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Post by ohthehorror on Jun 19, 2016 16:29:39 GMT
First published as an Ebook by Headline Publishing Group in 2012 Cover photograph copyright Kavram/ShutterstockWell, this was a real page-turner and no mistake. I wouldn't say it was my favourite, I think that honour still goes to Blood Games, but it wasn't lacking in atmosphere and I just flew through it once I got stuck back into it with a vengeance. Darcy is our heroine and a tour guide taking people deep down into a cave beneath a hotel. Little do they know that the owner of the hotel(and the cave beneath too) has been making pretty ladies disappear by dropping then down a handy little shaft, but not before having his dirty little way with them first. Creepily, he has absolutely no compunction about bringing his very own son, the 'at least' as creepy and disturbed Kyle, into the family occupation when he shows him the special room with purpose-built viewing area where any ladies unfortunate enough to catch their fancy gets placed and subsequently raped, killed and dumped down the aforementioned shaft. But it doesn't end there because there are people, of sorts, living down in the depths there, and they're not fussy about what they eat.
Our party of 30 or so visitors and their guides, not to mention the perverted little Kyle get stuck down in the caves when the elevators succumb to a fire and are rendered useless. It's then part waiting game and part escape attempt while also, as it turns out, a fight for their very lives as they realise they're not alone.
Kyle is definitely Mr Laymon's creepiest character so far(unless anyone knows of creepier?), and is quite happy to use the situation to his advantage when he takes up with a young girl called Paula, and we're treated to quite in-depth descriptions of his attempts to get into her knickers(as it were). He doesn't appear to be too fussy though, since before Paula, he was actually madly in lust with the guide Darcy and makes an attempt on her a little later on in fact. As well as this, he at one point mistakes somebody else for Paula but carries on regardless, groping her and fondling her and basically settling for whoever she may be. He does at least show a little surprise when a little light is shed on the situation(thanks to a guy running around with his head on fire!) and we find out it's his Mum!! Oh well, could happen to the best of us.
So the sick, creepy factor on this one was really quite high, but so was the grin factor too. I liked it, but in a 'eeewwww..., yuck...!', kind of way.
I've run out of Richard Laymons on my kindle now, so I've got the pleasure of mulling over my next Amazon purchase at least. I don't usually read more than a couple of the same author in a row, but in Mr Laymon's case I think I may make an exception.
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Post by dem bones on Jun 20, 2016 8:59:28 GMT
Richard Laymon - Midnight's Lair (Headline, 1992: originally W. H. Allen, 1988, as by Richard Kelly)  Steve CrispBlurb: Mordock's Cave is one of the wonders of the world: a place where thousands of sightseers every year take an awe-inspiring boat trip on a lake deep beneath the earth's surface and marvel at Nature's handiwork. But the darkness is also the home of things Nature never intended - things violent, bestial and obscenely evil. And when a sudden power failure traps a group of tourists underground, the unnatural creatures who dwell there emerge from the depths ... It has been an age since I last read this, but, along with The Cellar and Funland, it's still among the front runners when I try identify a Laymon personal favourite. I'm not sure if Kyle is RL's creepiest, sleaziest male lead - too many to choose from; the serial-killer in the short Mess Hall must run him close, likewise Quake's handsome All American rapist next door.
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Post by ohthehorror on Jun 20, 2016 9:12:46 GMT
While I was searching Amazon for my next purchase, I very nearly succumbed to the 'Beast House' omnibus for Kindle. It contains all 4 novels for £6.95, but since I've already read them all, albeit many, many, many years ago, I finally trumped for 'Endless Night' for a quid less. I'll almost certainly pick that omnibus up soon though. Too good a deal to miss.
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Post by fritzmaitland on Oct 14, 2020 16:57:38 GMT
Piling through this at the mo, as well as keeping the October short stories going. Chris has just had to buy a pair of red shorts as she got caught out in her swimming costume when the hotel went up in flames as a result of a man walking in with two buckets of gasoline and hurling one over the desk clerk, and throwing his cigar at the same, as he got five or six bullets pumped into him. One thing you have to say about Laymon, he's a dab hand at sending these bonkers stories in ways you could not predict when you start.
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Post by fritzmaitland on Oct 24, 2020 22:49:15 GMT
Woah - bit of an anti-climactic ending, but a lot of crazy stuff along the way. I'd almost forgotten just how mad and near-the-knuckle Laymon can be.
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Post by ripper on Nov 7, 2020 12:33:02 GMT
While I was searching Amazon for my next purchase, I very nearly succumbed to the 'Beast House' omnibus for Kindle. It contains all 4 novels for £6.95, but since I've already read them all, albeit many, many, many years ago, I finally trumped for 'Endless Night' for a quid less. I'll almost certainly pick that omnibus up soon though. Too good a deal to miss. Just browsing Kindle and I noticed that the Beast House omnibus is now £2.99 and Endless Night is £1.99. There are more Laymon books between 99p and £2.99. I have never really gotten into Laymon, but I am tempted at such prices. |
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Post by ohthehorror on Nov 7, 2020 22:28:14 GMT
I seem to remember the red gym shorts being beige in the beast house novels though*, so that was like a knife to the heart. It was so long ago that I read them though so I could be talking utter nonsense.
*maybe I should've spoilered that...
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Post by ripper on Nov 8, 2020 12:01:16 GMT
I seem to remember the red gym shorts being beige in the beast house novels though*, so that was like a knife to the heart. It was so long ago that I read them though so I could be talking utter nonsense. *maybe I should've spoilered that... I may well purchase the Beast House omnibus at such a low price. Kindle books seem to go up and down in price quite a bit. Several times I have had my eye on a book only to find it had increased in price when I came to make a purchase. |
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Post by andydecker on Nov 8, 2020 13:36:54 GMT
Thanks for the tip, ripper! I indulged myself, bought a few after checking the Vault. I never was a fan of Laymon, but after finally reading Beast House 1 he earned my respect. Can't remember any other writer going to those dark places like he did. I guess today no mainstream publisher would buy this.
I don't understand what is the point of this price-dumping, though. E-books are either too cheap or too expensive for what is basically a nicely formated file (Which is subject to whims of the distributor. But that is another topic.) I marvel that there must be really people who are willing to pay 40 BP (converted) for a kindle edition. Still, if they are that cheap it is better to buy them before they vanish. In the recent past quite a few e-books I had marked for later buying were discontinued or changed publishers who put out new editions which went for the high price end.
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Post by Swampirella on Nov 8, 2020 15:47:01 GMT
Kindle books seem to go up and down in price quite a bit. Several times I have had my eye on a book only to find it had increased in price when I came to make a purchase. Many (most? all?) Kindle books have price drops. A book will go down little by little & stay that way for a few days, then little by little go up again. I put books I'm interested in on a wish list & then check the prices regularly; there are also websites that keep track of price drops. I have my eye on a 9.99 book that's down to 5.30. It hasn't dropped since yesterday so I'm pretty sure it'll start going up again soon. It's certainly not worth the full price to me, but now am not sure I want it enough at the discounted price. Tax on it doesn't help. |
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Post by ripper on Nov 8, 2020 19:26:05 GMT
Kindle books seem to go up and down in price quite a bit. Several times I have had my eye on a book only to find it had increased in price when I came to make a purchase. Many (most? all?) Kindle books have price drops. A book will go down little by little & stay that way for a few days, then little by little go up again. I put books I'm interested in on a wish list & then check the prices regularly; there are also websites that keep track of price drops for you. I have my eye on a 9.99 book that's down to 5.30. It hasn't dropped since yesterday so I'm pretty sure it'll start going up again soon. It's certainly not worth the full price to me, but now am not sure it's even worth the discounted price. Tax on it doesn't help. If you're in the UK the government scrapped VAT on e-publications at the beginning of May to bring them in line with print equivalents. It was supposed to come into effect at the end of the year but due to the pandemic they decided to do it earlier as people would be doing more reading. I was hoping that the Amazon Prime Day sales would see reductions in Kindle book prices but none of the ones I had my eye on saw any reduction. I also don't like to spend too much on individual ebooks as I don't get quite the same sense of ownership that I have from buying a print copy despite finding ebooks very convenient. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Nov 8, 2020 19:47:04 GMT
I don't get quite the same sense of ownership That may be because you do not actually own them. Read Amazon's fine print and find out! On the other hand, you do not own the text inside your printed books either, just the physical manifestation. |
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Post by ripper on Nov 8, 2020 20:23:00 GMT
I don't get quite the same sense of ownership That may be because you do not actually own them. Read Amazon's fine print and find out! On the other hand, you do not own the text inside your printed books either, just the physical manifestation. Yes, very true! |
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drauch
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 56
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Post by drauch on Oct 18, 2021 15:30:15 GMT
Woah - bit of an anti-climactic ending, but a lot of crazy stuff along the way. I'd almost forgotten just how mad and near-the-knuckle Laymon can be. Read over the weekend. Agreed! Despite the oddly saccharine ending, I'm glad it at least has a real oddity to it. Fun, but not as fun as the cannibal cavalcade of The Woods are Dark. I was really hoping for some troglodytes or more disfigured gents living in the mucky darkness instead of those still with mental faculties and the ability to speak perfect English, but I do appreciate the dough-white cannibals being especially greasy in their hotel robes and dresses. Absurd characters and all, including some nice red shorts, but I think the hangup for me not absolutely loving it is Laymon stumbles while describing the pitch black setting. It's often confusing exactly what is happening, and not in the intended confusing way, à la being stuck in the actual darkness. People get murdered and fight, but I never felt the impact of an adequate description, just an end result where someone got stabbed with a bone. I think some extended scenes of sheer panic and horrific glimpses could have done wonders. Still, fun stuff! |
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