BOOK: Shock Value (2011)

Just finished Jason Zinoman's book Shock Value, and I'm thoroughly satisfied with my experience. Zinoman's goal is to locate, trace, and analyze the transition from Old Horror (the costume dramas of Frankenstein, Dracula, etc., dominated by Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, et al.) to the New Horror. He uses Hitchcock's 1960 classic Psycho to define the inception of this transition to modern horror, and Targets (1968) as a killing-off of the Old Horror. From there, Zinoman dissects the innovation and progression of modern horror with Rosemary's Baby, The Last House on the Left, The Exorcist, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, Carrie, Alien, and others. But more than just a history of modern horror films, the more intriguing, entertaining element of Shock Value is its abundance of anecdotes and bric-à-brac of behind-the-scenes tidbits taken from numerous interviews. Definitely a must-read for any horror fan.

BOOK: Bite

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I did not enjoy Bite. For the first time, twenty-two Laymon books later, I didn't find the experience satisfying. It could be that I followed the wholly satisfying experience of Stephen King's new epic with this one. Perhaps it's because I'm getting a little tired of constant extensive dialogue (the very reason I may be the only person who didn't enjoy Inglourious Basterds). In any case, Bite doesn't offer anything enjoyable, in my opinion. There are no surprises--a Richard Laymon trademark. The characters are weak, the plot remains loose, and the action is monotonous and boring. It's a shame, too, because every Laymon book I've read has been a literary journey unlike any other.

If you're thinking of trying Richard Laymon, steer clear of this pointless offering. As a fellow blogger once said about Takashi Miike, "With such a large body of work, there are bound to be misfires." Instead, I recommend any of the following: The Cellar, Island, Night in the Lonesome October, or The Woods Are Dark.

BOOK: Under the Dome

Stephen King does it again. This guy has an uncanny ability to transfer his brilliant imagination into lucid prose. Once again, King releases a novel packed with vividly realistic characters, this time over one hundred living, breathing characters. How does he do it? If I knew I'd be rich. I think there is a lot of truth to the way King, himself, describes his ability--a description that is embedded within his magnum opus, The Dark Tower. (The DT description being more supernatural as opposed to the description from On Writing.)

The first thing that struck me about this book was its pace and structure. This is a minimalist Stephen King, something I've never experienced. Though not quite in the territory of Hemingway's iceberg theory, it is an epic pared down to what is necessary for the reader. As such, you will not find the trademark King expositions on town history and a character's lineage. Instead, you will find pure story. Don't let the length intimidate you. Sure, it's up there with The Stand and Mailer's Harlot's Ghost in length, but it's a quick, riveting read.

The second thing that struck me was the pervasiveness of current technology--if you have read a lot of Stephen King novels, you know that they are mostly dismissive of technology, with the small exception of Cell. King even acknowledges his lack of attention to technology in his nonfiction book, On Writing. Under the Dome references iPODs, Apple TVs, Google Earth, Facebook, etc. In addition King also includes plenty of modern-times references including but not limited to Stephenie Meyer, Harry Potter, Nora Roberts, President Obama, and Hilary Clinton. Almost all of these references are laced in good humor!

The third thing that I absolutely savored was King's return to the gore. The book opens in the manner of Cell and keeps it up throughout. His last novel, Duma Key, didn't offer anything nearly as violently exciting, that I can remember. The two novels shouldn't been compared too closely, however; they have different intentions. But they are similar in that they both open with a major event and then spend time investigating the effects of said event. In other words, in typical King style, Under the Dome isn't as interested in the Dome as it is in the lives of the people living under it. As a result, even barring the gory brutality, the book is very dark while exploring the recesses of humanity.

Under the Dome is an investigation of human nature, religion, small-town politics, and relationships--it does have a narrower, more concentrated theme that the whole concept is based on, but stating it would give the story away. King depicts characters so real it's hard to find a stopping point and sleep at night. You despise the characters King wants you to despise, and you cheer for the characters he wants you to cheer for. After so many novels you would think that King was tapped out, or that he would have reused a lot of material (perhaps interlacing elements from The Dark Tower), but he once again proves that his imagination is far from dry. Thanks to King for writing it, Scribner for publishing it, and Amazon for shipping it. Another seven days of the literary equivalent of Thanksgiving dinner!

For the record, I still point to Bag of Bones, Lisey's Story, and Hearts in Atlantis as my favorite King novels.

BOOK: One Rainy Night

With the advent of grad school it's been a while since I last read a horror novel. I think the last horror novel I read was Jack Ketchum's re-release of Cover, but I didn't get around to reviewing it on this site. For months now it's been a survey of the English literary canon from 1300 to present day, excluding postmodern horror. That's not to say it hasn't been fun--it's been a blast!--but it was time for a good modern horror read from one of my favorites: King, Ketchum, Keene, Laymon.

One Rainy Night, like most Laymon novels, places vivid, likable characters along a simple, harrowing plot. A warm black rain suddenly falls upon the town of Bixby, and everyone the rain touches begins to crave flesh and blood. If you're familiar with Laymon, you're familiar with his ability to write frenetic splatterpunk novels. This is a showcase of said talent. The pacing keeps the pages smoking, while your fingers ache from gripping the book too tightly.

The best part about this one is that it isn't just a typical "zombie" plot. Laymon throws a few other twists in as he always does and keeps the story interesting for just over 400 pages. For me, this is impressive. Especially with modern splatterpunk horror, it is difficult to keep the juice turned up and the reader's eyes unblinking for more than roughly 200 pages. That is, unless the reader enjoys long, detailed stories, laden with tons of exposition. (I'm one of them, but I've found that this trait is atypical among the majority of readers.)

If you're looking to burn a few hours with an exciting read, this is one for you. Although, I wouldn't recommend it for those who don't like explicit violence. If this is you, why are you on this blog?

BOOK: Dark Mountain

Ah, Richard Laymon. Is there any other example of a modern Hemingway-style minimalist writer? Even if there is, do they compete with the ebb and flow of Laymon's brutal stories? Can anyone else develop such striking characters out of so few words? Well, if you have the answers, send me a message. Or just send me a message about anything. I get lonely often.

As already alluded to, Richard Laymon once again delivers a great book. It is entertaining and disturbing; intense and humorous; sensual and sadistic. Yep. Good ole Dick Laymon. Dark Mountain is another mass market paperback reissue from our friends at Leisure (http://www.dorchesterpub.com/)! Thanks, guys! Since I didn't know about Laymon until a year ago, I hadn't had the chance to enjoy this read, and some of Laymon's books are harder to get a hold of than the attention of world leaders! Really, though, if you want to get your hands on Richard Laymon books that are out of print, check out http://www.alibris.com/. Great site!

The first half of the book is comprised of Laymon's ability to construct solid, three-dimensional, likable characters. He then sends them into the woods for a camping misadventure that contains its own telling of creepy (and humorous) stories around the campfire. I really wish I had known Laymon while he was alive; his humor really shines through his otherwise harrowing stories. Just when I found myself wondering if I could really take another horror novel with the deep, dark woods as a setting, and crazy inbreds as antagonists. But Laymon, as usual, flips the book around, and puts all of the characters back into their everyday lives. They are left to deal with a very real curse cast upon them at the height of their camping misadventure.

This book concentrates on relationships, too. We get insight into the life of the charming single-parent father who is balancing a bitter, snarky, fiesty daughter and a beautiful, intelligent girlfriend. We have the highly entertaining "man's man" dad (complete with war flashbacks, a cigar, and a disposition for overshadowing his meek wife). And a nice little love story between the daughter of the former father and the son of the latter father. Plus, there's a bonus Oedipus complex thrown in for good literary measure!

Have a couple of hours to kill and want to spend them productively? Pick up Dark Mountain--or any other Laymon novel for that matter.

BOOK: The Midnight Tour

A brilliant third installment of the Beast House series. Unlike the second book, The Beast House, this one compared to The Cellar.

More to come...







Review Soundtrack:
Artist - "Track"

---

[ About Horror Dose ]
[ FAQ ]

BOOK: The Beast House

Let me preface this post by saying that I am a devout Richard Laymon advocate. If you look at my ratings on GoodReads, you will find a consistent five/five stars for every Laymon book I've read...until now.

In the case of The Beast House, I think the first book, The Cellar, prematurely robbed it of its glory. Having read the first book, I already knew the mystery behind the killings at Beast House in enough detail to make me sick, so I didn't see how he was going to build any suspense. The answer is that he didn't. Not that it could have been done exactly, but what Laymon did was resort to his character development toolkit and create a small, but strong, cast.

Laymon is the master of taking what seems like a simple situation and turning it into a white-knuckled thrill ride of mystery, suspense, terror, and--this is the biggie--interesting characters. That, my friends, is Laymon's niche: interesting characters. He knows how to reach out from the pages and pull you into the characters' world, turning the pages frenetically, desperate to spend more time with them. It's amazing how nuanced the characters are in each and every book.

Character development aside, this guy knows how to build suspense. Sometimes I have to flip pages back and forth to make sure none are missing because of how quickly he jumps around to create a sense of confusion and panic. He knows how to introduce a mysterious character that immediately puts you on guard and causes you to keep turning to pages because, well, you're just not so sure about this guy or girl. Then, there's his amazing ability to execute the shock factor. Suddenly, your favorite character is in a spine-chilling situation that could only come from the mind of Richard Laymon. Seriously, some scenes are outright revolting!

With The Beast House, we get a group of wily, young friends (two guys and two girls, conveniently) who meet up along the way to Malcasa Point, CA, home of Beast House. Then, we get a conniving duo of author and research assistant who come to look into the Beast House for a potential bestseller. Like Stephen King, Laymon uses the writer character a lot in his books, most likely because that's what he knows best. But this is the first time I have comes across an evil, murderous, scheming writer character of his, and I loved it. Usually, Laymon's writer is the most formidable character in the book. This writer, on the other hand, basically gets everyone, including himself, killed for his shot at fortune and fame.

Long story short, they all end up at Beast House after a third of the book is spent developing the relationship between the one girl, Tyler, and the one guy, Abe, while the other guy-girl, Jack and Nora, constantly disappear together, undoubtedly lost in their infatuation. There is a bunch of graphic violence, a lot of gore, then the mother-daughter pair from the first book are brought back into the picture, and then we hit the final pages.

Before reading the final pages, I settled myself after the grisly crescendo at Beat House and prepared myself for how Laymon was going to setup for the third book in the series, The Midnight Tour. He ended up leaving the daughter alive and hidden in the house, pregnant with one of the creatures' offspring. Then, we find that even after all of the publicly known killing, the house still stands and the tours continue to run.

The only thing we really get from this sequel is a little more information about where the beasts came from. Sprinkled on top of that is a classic dull horror story.

Do I sound like I am defending Laymon even though I'm giving his book a bad review? I should, because that's exactly what I'm doing. I guess the reason is because I don't want to turn anyone curious away from Laymon. I can honestly say all of his other books I've read are outstanding. But as far as the Beast House series is concerned, I think it should have stopped after The Cellar.

Now, off to read The Midnight Tour, with hopes of a better job...

BOOK: The Cellar

After reading about 15 other Richard Laymon books, I finally cracked open his debut novel, The Cellar, which also happens to be the first book in his acclaimed Beast House series.

As I said, I'm familiar with Laymon books, so I knew what to expect. But thinking about the fact that it is his first novel, published in '80, I'll bet it was quite a shock for people! It would've been great to have seen some new author's "horror" novel in the bookstore and pick it up out of pure intrigue.

A lot can be said for The Cellar, a debut novel that is a perfect blend of character development, plot development, solid writing, chilling horror, and humor. Richard Laymon's sense of humor and the macabre bleed through every page. He makes sure that each and every character has a problem they're dealing with, while further adding conflict at every angle. It all starts with a lady and her daughter packing their things and hitting the road at the news of the husband's release from prison. He is in prison for molesting the little girl and torturing the mother, and they know he's headed for them again (with a whole new level of anger, mind you).

They end up fleeing right into the belly of the beast, so to speak, in a little town called Malcasa Point, in California. Here is where the legend of the Beast House unfolds.

At almost the same time that the lady and her daughter head there, we are introduced to two other male characters who meet one another and go back to face the demons at the Beast House. The one male character fled the beast as a child and watched it demolish his friend. Now, they are out to seek revenge and uncover a few secrets of the house.

In true Laymon style, all the characters meet for a disturbing ending.

And finally, we get a nice little Laymonesque epilogue. While not as good as the ending of Island, it will still make you shake your head--I know I sure did.

Now, off to start the next book in the series, aptly entitled The Beast House...