Stake, In the Dark or Savage.
Thanks for the suggestions! I have Savage at home that I haven’t read yet, so I’ll give it a try.
As much as I love reading and trying to branch out to as many different genres and authors as possible, I have never let myself keep any other than Richard Laymon.
I started reading his books at the age of 11 with The Beast House (Visiting grandmother, explored her cupboards and found a few old novels). After finishing, I felt hollow and demanded my grandparents drive me to the library for more before I exploded.
I can’t say that after reading nearly all of his books more than 30 times each gives me the same feeling as it did then, although I still very much enjoy them every time….but no other author has EVER given me that feeling.
Now, at the age of 20, I would like to recommend you read Body Rides, In The Dark, Endless Night, Savage, The Stake and Funland just off the top of my head.
Thanks for the comment and suggestions! I’ve got Savage at home and will try and read it in the near future.
When you say Beast House characters didn’t really do it for you, I think its because you have read one of the three in the series. All the books connect and they get better.
As for most of his others, I have read The Island, The Stake and Flesh as well as the trio of Beast House, The Cellar(?) & Midnight Tour, i was rather disappointed with the endings to all apart from Island and The Stake.
Thanks for the comment! Folks seem to think I wasn’t reading the best of Laymon’s work — I’ll have to read at least one more of his books.
Im baffled as to how nobody has mention ‘The Travelling Vampire Show’. I enjoy all of Laymon’s work, but I just finished ‘The Travelling Vampire Show’ for the second time and was so deeply immersed in the story (even though I have read it once before!) that I felt a little bit sad after I realized the adventure had ended. I actually found this review searching for some fanfiction or SOMETHING to continue the story. Unfortunately it appears there is none.
firstly Richard Laymon is quite possibly the best modern horror author, he has released 52 novels and 35 short stories in 8 collections. He was nominated for the bram stoker best novel award twice (Flesh 1989, Funland 1991) and was nominated for the bram stoker best collection in 1994 for A Good, Secret Place he was also nominated for the british fantasy society for his 1996 novel Bite and in 2001 he won the bram stoker best novel award for The Travelling Vampire Show. The use of sex in his novels is not a ploy to sell his works it shows realism as sex is a big part of our lives it shows love and the fact that his sex scenes are graphic shows just how good he is at descriptive writing, his use of rape is also realistic as there is a lot more sick people out there than first thought it is also symbolism for the battle of power. His fans include horror writers Bentley Little, Dean Koontz and Stephen King. He has inspired many writers and is the reason i started writing. Also i’d like to mention that there is a forth book in the Beast House series called Friday Night in Beast House. I’d like to end with some quotes about Richard Laymon “I’ve always been a Laymon fan. He manages to raise serious gooseflesh” – Bentley Little
“Laymon always takes it to the max. No one writes like him and you’re going to have a good time with anything he writes.” – Dean Koontz
“If you’ve missed Laymon, you’ve missed a treat.” – Stephen King
“One of horror’s rarest talents” – Publishers weekly
“The master of stomach-churning violence.” – Kirkus reviews
“Laymon is, was, and always will be king of the hill.” – Horror world
I know it was mentioned in an earlier comment but Laymon structured his stories much like the slasher films of the 80’s. Every word is chosen for maximum entertainment, even if it meant sacrificing some story. The man wasn’t terribly concerned as much with his endings as he was with the journey getting to those endings. I guess the T & A is there for these reasons. The man thought it was entertaining so he went ahead and tossed it in there.
Now, I should say that Laymon is my favorite horror author but that doesn’t mean I think he is the necessarily best genre writer. I just have the most fun when I’m reading one of his novels. It’s the old Monster Squad analogy. I know that Orson Wells is a better director than Fred Dekker but I’ll take Monster Squad over Citizen Kane any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
I encourage you to give Laymon another shot. Try In The Dark or Travelling Vampire Show.
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ll definitely be reading him again soon.
i love richard laymon!!! i have read all his books i can get my hands on a few times…the ones i didnt really get into were amara and quake…my 1st was his short stories…i have just read come out tonight which i love..and a lonesome night in october..hopefully im getting fiends to re-read for xmas!!!
I am years late to this party but boy oh boy do I agree with Skullsinthestars, and especially the apt comparison with Campbell and Barker. Spot on!