When I was about 11 or 12 (which would've been in the early ‘80s) I got my hands on one of the nastiest pieces of horror fiction my eyes have ever been scorched with, The Cellar. It looked like just another "potboiler" horror paperback you could pick up at any drug store or used book store, and Satan knows I had already plowed through plenty of those in my misspent youth.
But oh no, this was different.
This book was brimming with graphic scenes of violent assault, violent rape, kidnapping, bestiality and sicko perversions. The pièce de résistance however, was toward the end, when the housekeeper of the 'beast house' was getting gang banged….willingly, by a pack of the snarling beasties. Not only that, she was, uh, shall we say… enjoying herself immensely.
My brief synopsis doesn't really do this piece of eye-frigging justice, but it scarred me if not for life, at least for puberty (I still watch and read horror, go figure).
Imagine my horror when I'm cruising the Fantastic Fiction website and run up upon this very book. And not only that, it was a whole series of books. Of course I'm going to read every single one I can get my hands on and probably anything else that sick little twist RICHARD LAYMON has written. If you've never partaken in the "Beast House" series, be warned it's not for the faint of heart, fragile of mind or weak of stomach. Urp.
I read "The Cellar" in high school and yes, I sure wasn't expecting THAT, at least not in such copious amounts. Later on, I found Laymon's website and bibliography, but after a moment's consideration, said, "uh…no."
Man, if I had time to read fiction I'd be all over this shit. It sounds terrible! XD Maybe I'll recommend it to my mom, my love for godawful sick fiction is definitely inherited.
I made the mistake of picking up THE TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW from Laymon, thinking it was going to be on par with some of my other horror faves. Big mistake, HUGE mistake! The book is liberally littered with big, heaping helpings of mother-on-daughter-on-grandmother sex, brother-sister action, torture and all manner of other nastiness. Needless to say, I was definitely not prepared for this! I made it to the end, I'm still not sure how, and knowing now that all this is apparently par for the course with Laymon, I'll not make the mistake of picking up another from him.
I'm always looking for a good read, and for whatever reason, Mr. Laymon has slipped by me all these years. For whatever reason, his name has been popping up and I've been considering picking up some of his books. This one sounds like a good place to start! Thanks!!!
I was planning on reading The Traveling Vampire Show, but now I'm not so sure. That is a bit much, even for my low standards.
The Travelling Vampire Show IS NOT a smutfest, it's more in the vein of Stand By Me. Some indecent acts are mentioned in the dialogue, what actually happens is something else entirely (well, mostly).
Laymon was a really good writer of horror trash. It's weird to see "new" books from him every few months (actually reissues of old stuff), considering he died on Valentine's Day 2001. His motif, as it were, is gross sexual stuff/T&A/budding young love. Weird. However, I am of the opinion that the creepiness of his ideas outweighed his predilection for the smutty stuff. I've not yet seen or read The Cellar, but it sounds like the ultimate Laymon read.Â
When it comes to really disturbing horror fiction, while Laymon, Bentley Little, John Skipp etc. are always solid to great in terms of pulpy goodness, the best of the bunch is Jack Ketchum. In my opinion, anyway.