From Publishers Weekly
One of the authors most affected by the domestic turndown in the horror market in the 1990s is Laymon, who published many novels, mostly mass market, here in the '80s. He remains popular in the U.K. and Australia, with new books appearing there regularly, but his fiction has for the most part gone out of print in the U.S. So kudos to Cemetery Dance for bringing his new novel, a sequel to The Cellar and The Beast House, to American readers. It's classic Laymon, which means that it's full of titillating sex and violence aimed at the teenager in us all, but also that it's constructed in stripped-down prose that spits across the page and is rife with strong characters traced in deft strokes. Laymon expertly seeds the backstory?of the notorious house in a small California town, site of numerous savagings by an unknown species of sexually ravenous, humanoid "beasts"?throughout the narrative, which follows the liaisons and perils of a woman raped decades ago by a beast, and of several guides and tourists around the house, now a tourist attraction. A copulating couple is buried alive; Peeping Toms spy on three bathing beauties; a woman is raped, then handcuffed in a cellar tunnel?and so on in Laymon's lurid tale, which speeds steadily toward a bloody climax, the eponymous tour of the Beast House, and a merciless conclusion. It's a nightmare ride but plenty of fun for those who like their horror no-frills and nasty.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Beast House has a notorious history. Starting in 1903, this quaint Victorian in Malcasa, CA, has been the scene of repeated gruesome rapes and murders by "beasts"?a sort of mutated missing link, hairless like humans but powerful like apes with rending claws and fangs among their unique features. But the beasts are all dead now, or are they? Take "the midnight tour" of the house and find out. Laymon's characters are well drawn, and the first three-fourths of the novel effectively builds up suspense to the electrifying conclusion. Laymon writes humor well and uses it to relieve the tension. Reminiscent of Stephen King's "monster" stories, this novel does not rely upon horror cliches. It is not a story for young people, though, as there is a great deal of sex and gory violence. Still, horror fans will find some genuine surprises at the end. Recommended for all adult horror collections.?Alicia Graybill, Lincoln City Libs., NE
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
by Richard Laymon
by Richard Laymon
by Richard Laymon
by Richard Laymon
by Richard Laymon
