thank you greatly for this video! i'm a big richard laymon fan, and i rarely have the opportunity to engage criticism or conversations about him. so cheers. best to you, sir, and both your intake and output of stories.
Just for a bit of fun (and because I don't have my own TH-cam channel), my own top 5 personal favourites, not necessarily 'the best'. 1 - Body Rides This is the ultimate Laymon book in terms of his style. The sex, the violence, the outlandish concept, feet, Pepsi, bland male protagonist, it's all here in the extreme. And the concept is a whole heap of fun. And the world needs more villains named Leslie. 2 - Darkness, Tell Us I love camping and Laymon does a great job of evoking the wilderness in this one. He really had a great way of placing images in the reader's mind with very few words. Great concept, neat ending, and clearly drawn, well delineated characters. And the world needs more villains named Hubert. 3 - In the Dark A well-written female lead who is placed in a series of increasingly dangerous situations and we are able to really feel her evolution as a character as she becomes more bold and brave, but also more anxious with each passing challenge. Just the male love interest is a bit too much in the bland Laymon hunk mould. 4 - Dark Mountain The first Laymon book I ever read, and another of his 'camping' novels. A love of the wilderness shines through, the villains are very creepy, icky, and unmotivated, and the main characters are well drawn, with an unexpected duo emerging as the leads in the second half of the book. 5 - Resurrection Dreams One of the most sheer fun and extreme of Laymon's books, and arguably his funniest. Comes in fifth place if only for the scene in which the story's antagonist attempts to 're-kill' someone he has brought back to life. But how do you kill something that is already dead...? To anyone who actually reads this, thanks for indulging me :)
Just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about you. I'm rereading some of his books to make sure they're as good as I remember. Checkback closer to Halloween :)
I knew your #1 was going to be the Travelling Vampire Show. That was a great book. I've read about a dozen of his books, but unfortunately years later I retained very little memory of most of them. I look at some of them on my shelf now and i can't remember very much about them at all. But I remember I loved every one of them.
Huge fan of Laymon. I agree with your point about his technique. While fairly unembellished, it's still vivid and effective, and technically competent (unlike a lot of self-published writers today). Nice top five--a lot I haven't read yet. Subbed.
Excellent choices. I've been reading Laymon since the early 90's. I can honestly say he is the reason I love reading and why I got into books. He made it so accessible and entertaining. At this point, I have just about every book he has written. I wish more people knew about him. His books are not for everyone, that's for sure. But I'm sure out of all his catalog, a lot of people can find something they like. Savage is one that I didn't think I'd like, but ended up loving. Thanks for shining a light on Richard Laymon. I'm glad to see another fan out there.
First book of Laymon's for me was The Cellar. There was a quote from Koontz I think on the top about Laymon's typewriter ribbon was dipped in blood. Cool huh? Until I was a few pages in. Didn't dig the scene involving the girl. I stopped reading it. But a few years later, learning more about Laymon, I figured to give him another try. Which I am glad I did for I got a big kick out of Beware, The Woods Are Dark and yes The Traveling Vampire Show. It is up there with Twilight Eyes on the good feels.... Another good show. Thanks.
I've read every Laymon book and am a huge fan having read some multiple times. My top five is exactly yours with me having to buy 3 separate copies of The Traveling Vampire Show for damage and loaning them out. Really like your videos bro, keep them coming!
"A Night in the Lonesome October" is a novel by Roger Zelazny as well; the titles of book novels are derived from a passage in the poem "Ulalume" by Edgar Allan Poe. Laymon was a huge fan of Poe and frequently references him in his work. In terms of my top 5 Laymon books I go with One Rainy Night, In The Dark, The Stake, Night in the Lonesome October and The Traveling Vampire Show.
Ressurection Dreams was one freaky novel and IMO the best Laymon book! I also really liked One Rainy Night and a handful of others including, The Island, Quake, Savage, The Woods Are Dark... and wow it's been a while since I've actually read any of Laymon's' novels!
Thanks E, I really like your „list“ videos. Hope to see more of them in the future. Maybe I should get me some more Laymon. The island was pretty good.
I was at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA for the Laymon memorial service sometime after his death. It was a who's who of horror authors in attendance. One of my favorite dark authors of all time!!!! Jack Ketchum is another one.
I read Endless Night as my first Laymon book and I instantly fell in love with his writing. One of my favorite things about his writing is how just plain simple and easy it is to read. I like being able to have fun and enjoy my books and he hits the mark for me. I think I'm on my 4th book from him (The Woods are Dark) and I have about 10 more in my tbr.
@@EdwardLorn What? Easy reading is hard writing? Maybe if the author has ADD or is addicted to simply adding words to a story. For example, Stephen King's it 1,138 pages. You could rip 600 pages easily out of that book and not miss anything. That's almost as many as War and Peace!
Been a Laymon fan for 15 years since I read Funland, the Stake, Beast House Chronicles, Blood Games, One Rainy Night, In the Dark, ect... Collected all Headline published editions since I'm from the UK. Dick Laymon and HP Lovecraft are my two favourite American horror writers.
Good review. I love Laymon. I've got 14 of his books in my book shelf. Got island just the other day from my local library. Can't wait to start that. Endless night was classic but Jody was just a friend who was sleeping over not the sister as you said. Night in the lonesome October was one of my favourite. I'm on the Beast House series. Reading the last The Beast House which is the best one. Trying to get Funland cos I believe that's one of his best looking at this and other reviews
Thanks for this list! It helps tremendously. Also I just started reading Crawl by you and I'm really enjoying it. I'll edit this with my final thoughts maybe. First work of yours I'm reading!
You have good taste in books. Yes hes hardcore but the mans (majority) body of work is like punk rock. It's meant to shock you, disgust you, and (most importantly) scare you. I am a huge fan of his work and I actually got a copy of cuts with his autograph ^-^ the man is my favorite author because he had no limits and it was done in a intelligent way that makes everyone else pale in comparison. Fiction is meant to tell a story with no real world consequences much like horror movies. What separates the two is that one makes you think more than the other. I could ramble on about why I love Richard laymon but you get the point. I enjoyed the video a lot!
I've read one Laymon book, The Woods are Dark. Yes, there was some raping, but the more problematic parts were the way everyone had sex on the brain despite the horrifying cannibals trying to eat them - very Friday the 13th in its focus on sex no matter how inappropriate the situation might be.
I also have Dark Mountain and One Rainy Night on my list, but you, The Horror Oracle haven't read/written a review of either. It's not likely I'll get anywhere near Laymon this year, what with a large number of Kings to read, but if one of those two came my way I wouldn't know whether I should bother picking them up, or not. Time for a Laymon re/read and review from you, E.
Richard Laymon is one of my fav ever authors, Midnights Lair is a good read too. I came across Richard Lamon books at a boot fair and brought a bundle cheapy and was hooked. In Endless Night Jody is staying at a friends house when it gets invaded, its her friends family that gets slaughtered. she is behind her friend who gets stabbed and it goes through her into jody who escapes killing one on the way out. its a good book. I wish i could get a copy of his books on audio as i have all his books in paperback and pdf. good vid
Thanks! Not sure you'll ever see more of his stuff in audiobook. Amazon owns the rights to the majority of his stuff and he doesn't sell well enough to justify the cost of audio production.
I concur 100% - right after you finished #4, I was saying, "Okay, E... if the Traveling Vampire Show isn't #5 I'm gonna have to disagree" and there it was!
I've never read any Laymon, been meaning to for awhile. I have Island and Come Out Tonight on the shelf at home, and I have In the Dark and Endless Night in my Amazon queue, so hopefully I will dig into some soon.
Loved Midnights lair. However if you want a real treat try to pick up both versions of The Woods are Dark, they are so incredibly different from each other, one after an editor and one before, completely changes the book.
I just read Endless Night. Great beginning and GREAT ending, but the middle half was dragged down by too much detail concerning relatively mundane stuff. I think this book could have been 150 pages shorter without losing anything. But with that said, I'm still giving this 4/5 for just how awesome the awesome parts are. And I, too, loved the structure.
It's Jody's friend's family who get slaughtered while she's sleeping over. Was a huge fan of Laymon back in the day, though Endless Night is the only one I've read for a long time. Would like to re-read Lonesome October sometime, I do remember that one being one of his best.
Jen Bernardini I would suggest The Traveling Vampire Show for it is his less gratuitous, but you don't care for 1st person narrative. I learned this from one of your videos (wink wink). I don't know what book to suggest. I feel you would find his writing to be 'too much'. But hey give him shot anyways.... I rewatched that video Fuzzy Chicken Head. The Traveling Vampire Show in 1st person was done right so yes, check it out. You just might dig it with all your shovel. ;*)
Funhouse was one of my least favorite. The traveling vampire show was the first book I read and one of my favorites. I also enjoyed one rainy night, island, and come out tonight. Theres a Dean Koontz book called watchers which reminds me of laymon alot for some reason. I think thats my favorite book of all time. You should check it out if you like Laymon. The characters were so interesting and has a good story.
Richard Laymon is one of my all time favorite writters. Check out a U.K. writter called Graham Masterton who i think is a bit like him. He has been going for years.
On his book titles "If youved missed Laymon youve missed a treat" quote by Stephen King thats Kudos. Think Laymon was a great " bubblegum" writer love his work too many to mention here but Savage, Funland and Endless night should b made into movies.
1st laymon book ive finished was the woods are dark & it was great the original version! I look forward 2 reading some other books of his that ive bought.
There's tons of comments and I'm late to the party, but I hope you read this!! Years ago, in a Wal Mart, I found a paperback book that sounded intriguing, to say the least. That book was "Beast House", by Richard Laymon. I have always favored horror fiction. King, Koontz, Little, etc. I had an insatiable thirst for a terrifying story. I had books I liked, but the ones I was reading left me feeling a bit empty. The stories were fantastic, and enjoyable, and frightening...... "Beast House" did something to me as an avid horror fiction fan. It satisfied me while also making me want to have more. It was much like an addiction. I had to have every book I could find. At that time, Amazon had not yet started or was in its infancy, so I found book on the net and scooped up all I could. Most came from the UK, because he was not in print in the US at that time. I honestly can not recommend RL enough. If someone enjoys shock horror, they find a home with these books. Do you know of any channels or websites where fans such as myself, can go discuss his works?? Is there anyone that you may consider the next RL?? I have enjoyed Jack Ketchum, at times, but nothing compares to a good ol RL tale of terror. Recommendations??? Thank you for putting him out there! You gained another sub!
Edward Lorn Thank you so much for the recommendations, I appreciate that! I have actually read some of Brian Keenes work, and, I do enjoy his style! I went to Amazon to check out your work after watching this video. I really, really, really want to read some of your books RIGHT NOW lol. I'm going to save my money so I can get the full omnibus of "Cruelty", and of course "Bays End." I know I could save a butt ton of money by reading e books, but for some reason I am old school. I like the weight of the book, the smell of the book... It ads to the whole experience for me! I wanted to ask you, have you read "The Troop" by Nick Cutter? I enjoyed that book very much. It reminded of "Lord of the Flies." Also the book "Horrorstor" by Grady Hendrix was a very enjoyable read. Sorry for the rambling! Thanks for everything, and when I finally get your books, I will leave you a review, both on Amazon and Goodreads. Have a good one!
Thank you so much! I totally understand about avoiding ebooks. I don't buy ebooks at all anymore. It's paper or nothing. Only way I read an ebook is if a publisher sends me a super advanced review copy long before the paper copy is ready, even then I complain lol. I dug THE TROOP, and I have a great deal of respect for Grady Hendrix but haven't had a chance to read his work yet.
Oh, btw I got an ad on this one. I've been thinking about it and it seems to me that it's been at least a couple of weeks since I saw one, so whatever sneaky trick they're trying to pull to get out of paying you for your hard work, they started doing it some weeks ago.
+Sarah Frost I was also considering the whys of the situation and they might have safeguards against people who hire people to binge their videos to create revenue, so if a single person is watching so much content, the ads will stop until they watch something new.
richard laymon was an amazing author, the traveling vampire show is awesome! the beast house series was is fucking great...still need to read night in the lonesome october. have you read funland? such a great read, im about to read dark mountain.
For real! Those are the ones i usually recommend to people who want to experience laymon. Im currently reading savage for the first time. Especially Lonesome October, Endless Night and Island. They were the first three i read. 👌
If you finished Savage, I'd be curious to know what you thought. I didn't get the Laymon feel from it. I think he was just trying to stretch his legs into something more literary...well, between the bloody stuff at least....it was still a good one.
My only Richard Laymon has been Bite. I found that one to be so improbable it was downright silly. Roger Zelazny also wrote a book called Night In The Lonesome October.
Question E. out of Richard layman and Dean Koontz (in the golden age). Who do you perfect and why ?. I only ask because I’ve read Watchers and currently reading phantoms and I’m yet to see the issues you have but I was just interested to see how Koontz compares to layman
Just read my first Laymon novel After Midnight. Thought it was Ok, nowt special at all, very simplistic but long winded. I'm not sure about reading any others of his unless I can be convinced 😎👍🏻
Now, I haven't read every single Laymon book ( I think I have read between 15 and 20), but Mr. Lorn's comment about every story including Rape (yes, kind of but never really explicit. ) , pedophilia ( not my experience ) or necrophilia ( again, not my experience there is one story where a guy accidentally kills a woman and he still does it, but it's not like what I think most people consider it to be). I am also not sure what Mr. Lorn meant by "he is a technical writer", but that statement filled my head with too much detail. I consider him to be fluid. One comment Mr. Lorn made bothers me. He refers to Laymon as "schlocky". Perhaps he used the wrong word. Here is the definition of schlock: "cheap or inferior goods or material; trash.". That does NOT apply to Laymon's work. IMHO, Laymon is much better to read than King as Laymon starts a story and finishes it. He doesn't take 1/2 the book with irrelevant conversations, memories, etc. I like that in a story. What I like the most about Laymon's stories is their originality. His characters are developed about as much as they need to be. I think he is better than King or Koontz. I just wish the man was still around so I could bump into him someday and simply act like a old fanboy and gush about how awesome his stories were....
Thom Tessier, Jack Ketchum, John Lindqvist, Thomas Tryon, Dan Simmons, Joe Lansdale, Adam Nevill, Ramsey Campbell, George R.R. Martin (before G.O.T)... are just a few 'better writers' than Laymon.
Hi! I'm a viewer from Turin in Italy. I'm new on this channel. Now I'm reading "The Stake" by this author, even if in the italian version the title is "La bara" (which means "The coffin") for some reason. Why in some translated books titles are different from original ones? 🙁 However, if you read this book, did you like it? Cheers
@robert punu In the end it turns out she is a vampire. In my opinion the ending does not fit well with the story (which is centered on the absurd belief for vampires) and seems to be placed there by chance.
Edward Lorn ah, I see. I have a few Richard Laymon books I didn’t see on this list, and I was wondering if, other than this top five, if any of his other books are worth the read?
@@EdwardLorn Jack the Ripper. I don't know where your from but I'm British, so reading a story that told about what may have happened and where the ripper went was really good.
The book was published over six years ago. There's nothing impressive about 100+ ratings over six years. I know authors who get 100 ratings in the first three months. If you mean that it's impressive that it has so few, well, I don't hound people for reviews. If they leave them, cool. If not, oh well.
I thought it was recently published, and being self-published, having over 100 reviews seemed damned impressive. I'm in a few anthologies and the most reviews one of them has is ten. My comment wasn't sarcastic, and I'm sorry if it came off that way.
Not sarcastic, no. Curious, yes. I try to see every side of something before judging tone because we can't add inflection to these comments. As for my debut being recent, definitely not. I've published ten other novels, collections, and novellas since BAY'S END's release. It's been a long journey, my friend.
I would warn you off people who are not hyper critical of you. Anyone can pat you on the back, but I true supporter/friend/fan wants the best for you. If you ever read something and someone says it is perfect, do not believe them. If you need anything, ask.
Can someone answer my question about a book I just finished. In the Dark.....I’m confused was MOG a vampire? It’s killing me because it never actually confirmed it. Ty!!!
+Ivan Georgiev yeah. I love his short stories, but I've never been able to finish one of his novels. We'll, aside from his YA novel, THE THIEF OF ALWAYS. That one was damn good.
+Ivan Georgiev if I can find copies, sure. It's been about five years since I read them last, and I still don't own a copy of any of them. I think the last time I read them they were library copies.
You might but don't judge Laymon on that one. After he died, the publishing company took several of his new works that he started and didn't finish and put them together And in my opinion it shows.
He's probably my favorite author. You had me dying when you described him as being very "rapey" 😂. That's always been my biggest beef with his books. Unessesary sexual deviance lol.
I think you nailed it with your selections here! "The stake" is also one of my favorites by him.
The Stake is the first one I liked.
Laymon is my #1 guilty pleasure.
thank you greatly for this video!
i'm a big richard laymon fan, and i rarely have the opportunity to engage criticism or conversations about him. so cheers.
best to you, sir, and both your intake and output of stories.
LOVE Endless Night.
Me too. Such a great action horror novel.
You’ve made me want to read him again - love your vids
Just for a bit of fun (and because I don't have my own TH-cam channel), my own top 5 personal favourites, not necessarily 'the best'.
1 - Body Rides
This is the ultimate Laymon book in terms of his style. The sex, the violence, the outlandish concept, feet, Pepsi, bland male protagonist, it's all here in the extreme. And the concept is a whole heap of fun. And the world needs more villains named Leslie.
2 - Darkness, Tell Us
I love camping and Laymon does a great job of evoking the wilderness in this one. He really had a great way of placing images in the reader's mind with very few words. Great concept, neat ending, and clearly drawn, well delineated characters. And the world needs more villains named Hubert.
3 - In the Dark
A well-written female lead who is placed in a series of increasingly dangerous situations and we are able to really feel her evolution as a character as she becomes more bold and brave, but also more anxious with each passing challenge. Just the male love interest is a bit too much in the bland Laymon hunk mould.
4 - Dark Mountain
The first Laymon book I ever read, and another of his 'camping' novels. A love of the wilderness shines through, the villains are very creepy, icky, and unmotivated, and the main characters are well drawn, with an unexpected duo emerging as the leads in the second half of the book.
5 - Resurrection Dreams
One of the most sheer fun and extreme of Laymon's books, and arguably his funniest. Comes in fifth place if only for the scene in which the story's antagonist attempts to 're-kill' someone he has brought back to life. But how do you kill something that is already dead...?
To anyone who actually reads this, thanks for indulging me :)
I read all my comments :) Thanks for taking the time out of your day to watch the video and comment. Means a lot.
Can you do another top 5 richard laymon books (6-10)?
Might take me a few weeks, but sure 😁
Thank you so much 😊❤❤
Just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about you. I'm rereading some of his books to make sure they're as good as I remember. Checkback closer to Halloween :)
@@EdwardLorn have you done the video?
I knew your #1 was going to be the Travelling Vampire Show. That was a great book. I've read about a dozen of his books, but unfortunately years later I retained very little memory of most of them. I look at some of them on my shelf now and i can't remember very much about them at all. But I remember I loved every one of them.
For me Laymon is also very underrated just finishing night in the lonesome October and it is amazing
One of my favorites
So is The Traveling Vampire Show.
Fabulous adventure night in the lonesome October. But Savage is his best
Huge fan of Laymon. I agree with your point about his technique. While fairly unembellished, it's still vivid and effective, and technically competent (unlike a lot of self-published writers today). Nice top five--a lot I haven't read yet. Subbed.
+Paperback Mania thank you. Always nice to hear from another Laymon fan.
Excellent choices. I've been reading Laymon since the early 90's. I can honestly say he is the reason I love reading and why I got into books. He made it so accessible and entertaining. At this point, I have just about every book he has written. I wish more people knew about him. His books are not for everyone, that's for sure. But I'm sure out of all his catalog, a lot of people can find something they like. Savage is one that I didn't think I'd like, but ended up loving. Thanks for shining a light on Richard Laymon. I'm glad to see another fan out there.
Night in the Lonesome October is one of my favorite books. I think it’s the only Laymon book I read. Still have it on my bookshelf. :)
Night in the lonesome October was a fantastic read but Savage is probably his best
Fantastic video. Thanks for the recommendations E! I'm on my third Laymon at the moment and absolutely loving him.
Very cool. Glad to help!
First book of Laymon's for me was The Cellar. There was a quote from Koontz I think on the top about Laymon's typewriter ribbon was dipped in blood. Cool huh? Until I was a few pages in. Didn't dig the scene involving the girl. I stopped reading it. But a few years later, learning more about Laymon, I figured to give him another try. Which I am glad I did for I got a big kick out of Beware, The Woods Are Dark and yes The Traveling Vampire Show. It is up there with Twilight Eyes on the good feels.... Another good show. Thanks.
Thanks, Oscar. Yeah, I hateD THE CELLAR. His first ten books or so are terrible.
Is there an uncut version of the Cellar?
Not that I'm aware of. I think the only uncut book of his was THE WOODS ARE DARK.
I've read every Laymon book and am a huge fan having read some multiple times. My top five is exactly yours with me having to buy 3 separate copies of The Traveling Vampire Show for damage and loaning them out. Really like your videos bro, keep them coming!
Thanks, dude. I currently own two paperback copies of THE TRAVELLING VAMPIRE SHOW, and one is falling apart 😁
"A Night in the Lonesome October" is a novel by Roger Zelazny as well; the titles of book novels are derived from a passage in the poem "Ulalume" by Edgar Allan Poe. Laymon was a huge fan of Poe and frequently references him in his work.
In terms of my top 5 Laymon books I go with One Rainy Night, In The Dark, The Stake, Night in the Lonesome October and The Traveling Vampire Show.
So glad you put Island in the list. Excellent book
Ressurection Dreams was one freaky novel and IMO the best Laymon book! I also really liked One Rainy Night and a handful of others including, The Island, Quake, Savage, The Woods Are Dark... and wow it's been a while since I've actually read any of Laymon's' novels!
Thanks E, I really like your „list“ videos. Hope to see more of them in the future.
Maybe I should get me some more Laymon. The island was pretty good.
+Robin Kunz I should have a new list every week from here on out. Working my way up to five videos a week. Thanks for watching!
This was very helpful as I've been eager to start reading Richard Laymon's work. And now I know which books I should begin my journey with.
Cool. I hope you like him. He really was extremely good at times.
I was at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA for the Laymon memorial service sometime after his death. It was a who's who of horror authors in attendance. One of my favorite dark authors of all time!!!! Jack Ketchum is another one.
I read Endless Night as my first Laymon book and I instantly fell in love with his writing. One of my favorite things about his writing is how just plain simple and easy it is to read. I like being able to have fun and enjoy my books and he hits the mark for me. I think I'm on my 4th book from him (The Woods are Dark) and I have about 10 more in my tbr.
Easy reading is hard writing. Thanks for watching 😁
@@EdwardLorn What? Easy reading is hard writing? Maybe if the author has ADD or is addicted to simply adding words to a story. For example, Stephen King's it 1,138 pages. You could rip 600 pages easily out of that book and not miss anything. That's almost as many as War and Peace!
Just ordered THE STAKE from Amazon. Heard very good things about that book from a ton of people. Looking forward to it.
Gotta be patient with that one. It's definitely not what it seems by looking at the cover and title. Hope you enjoy it!
@@EdwardLorn I did enjoy it, probably more than any other Laymon book, actually.
Arrr Richie... love this man. I read Darkness Tell Us, and thought it was the total shit!! A Massive fan from that moment forward.
Dude love ur choices of books and authors u cover in ur vids
+SSKReign thank you, and thanks for watching. We probably just have the same tastes in books 😉
Been a Laymon fan for 15 years since I read Funland, the Stake, Beast House Chronicles, Blood Games, One Rainy Night, In the Dark, ect... Collected all Headline published editions since I'm from the UK. Dick Laymon and HP Lovecraft are my two favourite American horror writers.
I'll be ordering all of those this weekend
+Kip Raney awesome. Enjoy!
Endless night my fav book
The Traveling vampire show! Awesome
Looking forward to reading the drawing of the three. But my next king will be the long walk.
+Matthew Medley THE LONG WALK is great. A classic.
Good review. I love Laymon. I've got 14 of his books in my book shelf. Got island just the other day from my local library. Can't wait to start that. Endless night was classic but Jody was just a friend who was sleeping over not the sister as you said. Night in the lonesome October was one of my favourite. I'm on the Beast House series. Reading the last The Beast House which is the best one. Trying to get Funland cos I believe that's one of his best looking at this and other reviews
Thanks for this list! It helps tremendously. Also I just started reading Crawl by you and I'm really enjoying it. I'll edit this with my final thoughts maybe. First work of yours I'm reading!
After thinking about it I've decided it's not right for me to just splay out my feelings on a book in your comments but know I genuinely enjoyed it.
He's one of my favorite authors! My favorites were One Rainy Night and Midnights Lair. I love him because he never held back.
One Rainy Night is a breathless experience every time. I love it
Thanks for the recs. I have never read any Laymon, so I will get a few of these in the que.
You have good taste in books. Yes hes hardcore but the mans (majority) body of work is like punk rock. It's meant to shock you, disgust you, and (most importantly) scare you. I am a huge fan of his work and I actually got a copy of cuts with his autograph ^-^ the man is my favorite author because he had no limits and it was done in a intelligent way that makes everyone else pale in comparison. Fiction is meant to tell a story with no real world consequences much like horror movies. What separates the two is that one makes you think more than the other. I could ramble on about why I love Richard laymon but you get the point. I enjoyed the video a lot!
In the Dark was pretty good. Outside of that and Island, I've not read the others on the list.
Thanks for the suggestion.
+Hazy Hills you're welcome. Enjoy!
I've read one Laymon book, The Woods are Dark. Yes, there was some raping, but the more problematic parts were the way everyone had sex on the brain despite the horrifying cannibals trying to eat them - very Friday the 13th in its focus on sex no matter how inappropriate the situation might be.
+Sarah Frost yep. That's Laymon through and through. Every single book is like that. Every. Single. One.
I also have Dark Mountain and One Rainy Night on my list, but you, The Horror Oracle haven't read/written a review of either. It's not likely I'll get anywhere near Laymon this year, what with a large number of Kings to read, but if one of those two came my way I wouldn't know whether I should bother picking them up, or not. Time for a Laymon re/read and review from you, E.
+Sarah Frost ONE RAINY NIGHT is great. It almost made this list. DARK MOUNTAIN isn't anything special.
Richard Laymon is one of my fav ever authors, Midnights Lair is a good read too. I came across Richard Lamon books at a boot fair and brought a bundle cheapy and was hooked.
In Endless Night Jody is staying at a friends house when it gets invaded, its her friends family that gets slaughtered. she is behind her friend who gets stabbed and it goes through her into jody who escapes killing one on the way out. its a good book. I wish i could get a copy of his books on audio as i have all his books in paperback and pdf. good vid
Thanks! Not sure you'll ever see more of his stuff in audiobook. Amazon owns the rights to the majority of his stuff and he doesn't sell well enough to justify the cost of audio production.
I've still to dive into my first Laymon. I've got Island ready to go on the shelf.
Such a good one. B-horror to the max, but so much fun!
Thank you for your review!!
I concur 100% - right after you finished #4, I was saying, "Okay, E... if the Traveling Vampire Show isn't #5 I'm gonna have to disagree" and there it was!
+Don Gillette righteous. Glad you agree. 😁
Will be adding these books to my wishlist. Thanks!
+mspoetic888 you're welcome! 😁
Cool video. I’ll definitely check out those books and the author.
+Maddy Cowan I hope you like them, Maddy 😁
I've never read any Laymon, been meaning to for awhile. I have Island and Come Out Tonight on the shelf at home, and I have In the Dark and Endless Night in my Amazon queue, so hopefully I will dig into some soon.
+Dustin Hicks all good books. I don't suggest reading too many Laymon books back to back though. You start to see his formula.
I've just bought Darkness tell us on Amazon. Great video more books to order later. Thank you Edward
Welcome. Enjoy!
Loved Midnights lair.
However if you want a real treat try to pick up both versions of The Woods are Dark, they are so incredibly different from each other, one after an editor and one before, completely changes the book.
I just read Endless Night. Great beginning and GREAT ending, but the middle half was dragged down by too much detail concerning relatively mundane stuff. I think this book could have been 150 pages shorter without losing anything. But with that said, I'm still giving this 4/5 for just how awesome the awesome parts are. And I, too, loved the structure.
It's Jody's friend's family who get slaughtered while she's sleeping over. Was a huge fan of Laymon back in the day, though Endless Night is the only one I've read for a long time. Would like to re-read Lonesome October sometime, I do remember that one being one of his best.
I’ve never read Richard Layman. Funhouse was suggested to me.
+Jen Bernardini I've never been able to finish that one.
Jen Bernardini I would suggest The Traveling Vampire Show for it is his less gratuitous, but you don't care for 1st person narrative. I learned this from one of your videos (wink wink). I don't know what book to suggest. I feel you would find his writing to be 'too much'. But hey give him shot anyways.... I rewatched that video Fuzzy Chicken Head. The Traveling Vampire Show in 1st person was done right so yes, check it out. You just might dig it with all your shovel. ;*)
Oscar Dean Thanks. I’m going to put that one on my list. You’re the second person to suggest that book. Must be a sign!
Funhouse was one of my least favorite. The traveling vampire show was the first book I read and one of my favorites. I also enjoyed one rainy night, island, and come out tonight. Theres a Dean Koontz book called watchers which reminds me of laymon alot for some reason. I think thats my favorite book of all time. You should check it out if you like Laymon. The characters were so interesting and has a good story.
I've read WATCHERS and thought it was damn good, but it was also the start of Koontz's obsession with dogs.
Richard Laymon is one of my all time favorite writters. Check out a U.K. writter called Graham Masterton who i think is a bit like him. He has been going for years.
I've read Masterton. His stuff it okay. Far prefer Laymon tho. Thanks for watching, Stephen 🙂
On his book titles "If youved missed Laymon youve missed a treat" quote by Stephen King thats Kudos. Think Laymon was a great " bubblegum" writer love his work too many to mention here but Savage, Funland and Endless night should b made into movies.
where’s the stake at-a companion for the travelling vampire show
I love your reviews!!
I'm looking to start a Laymon readthrough this year. You reckon I should go chronological or cherry pick?
+Gavin Kendall I'd read them in order of publication, but I'm a glutton for punishment 😉
Try "Fiends". Short stories, easy read but pretty good
1st laymon book ive finished was the woods are dark & it was great the original version! I look forward 2 reading some other books of his that ive bought.
Just finished reading 'Island'.
Subbed 😁😁
Awesome! Welcome aboard!
Edward Lorn Cheers!
There's tons of comments and I'm late to the party, but I hope you read this!! Years ago, in a Wal Mart, I found a paperback book that sounded intriguing, to say the least. That book was "Beast House", by Richard Laymon. I have always favored horror fiction. King, Koontz, Little, etc. I had an insatiable thirst for a terrifying story. I had books I liked, but the ones I was reading left me feeling a bit empty. The stories were fantastic, and enjoyable, and frightening...... "Beast House" did something to me as an avid horror fiction fan. It satisfied me while also making me want to have more. It was much like an addiction. I had to have every book I could find. At that time, Amazon had not yet started or was in its infancy, so I found book on the net and scooped up all I could. Most came from the UK, because he was not in print in the US at that time. I honestly can not recommend RL enough. If someone enjoys shock horror, they find a home with these books. Do you know of any channels or websites where fans such as myself, can go discuss his works?? Is there anyone that you may consider the next RL?? I have enjoyed Jack Ketchum, at times, but nothing compares to a good ol RL tale of terror. Recommendations???
Thank you for putting him out there! You gained another sub!
Man, that's a good question. I'd say for your money's worth, if you dug Laymon, try Hunter Shea or Brian Keene.
Edward Lorn Thank you so much for the recommendations, I appreciate that! I have actually read some of Brian Keenes work, and, I do enjoy his style! I went to Amazon to check out your work after watching this video. I really, really, really want to read some of your books RIGHT NOW lol. I'm going to save my money so I can get the full omnibus of "Cruelty", and of course "Bays End." I know I could save a butt ton of money by reading e books, but for some reason I am old school. I like the weight of the book, the smell of the book... It ads to the whole experience for me! I wanted to ask you, have you read "The Troop" by Nick Cutter? I enjoyed that book very much. It reminded of "Lord of the Flies." Also the book "Horrorstor" by Grady Hendrix was a very enjoyable read. Sorry for the rambling! Thanks for everything, and when I finally get your books, I will leave you a review, both on Amazon and Goodreads. Have a good one!
Thank you so much! I totally understand about avoiding ebooks. I don't buy ebooks at all anymore. It's paper or nothing. Only way I read an ebook is if a publisher sends me a super advanced review copy long before the paper copy is ready, even then I complain lol. I dug THE TROOP, and I have a great deal of respect for Grady Hendrix but haven't had a chance to read his work yet.
A great read also Laymons book of short stories " dreadful tales " theres some gems in there
Oh, btw I got an ad on this one. I've been thinking about it and it seems to me that it's been at least a couple of weeks since I saw one, so whatever sneaky trick they're trying to pull to get out of paying you for your hard work, they started doing it some weeks ago.
+Sarah Frost I was also considering the whys of the situation and they might have safeguards against people who hire people to binge their videos to create revenue, so if a single person is watching so much content, the ads will stop until they watch something new.
Ahh, hopefully that's all it is (I actually appreciate the lack of ads).
richard laymon was an amazing author, the traveling vampire show is awesome! the beast house series was is fucking great...still need to read night in the lonesome october. have you read funland? such a great read, im about to read dark mountain.
For real! Those are the ones i usually recommend to people who want to experience laymon. Im currently reading savage for the first time. Especially Lonesome October, Endless Night and Island. They were the first three i read. 👌
NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER was my first, I believe. 😊
If you finished Savage, I'd be curious to know what you thought. I didn't get the Laymon feel from it. I think he was just trying to stretch his legs into something more literary...well, between the bloody stuff at least....it was still a good one.
Yeah he was always experimenting. THE TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW doesn't have a classic Laymon feel either. It had heart.
I hate adds but I watched it for you E.
I hate them too lol
My only Richard Laymon has been Bite. I found that one to be so improbable it was downright silly. Roger Zelazny also wrote a book called Night In The Lonesome October.
Right! I remember not being able to think of his name when recording this. 😁
Bites is a sick book
Endless Night was awesome, for some reason I also liked Beware
robert punu I agree directed by Rob Zombie
robert punu hey bro, if you liked endless night ,you might want to try URBAN GOTHIC. by Bryan Keene
robert punu yes that’s the one
E have you read any James Herbert?
Only ONCE... And I didn't care for it. People have been telling me to try RATS though, so I'll likely give him a second try.
Edward Lorn the rats trilogy is great my favourite herbert is fluke his dark fantasy.
Question E. out of Richard layman and Dean Koontz (in the golden age). Who do you perfect and why ?. I only ask because I’ve read Watchers and currently reading phantoms and I’m yet to see the issues you have but I was just interested to see how Koontz compares to layman
*Laymon 😂
omg in the dark is brilliant iv read all hes books and sad about it because there is no more :o
What did you think of Funland?
What about "funland"? Or "one rainy night".
Neither are favorites but both are good.
Body Rides and Triage was my favorite.
I'm oddly disappointed that your comment was not funny.
@@EdwardLorn Can't be funny right now. This is about my favorite deceased author. RIP Richard Laymon.
Trust me, Dick would've wanted you to laugh.
Glad to see that I'm not the only one who really liked Body Rides.
@@standupp2885 They should make it a movie.
Recently finished ISLAND. Whoa, I loved it. Went and picked up IN THE DARK.
You should like that one too 😁
Into the Dark is my favorite of his books.
my number laymon book is bodyrides it was the 1st one read then i read the celler
Just read my first Laymon novel After Midnight. Thought it was Ok, nowt special at all, very simplistic but long winded. I'm not sure about reading any others of his unless I can be convinced 😎👍🏻
I've read that one but can't remember anything about. I will say in 30 years you're the only person I've ever heard call him long-winded.
A Night in the Lonesome October is by Roger Zelazny.
+Sarah Frost thank you! 😁
The copy I have is by Laymon.
+Kat's Book End there's two books with that title, one by Laymon and one by Zelazny. I believe Zelazny was first.
Taken from Poe's poem "Ulalume"
+Jim Herbert thanks, Jim. I had no idea!
Traveling Vampire Show and Savage.
Now, I haven't read every single Laymon book ( I think I have read between 15 and 20), but Mr. Lorn's comment about every story including Rape (yes, kind of but never really explicit. ) , pedophilia ( not my experience ) or necrophilia ( again, not my experience there is one story where a guy accidentally kills a woman and he still does it, but it's not like what I think most people consider it to be). I am also not sure what Mr. Lorn meant by "he is a technical writer", but that statement filled my head with too much detail. I consider him to be fluid.
One comment Mr. Lorn made bothers me. He refers to Laymon as "schlocky". Perhaps he used the wrong word. Here is the definition of schlock: "cheap or inferior goods or material; trash.". That does NOT apply to Laymon's work.
IMHO, Laymon is much better to read than King as Laymon starts a story and finishes it. He doesn't take 1/2 the book with irrelevant conversations, memories, etc. I like that in a story.
What I like the most about Laymon's stories is their originality. His characters are developed about as much as they need to be.
I think he is better than King or Koontz.
I just wish the man was still around so I could bump into him someday and simply act like a old fanboy and gush about how awesome his stories were....
You like cheap and cheesy. I can dig it. Thanks for watching!
@@EdwardLorn link to your books?
Thom Tessier, Jack Ketchum, John Lindqvist, Thomas Tryon, Dan Simmons, Joe Lansdale, Adam Nevill, Ramsey Campbell, George R.R. Martin (before G.O.T)... are just a few 'better writers' than Laymon.
What are your thoughts on After Midnight if you’ve read it?
it was my 1st richard laymon book. :)
Richard Laymon is one of my favorite writers. Can you recomend anyone simular to him please?
Edward Lee and Brian Keene.
@@EdwardLorn Thank you, will take a look. Sorting all my books out now.
Hi! I'm a viewer from Turin in Italy. I'm new on this channel. Now I'm reading "The Stake" by this author, even if in the italian version the title is "La bara" (which means "The coffin") for some reason. Why in some translated books titles are different from original ones? 🙁
However, if you read this book, did you like it?
Cheers
@robert punu yeah, it's a good book but I don't like the ending
@robert punu In the end it turns out she is a vampire. In my opinion the ending does not fit well with the story (which is centered on the absurd belief for vampires) and seems to be placed there by chance.
Did you like The Stake? I hear good things about it.
It was okay. Not very memorable.
Edward Lorn ah, I see. I have a few Richard Laymon books I didn’t see on this list, and I was wondering if, other than this top five, if any of his other books are worth the read?
Savage. Savage was a fantastic book.
That was the invisible man one, right? I liked it well enough. Unless it's the Jack the Ripper one, then I didn't like that one so much.
@@EdwardLorn Jack the Ripper. I don't know where your from but I'm British, so reading a story that told about what may have happened and where the ripper went was really good.
Damn man, I just checked out your amazon page. You're pretty impressive, over a hundred ratings on your debut novel. Can I ask, how'd that happen?
The book was published over six years ago. There's nothing impressive about 100+ ratings over six years. I know authors who get 100 ratings in the first three months. If you mean that it's impressive that it has so few, well, I don't hound people for reviews. If they leave them, cool. If not, oh well.
I thought it was recently published, and being self-published, having over 100 reviews seemed damned impressive. I'm in a few anthologies and the most reviews one of them has is ten. My comment wasn't sarcastic, and I'm sorry if it came off that way.
Not sarcastic, no. Curious, yes. I try to see every side of something before judging tone because we can't add inflection to these comments. As for my debut being recent, definitely not. I've published ten other novels, collections, and novellas since BAY'S END's release. It's been a long journey, my friend.
I hear ya. I'm on my own writing journey as well, haha.
I would warn you off people who are not hyper critical of you. Anyone can pat you on the back, but I true supporter/friend/fan wants the best for you. If you ever read something and someone says it is perfect, do not believe them. If you need anything, ask.
Thoughts on Ramsey Campbell? If you read him what are some of his best books?
I liked the one with MOON in the title. Can't remember the full name. Haven't read anything else from him.
The Nameless scared me BAD. It seems like something that could happen
Can someone answer my question about a book I just finished. In the Dark.....I’m confused was MOG a vampire? It’s killing me because it never actually confirmed it. Ty!!!
No idea but I'll hit up Twitter and see if I can get you answers.
Ty!!! I tried googling it and YouTubing it and can’t get anywhere ☺️😘
Yeah, Google got me nowhere too. Still waiting on a Twitter answer. Stay tuned, we'll see what we can figure out.
Have you read Clive Barker ?
+Ivan Georgiev yeah. I love his short stories, but I've never been able to finish one of his novels. We'll, aside from his YA novel, THE THIEF OF ALWAYS. That one was damn good.
Maybe you could do a review of The Books of Blood. It's just a suggestion :)
+Ivan Georgiev if I can find copies, sure. It's been about five years since I read them last, and I still don't own a copy of any of them. I think the last time I read them they were library copies.
Subbed. Almost all book tube is ya.their are a few decent booktubers. Ya is fine.i just like a good story. Thanks.
Cool. Welcome aboard!
I loved his book One Rainy Night. I just received 2 other books by him. However, imo To Wake the Dead sucked.
Kat's Book End damn, I just bought to wake the dead lol. Oh well, maybe I’ll like it.
+Kat's Book End ONE RAINY NIGHT almost made this list, but ISLAND beat it out for me.
+HolyBatGamer just don't go into it expecting a strict mummy book.
You might but don't judge Laymon on that one. After he died, the publishing company took several of his new works that he started and didn't finish and put them together And in my opinion it shows.
He's probably my favorite author. You had me dying when you described him as being very "rapey" 😂. That's always been my biggest beef with his books. Unessesary sexual deviance lol.
If you can get past that tho, yeah, he was damn good 🙂
Has too , to understand the violence back for hero’s
Splatterpunk
Dont like rapey books at all! Thanks for your honesty e.
You're welcome. Definitely stay away from Laymon. There's something rape-y in each of his books.
You know what they say, one person's trash is another one's treasure. ☺️
Robert, some people read for an escape from the terrible crap of the world. I'm not fond of reading rape scenes either.
I have never heard of this guy, oops.