havent ever managed to read any of the beast house books - are they worth a go?
The Cellar was the first novel of his I ever read and it absolutely blew me away. No doubt the shock of the new played it's part (I'd only read the
E.C. inspired shorts
The Grab and
The Champion up until then), but I still think of it as his best, certainly more-so than the critics choice
Flesh. Of course, once you've read half a dozen Laymon', you know the menu - that Dan Marlowe endorsement, "Stephen King without a conscience", nails him in one - but even so, the first sequel,
The Beast House, was a grave disappointment and I wasn't expecting much of
The Midnight Tour. If you only read one book from the series,
The Cellar would be the demonik recommendation, two and I'd opt for
The Midnight Tour which captures some of the sick thrills and out-and-out nihilism of his debut without seeming strained. Or so it seems to me.
Which brings us back to the concluding book ....
Mark wishes he'd not shown Alison the pair of dorky spectacles he found down the Beast Hole because she recognises them as having belonged to her friend, Claudia, who disappeared suddenly last year!. Claudia knew of Alison's challenge - was it possible she'd tried to rise to it?
As they argue about which of them should crawl down there to investigate, a third party makes the decision for them;
"It came up fast, shiny white, almost human but hairless and snouted."
A Beast! But they were all supposed to have been wiped out in '79!
The monster lunges for Alison and pulls her head-first through the floor. Mark grabs at her jeans and tugs but - oh dear! - a hilarious
Carry On crazy mix-up moment as he's left holding them!
His screaming date is dragged down into the darkness and the network of tunnels running beneath the house!
What's a boy to do but attempt a rescue?
Laymon was always a wilfully un-PC author and he wasn't going to break with tradition in
Friday Night At The Beast House, but this time it seems very forced to me, notably in the final chapters which have a hollow "watch me wind up the feminists!" ring to them.
The book as a whole is a brisk, guilty-pleasure read but no great shakes. Unless you're a hardcore Laymon completist, you probably don't need
Friday Night At The Beast House so badly.