Laymon Month: Guest Post by Neal Hock

Recently, I had a “routine” surgery and suffered some complications from it. I became discouraged and one of the things that I’m passionate about no longer interested me: reading. I literally stopped reading and no matter what I tried I couldn’t break out of my funk. Then I went to a used bookstore a couple weeks later and found a book edited by Robert R. McCammon: Under the Fang. Intrigued and curious, I pulled it down from the shelf and opened it to the table of contents. At the bottom of the first page of the table of contents, a name jumped out at me like it was a neon sign: Richard Laymon. I closed the book and put it in my basket to buy. I didn’t need to see anyone else’s name or the price. When I arrived home, I immediately pulled out this collection and started to read Laymon’s entry, “Special.” Turns out that for $1 I reignited my passion for reading and I rediscovered my love for Richard Laymon’s work.

Richard Laymon. The name is polarizing. On the one hand, you have rabid fans that eagerly devour everything the man created. On the other hand, you have folks who say he wrote smut and decry his books. I guess there’s probably a middle ground too, but I haven’t come across many people who fall into that category.

I would fall into the first category, for the most part. I say for the most part because I don’t eagerly devour everything the man wrote for one simple reason: sadly, there won’t be any more books from Laymon due to his untimely death. So while I could plow through all of his books and have a Laymon marathon, I’m consciously choosing to space them out to enjoy them over time.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t a rabid fan of Laymon from the get-go. When I first decided to try out Laymon’s writing a couple years ago, I went to Amazon and picked out the highest-rated book of his to start with. That book was The Woods are Dark, and while I thought it was a decent story, I wasn’t crazy about it. However, because I continued to come across rabid Laymon fans, I decided to give another one of his books a try a couple months later. I found The Beast House to be much more appealing to me, but I still wouldn’t classify myself as hooked on Laymon at that point.

And then In the Dark came along. I had picked up a used copy at a library sale a few years ago and it sat on my bookshelf, untouched since. Once I started reading it, I was hooked from the very first page. What happened next was one of those magical moments every book lover looks forward to: I couldn’t put the book down. Literally, every spare moment I had was spent reading In the Dark. It was exciting, thrilling, and most importantly scary. It is one of the few books that has literally creeped me out. Since reading In the Dark, I’ve been a die-hard Laymon fan, scrambling to get my hands on a copy of everything he has written.

I’ve spent some time wondering what it is about Laymon’s writing that appeals to me. Besides the efficient prose and dialogue that are trademarks of Laymon, I think the bottom line is his books are fun. Plain and simple. Are they for everyone? No, most certainly not. There’s sex, violence, and every other form of moral repugnance throughout his books. But if you look just a little deeper, below the repulsive and offensive surface, you’ll find a talented writer who had a knack for telling a compelling story with a lean, spare writing style.

Besides, if you read any amount of Laymon’s work, you’ll never see the word "rump" in the same light. That in and of itself is reason enough to become a Laymon connoisseur.

Neal Hock is one of the good guys.  His enthusiasm toward the genre is utterly infectious.  He runs a fantastic review site over at Bookhound’s Den and is a fantastic proofreader.  Stop by his site and show him sove love.

Laymon Month: Richard Laymon's Heroines Examined by Lisa Mannetti

                                             

Opinions about Laymon's work often devolve into gripe sessions about whether or not the books are misogynistic, whether or not the characters and his heroines (especially the latter) are foolish or merely variations on stock types. Conversely, some long time fans posit that in Laymon's work the heroines encounter danger in order to grow and emerge stronger. I suppose a classic example of this plucky, resourceful type would be Slim in The Traveling Vampire Show which garnered Laymon a Bram Stoker Award.

A little research into this area and a rereading of Laymon's Into the Fire sent me into another direction, something a little more offbeat than the usual right and left hand sides of the spectrum.  

The novel itself is a wild tale that opens with its heroine, Pamela, having been abducted by a serial killer who's been fantasizing about her since his less than glorious days back in high school. He's murdered her husband and carried her off into the desert.  About to be killed, Pam is rescued by a very strange man driving a bus full of mannequins.

We're also introduced early on to a college boy named Norman who is shanghaied by an Elvis wannabe named Duke and these two 'characters,' in turn,  pick up a nymphomaniacal hitchhiker known as Boots. As a trio, none of them seem to be drop-outs from the Bonnie and Clyde school of derring-do.

Sound fantastic?

It is; but so was Voltaire's Candide, and it can be argued that Laymon's romp has much in common with both its more famous predecessor's picaresque mode and  its bildingsroman attributes. Viewed in that light, Laymon's treatment of action and motifs in Into the Fire can be seen as a kind of purposeful chaos. In which case, one would not expect to find the typical arc characters follow in more traditional--or even necessarily genre--literature. One would expect (and indeed finds) a series of adventures that increasingly head for over-the-top.

Into the Fire can also be seen squarely in that classical mode with its humor; and, its relentless eroticism could be considered derivative of milesian tales, notably the Decameron.

Dickens and Twain both wrote picaresque tales--but let's not forget Victorian sensibilities:  Sex was given a pass in books like Oliver Twist and Huckleberry Finn.

So, the next time that either/or question comes up about Laymon's characters (and heroines) you can come down on one side or another, or think about Lady Cunegonde (and yes, the name is meant to convey what it is nearly spelled like) and who knows, maybe you'll give Candide a whirl, or Moll Flanders, or The Golden Ass; or give Tom Jones a peek...you're sure to find plenty of action, outrageous plotting, and titillating sex.

Lisa Manneti is the 2008 Bram Stoker award winner for her first novel, The Gentling Box.  Her latest offering, Deathwatch, happens to be the best thing I’ve read all year.  She is a true master of the craft with a style that is both beautiful and heart-breaking.  I strongly encourage everyone give her work a try.  You will not be disappointed. You can find out more about Lisa Mannetti at her website.

Laymon Month: Guest Post by Colum McKnight

My first experience with Laymon was terrible. I was 20, working at a department store on the overnight shift stocking shelves, and painfully bored while on my coffee breaks. Shit...this was before I even started drinking coffee! The sheer thought of having to talk to my co-workers about their home lives or their money woes wasn’t bearable anymore. By that time, I’d made it a habit to rifle through the magazine section in search of something that would keep me entertained for a couple of hours. This particular time around, nothing was speaking to me. Having read every magazine that was there to offer (including the hairstyle and hip-hop mags), I decided to go through the books. 

Side note: If you’ve ever scanned the shelves and impulse racks as Zellers, K-Mart or Walmart, you’re already familiar with the massive amount of Thriller, Romance, and best selling novels that are presented. At this point in time, though, Department stores, here in Canada, used to stock mass market paperbacks of all variations. Even the now stigmatized Leisure/Dorchester was present, but we all know how that’s going. Now there is nary a horror novel to be seen in department stores in Toronto, and the only books there at all are  from the likes of Tor, DoubleDay, Random House, etc.; and authors like Patterson, Picoult, King and Koontz.

To explain my choice that night, you’ll have to know that I was at a point in my life where I’d amassed quite an extensive collection of horror movies on VHS - which is still my favorite way to watch a movie. I was what I considered to be “a collector” (read: hoarder). To say that I was obsessed would be a complete understatement. It was known throughout my friends and family that I was the one to go to for all-things-scary, and I was completely okay with that. But keep in mind, this was also before I started reading avidly. This was even before I could say that I’d read anything even close to 50 books in my life. Thinking back, it’s actually kind of embarrassing.

Getting back to my point, I’d like to repeat: My first experience with Laymon was terrible. Why? Because the first Richard Laymon book I ever picked up was No Sanctuary. If any of you have read this title, you’ll completely understand. This is, in my opinion, one of Laymon’s hardest reads. It begins with an incredibly sympathetic character that I could relate to somewhat, and then throws in the most disturbing, adrenaline packed, relentless scenes of brutality and depravity that I’d ever read in my life. Beyond that, it became something of an emotional trial. It was hard stuff to stomach.

I’d read less than 50 pages of the book, put it down, and intended to never pick up another book by this maniac again. I was shocked and appalled. I couldn’t understand how someone like this could ever have something be published. It’s safe to say that, at that point, I was a completely new to modern horror, and not at all ready for what Laymon had to offer. 

*In retrospect, I should be glad I didn’t pick up something like The Bighead by Ed Lee first, shouldn’t I? 

Fast forward a few years, add a wife and child to my life (we had our first kid when I was 23), and imagine me working in a lab at a hospital. Again, I was bored. I was reading a little more these days, but still nothing heavier than a magazine and/or re-reading my favorite Poppy Z. Brite or Clive Barker novels. I was facing a one and a half hour commute to work, was running out of music to listen to that was exciting me, and had nothing in the way of video games. I was lucky to be working only a few blocks from “The World’s Biggest Bookstore”, and found myself looking for solace in horror fiction once again. 

The horror section at this store used to be very impressive (sadly, it’s now been downsized because of the lack of mmpb titles being released every year). I started my one hour lunch break, took the trip down to the book store, and stood gawking at the choices that lay ahead of me. I went through everything from Lee to Keene, Gonzalez to Ketchum, and my beloved Barker and Brite. While I was checking out with a fist-full of novels, my eye caught a deliciously dark cover. A book called The Woods Are Dark (the unexpurgated version - 2008) stood out amongst the other “new paperbacks” near the cashier, so I grabbed it and checked out. I didn’t ever bother reading the back, nor did I recognize the name of the author. If I had, I wouldn’t be writing this right now. And yes, if you did the math correctly, you’ll now know that I’ve only been reading Laymon steadily for about 3 or 4 years. There are many other folks you’ve read on this blog, or will read this week, that have spent much more time with Laymon, and thus have more authority to talk about the master than I do. But finding that one piece of Laymon that speaks to you is like using a “gateway drug”, and after The Woods Are Dark, I was hooked! 

I don’t really remember what the other books I picked up that day were (Keene’s Ghoul was one of ‘em, that much I know), but I can tell you that I devoured The Woods Are Dark. I ate it right the hell up. The impassioned forward by Kelly Laymon touched my heart, and the novel itself seemed to burn up in my hands. It was disgusting, depraved, twisted, gory, and absolutely inappropriate in every-which-way. There were parts of it that made no sense to me at all, and still don’t. When I was done with that novel, I ripped through my book collection (which is probably 1/16th of the collection we have at home now), in search of something like it. What did I come up with? No Sanctuary. I couldn’t believe that Laymon had written both, and couldn’t understand why I’d not enjoyed it. With that in mind, I revisited the No Sanctuary and ended up loving it. 

Since then, I’ve made it a mission to collect all of the Laymon books I can possibly get my hands on. I’ve mistakenly given a few away to Value Village, found a few in used book stores, and even met a guy in a gas station parking lot in order to buy a box-full of his Headline releases for just under $200 (the best purchase I have ever made in my entire life). My collection is sitting at 30-something of his novels right now (including The Halloween Mouse - his children’s book), and with the help of friends, I’m getting closer to having everything he’s ever written. I hope to one day have a collection that can stand beside Brian Keene’s personal Laymon library. One can hope, right? (In a strange twist, my Laymon collection and my Keene collection ended up sharing a shelf by accident. It was only later that I found out they were friends. Weird.)

My ultimate goal is to own a copy of A Writer’s Tale, which is limited to 500 signed and numbered copies, and 26 lettered copies. All of them are signed. I’ve had my eye on the eBay auctions for years now, and will one day own one. Mark my words, I will own a copy of that book.

*Note: Since writing this post, I have managed to get my hands on the holy grail that is A Writer’s Tale, and it is in-transit as we speak. I couldn’t be more excited!

I honestly couldn’t imagine a life in literature without Laymon. There is nobody that comes close to reaching that particular brand of daring, yet comfortably formulaic writing. There are a few authors that I’ve been following for a while (like Brian Keene, Bryan Smith, Gord Rollo, Greg Lamberson, and John Everson, to name a few) who grab the literary world by the balls and show the genre who’s boss, but none that could ever replace the smooth style that Laymon left behind. 

Without Laymon’s fiction, I doubt I would have started Paperback Horror. My love of horror wouldn’t have gone any further than the screen, and my collection of books wouldn’t be nearly as large as it is right now. I doubt I would have found any of the authors that I’ve come to love, and I definitely wouldn’t be thinking about horror fiction all of the time. I’m indebted to the man, wherever he is. 

I’m glad that Grade Z Horror decided to throw this party in honor of a true master. It gave me a chance to really think about how I felt about his work, how I still feel about it. Horror fiction wouldn’t be where it is now, without him. I hope we can do this again next year, as I’m sure there is no shortage to love we can spread for Richard Laymon. Share his books with your friends, and introduce his work to everyone looking for something more. Keep the legacy alive. 

PBH.

Colum runs the best damn genre review site out there over ar PaperbackHorror.com.  Aside from being the author of some of my favorite reviews, Colum is one of the nicest dudes in the world.  Please, please, please head over to his site and prepare to be enlightened!

Laymon Month: Guest Post by Gord Rollo

Hi folks,

Hope this guest blog finds you and yours well. I’m sitting up here in Canada remembering one of my literary heroes and although I can’t believe Richard has been gone for so long already, I find I’m not as sad as I thought I might be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m deeply saddened Mr. Laymon passed away so tragically young and that the horror genre lost one of its truly unique voices, but I’m sitting here smiling at all the endless hours of joy he gave me while I was growing up, and the legacy of great stories he has left behind for anyone else to discover.

I was lucky enough to have grown up in Canada, where the bookstores stocked all the British versions of Richard’s books, long before Don D’Auria at Leisure Books was smart enough to re-release his backlist to all the rabid horror fans in the United States. It was the Headline Books imprint that I always bought, and they had the coolest covers on them – much better than the US versions that would follow. I devoured them as a teenager and it was Richard that gave me hope as a fledgling writer. I’d been reading King and Koontz back then and although I loved all their books too, Richard’s were the first books that I sat back and thought that maybe I could do that too. His books were written for the common man (and woman – lol!) and they weren’t so damn literate that I had to carry a dictionary around with me to get through them. I like that. I liked their simple plots and accessible dialog. I liked how nasty and violent they were too, like all the slasher movies I was getting into, only put on paper like no other writer I’d came across before. In short, Richard gave me hope that someday I could be a writer too, and I’ll always remember him for that.

My favorite books of his are ONE RAINY NIGHT, ISLAND, BITE, IN THE DARK and NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER, but my all time favorite book of his that I own is a copy of SAVAGE that came directly from Richard’s private office. I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Laymon in person, but I’ve been fortunate enough since his passing to meet and get to know his lovely wife Ann and their insanely charming daughter Kelly. I mentioned to Ann one night at a book convention that the only novel of her late husband’s that I had never read was SAVAGE, Richard’s unique spin on Jack the Ripper. A few weeks later I received a trade paperback copy of the book in the mail and a note from Ann that she’d spotted it in Richard’s private library and thought she’d send me a copy. That’s the kind of woman she is and a tiny example of why the tight knit horror community loves her and Kelly so much. That copy of SAVAGE is one of my prized possessions in my own library and I’d never sell it, not for any price.

It’s hard to sum up what Richard Laymon meant to me as a writer. His influence on me was enormous but I don’t think the book is closed yet on his accomplishments. For decades to come young writers will look to Richard for inspiration and for entertainment and whenever I’m asked I’ll be happy to share my fond thoughts about him and his work. Rest in Peace, Dick. You deserve it. You truly were one of the all time greats. Thank you for sharing your incredible imagination with me. I needed it back then, and I still need it now. Cheers!

-- Gord Rollo, March 29th, 2011, Great White North.


Gord Rollo was the reason I felt compelled to start reviewing horror fiction. In fact the first review to ever grace the pages of Grade Z Horror was a Gord Rollo novel! He is one insanely talented writer who just so happens to be the author of some of my favorite new horror fiction. His novels Valley of the Scarecrow and The Jigsaw Man showcase Gord's uncanny ability to create some of the most frightening images ever committed to print. Please do yourself a favor and head over to his site and check out his work.

Laymon Month: Guest Post by Jeff Strand

I first discovered Richard Laymon in FANGORIA, where he said "I think horror should be fun!" The article really made me want to read his work, so I turned on my Kindle...I mean, I went to eBay...no, wait, actually I searched bookstores, new and used, and couldn't find a damn thing by him. This was the 80's. I was pretty much screwed.


A couple of years later, I was browsing the horror section, and, hey, a book by that Richard Laymon guy! FUNLAND! I bought it, read it immediately, and though it's far from my favorite book of his, I was an instant fan.


From 1989 to 1995, I continually sought out his books. There were a few lucky used bookstore finds: TREAD SOFTLY, NIGHT SHOW, and RESURRECTION DREAMS. A couple of library finds: QUAKE, MIDNIGHT'S LAIR, and THE STAKE. A friend in college had BEWARE, THE CELLAR, and THE WOODS ARE DARK.


In the age of Amazon and Wikipedia, it's hard to even remember a time when you could be a huge fan of somebody's work and not really know what was available. (Much like when I first became obsessed with Alice Cooper--each CD or cassette I found was a surprising, wonderful new discovery!) But I really had no idea what was out there, Laymon-wise.


Then: the Internet. One of the very first sites I visited was Steve Gerlach's Richard Laymon Kills site, and--holy crap!!!--Laymon had published tons of books that I'd never even heard of! DARKNESS, TELL US! BODY RIDES! ISLAND! BLOOD GAMES! BITE! IN THE DARK! ONE RAINY NIGHT! And more!


I found a UK bookseller online, and with about two minutes of effort I suddenly went from having about a third of Laymon's books to having almost all of them. And I read them all, back to back. (Is that good for your brain? Probably not.) I was like a kid gobbling up his entire bag of Halloween candy, and I hadn't experienced this much joyous reading since my discoveries of King, Koontz, and McCammon.


(Okay, I didn't like ALLHALLOW'S EVE that much. But aside from that...)


And now, since nobody said "Your Laymon essay must have structure!" here are a few unconnected Laymon thoughts:


Laymon saved me at several conventions, because despite not having any particular fondness for vampires, I always seemed to get stuck on a vampire panel. Instead of admitting to the audience and other panelists that I really didn't know what the hell I was talking about, I'd talk about how Laymon did three vampire novels (THE STAKE, BITE, and THE TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW) that weren't really about vampires! THE STAKE in particular just flat-out shouldn't work. How do you do an entire novel (and a fairly long one) that's all about "Should we pull this stake out of the mummified vampire corpse?" Most people could barely get a short story out of the premise, yet this book is never less than gripping.


SAVAGE is one of my favorites. Skip to the next paragraph if you haven't read it, but if you have: am I the only one who was completely stunned by the cruelty of the ending? Our hero, Trevor, and his new girlfriend, on their way to confront Jack the Ripper, do a complete wuss-out and decide NOT to face him. Shortly afterward, we find out that his old girlfriend (who we assumed had moved on with a new guy) went after the Ripper the way they'd planned, and dies horribly. Trevor imagines that while she was being tortured to death, she held out hope that he was on his way. Ouch.


IN THE DARK is another one of my favorites. And, yes, I've seen the never-released movie version. Muahahahahaha!!!


I remember telling a friend about ALARUMS and (spoiler warning again!) being unable to convey why the book was so good. "There was never anybody stalking her. Nobody had actually stolen her panties--she didn't realize she was wearing them." "That sounds lame." "No, no, the book completely messes with your expectations, because you think it's about a stalker, but it's actually about the sister going crazy." "Lame." "Argh!"


Rump.


If I may end on a rant, the very first limited edition book I ever bought was Laymon's A WRITER'S TALE. I ordered it the second I heard about it, and got copy #8. Read it. Loved it. Read it again and again. Then there was an online discussion with a bunch of writer's bemoaning the fact that this classic non-fiction book was completely unavailable.


This book was too good not to share. I set up a "lending circle" where I'd send it to the first person, who would send it to the next person, and so on until everybody got to read it. Yeah, obviously my copy would get banged up, and I could be without it for years (there were a lot of people on the list) but everybody should get the chance to read A WRITER'S TALE!


And...it didn't even make it to the third person before it went missing in action. Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! (So if you ever see copy #8, it's MINE!)


That's enough from me. Enjoy Laymon month!

Jeff Strand is the author of DWELLER, which just so happens to be the best book I have read in the last five years. It also happens to be nominated for a Stoker award this year.

Jeff recently released two fantastic novels in ebook form- THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE and WOLF HUNT are on sale right now for $2.99!!!!! I promise you won't be dissapointed.

Head over to jeffstrand.wordpress.com for all things Strand.