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Post by dem bones on Mar 12, 2009 18:10:10 GMT
The first couple of his books I read absolutely blew me away. Bushwick - I think you'd enjoy Savages and Island .... he does tend to repeat himself , so after enjoying The Midnight Tour and Flesh, things got a bit samey, and I found him very exasperating to read. Had a bit of a comeback recently. Enjoyed most of The Travelling Vampire Show, apart from when it went crazy apeshit bonkers at the end (now there's a change) but Darkness, Tell Us and Blood Games have proved very good, if not outrageous, reads. Still got a few hanging around. And at least one of the above mentioned red shorts. Something i find commendable about Richard Laymon's work is that the hero/ heroine you've spent several chapters coming to know and like has as good a chance as anyone of being brutally bumped off on p. 363 if our man's on his game. However, once you've a fair number of his novels under your belt, you can't help but notice that a young woman's chances of surviving the cannibals, psycho's, rapists and the monsters in the Beast House cellar are dramatically improved if she set out for the evening wearing a pair of red gym shorts. They are essential kit. A pair even save Maureen O'Casey's life in the weird urban voodoo bloodfeast One Rainy Night when she plonks 'em on her head to prevent being soaked by the Devil's downpour! Then there's Tanya, the beautiful coastguard who leads the local teens in a war versus the Boleta Bay tramp contingent in Funland who gets an ice cream down the front of hers, and Kim, the spirited heroine of The Hunt, sprinting desperately through the forest with the Mount Boulton Butcher in pursuit. Steve Crisp The black, warm rain. It had soaked her when she dashed from the house, and she remembered how she'd suddenly wanted to turn around and rush back inside and kill them all. But she'd been moving too fast to halt herself before plunging into the backyard pool. The water had engulfed her, and the urge had passed. It had returned when she stood up and watched the boys come out. The same vicious impulses would take hold again if she came up for air. Some rain on my head, I'll be just like them. Staying underwater, Maureen turned herself around. She breast-stroked for the middle of the pool, angling downward, fighting her buoyancy that was like a balloon in her chest trying to lift her to the surface. Gotta stay down! Her lungs burned. They seemed to be squeezing themselves tight, wanting to force her breath out to get ready for fresh air. Maureen let the breath slip from her mouth. As she felt herself begin to sink, she tugged the baggy gym shorts down her legs and off. She draped them over her head. She guided herself slowly upward and broke the surface, the shorts hanging like a big, floppy hat. She sucked air into her lungs .... Laymon, ever the innovator, sometimes added variety to the mix by introducing a female lead in denim cut-offs ( The Midnight Tour) or white hot-pants ( Island and his chick-lit outing Blood Games), but they usually wind up dead and you can tell he doesn't really pull out all the stops to save them. I don't think we can really consider these to be true Laymon novels.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Mar 12, 2009 19:00:56 GMT
a young woman's chances of surviving the cannibals, psycho's, rapists and the monsters in the Beast House cellar are dramatically improved if she set out for the evening wearing a pair of red gym shorts dem
Dem, despite heavy competition from the erudite vault members, stakes his place again as the quintessential reviewer for the discerning
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Post by franklinmarsh on Mar 12, 2009 21:00:29 GMT
Imagine my surprise when, inspired by Dem's drooling, I read a Laymon novel, and found a objectionable young man to be the wearer of the red shorts. Aieeee!
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Post by dem bones on Mar 12, 2009 23:18:46 GMT
Serves you right for knowing some girls! Anyway, that just goes to show how versatile he was.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 23, 2012 19:47:20 GMT
I have been rereading Laymon recently. Currently I am working on DARKNESS, TELL US. As I read, the fabric of my shirt feels soft against my nipples.
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Post by doug on May 23, 2012 20:08:17 GMT
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jan 15, 2013 13:03:53 GMT
[quote author=admin board=othergreats thread=2679 post=15432 time=1236881410 They are essential kit. A pair even save Maureen O'Casey's life in the weird urban voodoo bloodfeast One Rainy Night when she plonks 'em on her head to prevent being soaked by the Devil's downpour! [/quote]
Spoiler! As a break from ye olde classicks I've dipped into One Rainy Night. Poor Maureen has obtained her RGS from her rapist. Laymon's never a comfortable read, is he?
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Post by erebus on Feb 13, 2013 20:36:30 GMT
Of course being a massive Laymonite myself I have of course noticed this trend in all his book. But his record has to be in his pulp cult classic FLESH, Where the shorts are mentioned on page 1 of the book. Line 22 to be exact. Brilliant.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2015 13:22:26 GMT
If memory serves, red shorts girl almost exclusively has short blonde hair and 'powerful thighs', regardless of the picture on the book jacket (I spent the entirety of Endless Night seeing the heroine with long dark hair, as per the cover, only to find on page 350 or something that, yep, she had short blonde hair. I forget her choice of shorts.)
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Post by ohthehorror on Oct 9, 2015 13:54:30 GMT
Thought it was high time someone made a serious and scientific study of Red Gym Shorts Girls in Mr Laymon's universe, so I've made a start. Please feel free to add any pertinent info. you may have to hand. I've only read a relatively small number of our Mr Laymon's novels, so I'm relying on you all to fill in any blanks.
Novels with NO instances of red gym shorts(but plenty of Tan, White, Yellow and Blue)
The Cellar The Beasthouse Midnight Tour Friday Night in the Beast House The Woods are Dark After Midnight In the Dark*
*Interestingly, this has many instances of blue gym shorts, but none at all of red.
Novels that specifically mention red gym shorts
Funland - Chapter Numbers 5, 12, 22 Blood games - Chapter Numbers 11, 14, 19, 38 Flesh - Chapter Numbers prologue, 1, 4, 34 Midnight's Lair - Chapter Numbers 9, 15 One Rainy Night - [Captives] 4, 8 [Warriors] 8* Endless Night - Chapter Number 11 The Glory Bus - Chapter Numbers 16, 19, 32, 46, 47, 50
*This novel is separated into several different sections which are named, and then numbered. You know, just to confuse the issue. I've put the section names in square brackets here with the chapter numbers following them.
So far I've been quite surprised at the amount of gym shorts of other colours that cropped up while I was searching the various novels. Tan and White seem to be very prevalent in fact. Whether this will prove to be a bit of an upset where red gym shorts are concerned is a matter best left until all novels have been thoroughly examined and searched, but it's something to ponder in the meantime. In particular, In the Dark appears to switch from the red gym shorts prevalent in other novels to blue gym shorts, and shiny one's at that. Nice.
I've not included specific info. on other colours and have omitted mentions of denim cut-offs too, but the intention is to include all such info. as and when time allows. You may of course add whatever info. you deem pertinent as and when you wish.
End of Public Service Announcement...
Edited: to show Chapter numbers rather than page numbers
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