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Post by dem bones on Jun 22, 2014 9:21:44 GMT
Richard Laymon - Flesh (Headline, 1990: originally W. H. Allen, 1987) Danny Flynn Blurb; No one in town has ever seen anything like it before: a slimy, mobile tube of glistening yellow flesh with dull, staring eyes and an obscene, probing mouth. But the real horror is not what it looks like, or even what it does to you when it invades your flesh - but what it makes you do to others ..."This is my day for beautiful women in red shorts, Jake thought." You know how Eat Them Alive dives straight into the action on p.1? Same thing here. Red gym shorts girl #1 is cycling home when a drooling maniac tries to run her down from behind. Celia fortuitously escapes when her bike is nudged into a ditch. The madman hits a wall, and dies engulfed in flames. What was with him anyway, wonders cop Jake Corey. Rape and murder he can understand, but where is the fun in mowing down innocent coeds? Was he a necrophiliac or something? Weird thing is, there's a trail of bloodstains from the wreckage leading off into the woods, though the would-be killer travelled alone. they seem to lead to the remote Oakwood Inn which Peggy Smeltzer - red gym shorts girl #2 - and husband Ron are in the process of refurbishing. Jake advises them to leave, at least for tonight, as there may be a monster on the loose. Peggy pouts and sulks - they've builders arriving in the morning and those kitchen chores won't do themselves - eventually agrees and, an hour later, prevails on her sensible-but-henpecked husband to return. With a rifle. As if that will be enough protection against a fiendish slab of yellow meat. Diligent Jake arrives just in time to witness ....
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Post by dem bones on Jun 30, 2014 10:43:58 GMT
Yeah, this is one of the sparkly ones: Essentially, Chetwynd-Hayes. The Jumpity-Jim meets the slasher flick. With scalping and trademark cannibal action.
Alison's romance with English tutor Evan Forbes has hit a rocky patch because she refused to let him have his way on the classroom floor. Forbes has turned right nasty. Alison, who rooms with Celia and unpleasantly plump Helen, moonlights at Gabby's restaurant, popular with Frat boys on account of the waitresses wear see-through uniforms. Laymon veterans immediately recognise her as our heroine.
Dana Norris detests her boyfriend Jason's room-mate, the official campus weirdo. 'Roland the Retard' is a buck-toothed splatter-freak who wears corny gore t-shirts, his hair centre-parted a la his hero, fifties horror host Zacherley. With Jason's away for the weekend at a wedding, Roland corners Dana on campus, almost orgasmic with excitement at yesterday's Oakwood Inn massacre. He requests the loan of her camera. Roland knows she has one, as Jason showed him the scuzzy Polaroids she posed for. Dana, furious, challenges creepy boy to spend tonight alone in the Oakwood, to prove that his sicko schtick isn't just a sad pose to have people notice him. He reluctantly agrees. Dana plans a nasty surprise. The snake-thing trumps her. It transpires that the parasite was once worshipped by the Aztecs who provided a steady supply of its favourite foodstuffs, human hearts and brains. The Conquistadors spoiled the party, and now Sheriff Jake has found - and stomped - the creature's eggs, she has a new enemy.
As ever with Laymon (his greatest strength), it pays not to get too close to the characters, sympathetic or otherwise,as, should he decide they've outstayed their welcome, they die, and their deaths can be horribly protracted affairs.
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Post by doug on Jul 1, 2014 10:52:19 GMT
This thread reminded me that I haven't read any Laymon lately. So off i went to Ebay.de to see if anything was up for grabs (cheap).
Sadly, I've already read everything that going for affordable prices.
One thing did throw me for a loop though.
Over 40 Laymon auctions are listed in the CHILDREN'S SECTION!
"Look mommy! A haunted house book!"
The German covers are so innocuous that I managed to trick my wife into reading "The Woods are Dark" a while back.
She's never forgiven me.
She did finish it though. :-)
Take care. Doug
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Post by andydecker on Jul 2, 2014 10:35:05 GMT
I could never get into Laymon. After reading some of Dems reviews I gave him another try - he has so many fans - and read All Hallows Eve and began The Traveling Vampire Show. And I still can't get into him . I found the latter particulary unconvincing as a period piece – maybe it will get better in the later chapters – and the first frankly boring . I still have Night in the Lonesome October on the shelf which I bought cheap, but I really don't know if I will begin it.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jul 2, 2014 11:22:35 GMT
I could never get into Laymon. After reading some of Dems reviews I gave him another try - he has so many fans - and read All Hallows Eve and began The Traveling Vampire Show. And I still can't get into him . I found the latter particulary unconvincing as a period piece – maybe it will get better in the later chapters – and the first frankly boring . I still have Night in the Lonesome October on the shelf which I bought cheap, but I really don't know if I will begin it. None of those are ones I would recommend for the beginner (or possibly anyone). Why not try SAVAGE (a historical novel!), ISLAND, or BODY RIDES (one of his most bizarre)?
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Post by dem bones on Jul 3, 2014 16:35:47 GMT
I could never get into Laymon. After reading some of Dems reviews I gave him another try - he has so many fans - and read All Hallows Eve and began The Traveling Vampire Show. And I still can't get into him . I found the latter particulary unconvincing as a period piece – maybe it will get better in the later chapters – and the first frankly boring . I still have Night in the Lonesome October on the shelf which I bought cheap, but I really don't know if I will begin it. None of those are ones I would recommend for the beginner (or possibly anyone). Why not try SAVAGE (a historical novel!), ISLAND, or BODY RIDES (one of his most bizarre)? They'd get nowhere near my top three either. To JoJo's recommendations would add The Cellar, Funland, The Woods Are Dark, The Lights Are Out, Midnight's Lair, Flesh, and the Dreadful Tales collection for starters. The turgid All Hallow's Eve is the Laymon I least enjoyed, and The Travelling Vampire Show is too much of a nostalgia fest for personal taste.
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Post by markewest on Jul 31, 2014 13:40:37 GMT
I've just picked up "Night Show" off ebay as I fancied reading one of his 'quicker' books and had given my original copy away. I liked him a lot, in the late 90s, but then his relentless misogyny got too much for me (capped with the terrible sequence in "Come Out Tonight" - a novella none-too-well pumped up into a novel - when the naked heroine tries to convince two teenaged lads to let her in, over the course of far, far too many pages) and I stopped reading him.
Having said that, if I were asked to suggest good places to start, I'd go with "Funland", "Dark Mountain", "Body Rides" and "Flesh".
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Post by ohthehorror on Jun 6, 2015 14:55:05 GMT
Another uninspiring cover from Headline. First Published as an Ebook by Headline Publishing Group in 2012. Cover photograph: Norph/Shutterstock
I picked up In The Dark as well, which although similarly bland does at least have some nice old books on display, also first Published as an Ebook by Headline Publishing Group in 2012Cover photograph: Mashurov/Shutterstock.So after a great start what with an immediate introduction to our first red gym shorts girl via a loonatic in a van knocking her flying, we're introduced to Alison in no uncertain terms with a sordid little scene in the classroom. I particularly liked the way Evan gets right royally put out because Alison wouldn't, well... put out, on the classroom floor. You can almost here him sighing and huffing in righteous indignation at the nerve of the girl. After all, what young lady wouldn't jump at the chance of a quickie on a dusty classroom floor? Tsk...! Youngsters these days, don't know their born. Dana, meanwhile, is having herself a right old time of it being mean to poor old Roland after talking him into staying at the Oakwood Inn, the scene of a recent slaughter-fest, and betting him $100 that he won't be able to make it through the entire night without running screaming like a girl into the night. Roland decides he's up for the challenge but handcuffs himself to the bar(good man!) to make absolutely sure he'll not bottle it before dawn when Dana's due to come in to get him. He ensures she will actually do this by essentially blackmailing her with some polaroid photos her boyfriend Jason took of her, and promising to return them to her when she shows up. It's all very tense and exciting, and as always there's that pervy element to proceedings that you absolutely know is just around the next corner. The pervy element turns out to be quite well done on this occasion and involves a big bag of flour and Dana getting her kit off. I'm not sure how scary this would actually be though. In fact, I'm pretty sure if a pretty young lady got herself naked, dowsed herself in Tesco's best self-raising, pulled on a homemade balaclava and proceeded to advance on me with her arms spread wide, ...yeah, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be on the top of my nightmare list. But each to their own I suppose. It was a fantastic scene either way. Whatever else I may think, Roland seems to be taking it in his stride. Unfortunately for Dana, she remains blissfully unaware that Roland has recently been invaded by a little yellow worm-like creature that went in through his thigh and made it's way up his spine to his head. This, as you can imagine, has induced a state of mystic-like calm in the lad, and while Dana practically wets herself at the thought of Roland having 'actually' wet himself, he proceeds to knife her and then crack her skull open like an old walnut. The brains are 'the best bit', apparently. Many a Zombie would agree, I'm sure. There's always lots of wonderful b-movie moments in any Richard Laymon novel, and we've already been treated to a few doozies. I really enjoyed Dana and her flour-ghost. I kind of miss her now, which is silly really since we haven't even had that much time to get to know her properly. Oh well, there's always Alison I suppose. ...to be continued.
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Post by ohthehorror on Jun 20, 2015 12:40:57 GMT
So after Dana cops it at the hands of Roland we find ourselves hooking up with Alison a lot more, but first he ups the creep-factor a good deal when we come across a young girl of four or five standing on a corner, and we're treated to the extreme seedy side of Roland's mindstate as he describes her as 'A real beauty, no older than four of five', and proceeds to describe her and what she's wearing in some detail before adding to the creepiness just that little bit more, 'She shrugged her small shoulders. Oh, beautiful and young and tender.' before ending the chapter with, 'Roland pulsed with need.' It is of course the worm that's doing this but even so, it's one of the more creepy moments.
Roland now goes to Alison's place and finding her roommate, Helen, there proceeds to suffocate her with a clear plastic bag. She puts up quite a fight though but Roland soon gets the better of her and after kicking her around the place for a while, he finally manages to finish what he started and suffocates her.
As Alison and Evan hook up things take a turn for the worse after she discovers he, for want of a better word, 'felt her up' while she slept. He pleads innocence but Alison's having none of it and storms out. 'I didn't know you were asleep, damnit!', he cries as she makes for the car. A likely story my friend, a likely story. Anyway, back at her place Roland has been waiting patiently. He's stripped off and is wearing nothing except his belt with his knife in a little holster. A struggle ensues as Roland attacks Alison as she lies on the bed, and unfortunately for Roland he doesn't come off well at all, losing an eye as Alison gouges it out with her thumb. He also loses a couple of fingers and throws a policeman from the balcony who lands on top of Professor Teal who's been doing his best to protect her.
Our little yellow, worm fiend decides soon after that it'd be a better bet to take up residence in someone else now and so even though Jake has the bright idea of burning Roland and his little yellow fiend to death in a car, it soon becomes apparent that someone else was in the car with him and that Mr worm is now securely ensconsed within... yes you've guessed it, Evan!! dun-dun-duuuuunnn!!!!
It's all very entertaining stuff now what with Alison agreeing to meet up with Evan and the two of them heading off for a little picnic, to the Oakwood Inn of all places as it turns out. Alison is soon out of the car and running now with Evan in hot pursuit. He catches her, knocking her down and ripping open her shirt(of course!), and once more another struggle ensues. Alison eventually manages to stab him a good-un' with a screwdriver in his sternum, at which point our little yellow, wormy friend bursts forth from poor old Evan in a shower of blood and begins to chase Alison up the ladder she's climbed in her attempt to escape. Luckily Jake comes to the rescue in the knick of time(just barely it has to be said), and actually cuts the thing out of her before it really has a chance to burrow too deep. Jake, never one to let an opportunity to set shit on fire pass him by engages in yet more pyromania and so finally kills ol' wormy, whereupon the two of them stand and watch until the fire burns out, which is nice.
And so our tale ends with Jake and Alison playing happy families with little Kimmy, and having a bit of a romp to celebrate.
I enjoyed this. But then I'd have been surprised if I hadn't it being a Richard Laymon. There were a few scenes that I really loved. Dana's flour scene, Kimmy on the street corner with Roland(but actually the worm) lusting after her(for it's extreme creep factor) and of course the various mentions of red gym shorts. I'd mention the varied and numerous incidents of peoples clothing coming lose or just dropping off entirely but that's kind of taken for granted with Mr Laymon isn't it?
Wonderful stuff. I loved it.
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Post by dem bones on Jun 20, 2015 15:43:29 GMT
Think I'd fallen out of love with his work when first I read Flesh - the turgid All Hallowes Eve had a lot to do with it - but absolutely adored it on a recent-ish revisit. That (Kindle?) cover with the skeleton hand is lame even by today's dull standards.
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Post by ohthehorror on Jun 20, 2015 19:00:01 GMT
AllHallows Eve seems to be notorious around here for being bad. Of course, this means I'm just going to have to read it sometime soon to see what all the fuss is about. I'm finding it difficult to understand how Mr Laymon could have written a bad book. Of course, I've not read nearly as many of his books as others so it may be that I've simply been lucky in not hitting upon a bad one. If you had to sum up why you were disappointed with it, what would you say the reason was? I'm a bit of a fan of 'quiet horror' and can love a book simply for a good, creepy atmosphere you see, so if it's more that it's not as in-your-face as his usual fare, I may not actually hate it.
Edit: oh, and I've edited in the publishing details for the covers above too.
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Post by dem bones on Jun 20, 2015 19:28:46 GMT
AllHallows Eve seems to be notorious around here for being bad. Of course, this means I'm just going to have to read it sometime soon to see what all the fuss is about. I'm finding it difficult to understand how Mr Laymon could have written a bad book. Of course, I've not read nearly as many of his books as others so it may be that I've simply been lucky in not hitting upon a bad one. If you had to sum up why you were disappointed with it, what would you say the reason was? I'm a bit of a fan of 'quiet horror' and can love a book simply for a good, creepy atmosphere you see, so if it's more that it's not as in-your-face as his usual fare, I may not actually hate it. Edit: oh, and I've edited in the publishing details for the covers above too. Oh, there's nothing quiet about All Hallowes Eve! It may be that it suffered from unsympathetic editing. He always maintained that The Woods Are Dark, which effectively killed his career in the States, was butchered on original publication (I'm not sure if the version we're familiar with is the same one). All Hallowes Eve probably isn't that bad at all - from what I remember, the novel gets off to a flying start before losing its way - it's just I didn't much care for it, which, of course, doesn't count for anything. Have you read Midnight's Lair? Don't think we've had a thread for that one yet, but its one of my favourite Laymon's. Thank you for the additional info!
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Post by ohthehorror on Jun 20, 2015 19:40:39 GMT
No I've not read that one yet, but I've just read a review on another site and it sounds very good so I think I'll give it a try. Ely sounds like wonderful fun, for a given definition of fun of course Edit: Just bought the Kindle version, and apparently his name's 'Kyle', not 'Ely' as was stated in the little review I read, although there is an Ely in there too it would seem.
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Post by erebus on Jul 10, 2015 10:50:48 GMT
Flesh was the first Laymon book I ever bought and read, I loved it and never looked back and have everything he's written. Flesh, though always seems to be a favourite of mine. Perhaps its because it the one that got me on the Laymon rollercoaster. Midnights Lair, Endless Night, and Island are the others I enjoyed. The lesser for me are Savage ( shock horror ) Alarums , No Sanctuary and Glory Bus. A very prolific writer , one often wonders what his output would be if he was still alive today.
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Post by dem bones on Jul 10, 2015 19:33:33 GMT
Flesh was the first Laymon book I ever bought and read, I loved it and never looked back and have everything he's written. Flesh, though always seems to be a favourite of mine. Perhaps its because it the one that got me on the Laymon rollercoaster. Midnights Lair, Endless Night, and Island are the others I enjoyed. The lesser for me are Savage ( shock horror ) Alarums , No Sanctuary and Glory Bus. A very prolific writer , one often wonders what his output would be if he was still alive today. I've a particular soft spot for The Cellar for exactly the same reason, though even that wasn't my first exposure to Laymon. Back in the late 'eighties, on a pilgrimage to TwoJays second hand bookshop in Edgware (RIP), I snapped up copies of Years Best Horror Stories XI and Modern Masters of Horror, both of which contained stories by this guy I'd never heard of. After reading The Grab and The Champion there really was no turning back. I like Savage (especially the early chapters: the ending is a cop-out) and Glory Bus (best experienced on an unbearably hot and humid day), but agree that Alarums was a bit ho-hum, though am tempted at giving it another go. Have yet to read No Sanctuary or Amara (which, from the comments on here, sees a post-mortem return to form) and couldn't finish The Lake (found it too samey, which is pretty mad, seeing as the same criticism could be applied to his entire output). What's your verdict on the vampire trio - The Stake, Bite, and The Travelling Vampire Show? I didn't get on with any of them.
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