Richard Laymon Month: Beware! REVIEWED

It's official. I think I've burned myself out on Laymon. Or over outgrown him or...I don't really know. Laymon month is really doing a number on me and my relationship with what I thought was my favorite author.

I think some of that notion, the "favorite author" thing comes from a place of nostalgia and comfortable familiarity. He was the first author I collected, the first I felt I just had to read and own all of his stuff.

But as I delve further into horror fiction and get older...I start realize his shortcomings more than ever before. And the things I initially discovered and loved Laymon for, all those years ago...well, there's just so many authors I have learned of, discovered and loved that may just do all the things attributed to Laymon better than Laymon did himself.

This isn't to takeaway anything from him and what he did for horror fiction... I personally feel he's the originator of bringing a purely cinematic quality to genre literature. The first I can think of to honor the actual nature of the exploitation  film and make it a book.

Maybe it's the books I've chosen for November...but Laymon just isn't as consistently good of a writer as I thought a decade ago.

Beware! isn't particularly bad. It's fast and violent, a bit more sadistic than your average Laymon book. But it's very bare bones...no extra umph to any characters, to "HOLY SHIT!" moments of the bizarre that you haven't read anywhere else...it's all just so predictable. And feeling a bit more cut-and-paste than I'd like.

We have the tale of an invisible madman committing all sorts of heinous acts in a small town, with his motives being pretty ludicrous, chasing around our hopelessly distressed female lead, who are protagonists are trying to save, served up with very little flair outside of being just a smidgen nastier than average.

Everything is just so interchangeable...the characters, the premise...it could be literally any other Laymon novel...or any other mid 80s horror paperback culled from the spinny rack at your local checkout line.

I can't say I'm enjoying Laymon month. In fact, I am looking forward to it's end so I can get back to the exciting feeling of reading something new.

Would anyone be bummed if I didn't carry on with more Laymon?

I am a man of my word, though... I will trudge on with Dark Mountain/Tread Softly unless someone gives me the validation I need to get to reading something else.

Anyway, I give Beware! a 2/5, and I'm feeling pretty bummed about it.

Comments

  1. Captain BlakeNovember 20, 2017 at 6:35 PM

    If your heart ain't in it...Do yourself a favor and don't feel obliged to OD on Laymon. You'll probably enjoy him a lot more in occasional doses.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownNovember 22, 2017 at 3:59 AM

      I'm giving it a rest for sure.

      Just started reading something else and am pretty relieved.

      Delete
  2. UnknownNovember 25, 2017 at 1:57 PM

    Bummer! It's always sad to find out that we've outgrown the things we use to love.

    It's certainly happened to me. My wife grew up in Korea and wasn't exposed to American horror movies much. She was absolutely terrified of all the 'new' horror movies we've been watching for the past 8ish years, and I kept telling her, "Wait until I show you ____! It's much better than this!"

    Then we watch it and I see her yawning and being totally unimpressed with the 80's style effects, that if I had to be honest, don't always hold up (though they do in a lot of cases!).

    I guess seeing her not enjoy it so much also drummed some of the love for it out of me too. Oh well, maybe when I watch it all again with another buddy who grew up with it like me, it'll all come back!

    Either way, carry on Mr. Undivine Interventions, I'll read the reviews where ever you take us!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownNovember 25, 2017 at 1:58 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownNovember 25, 2017 at 1:59 PM

    P.S., definitely hoping you do a 'Best of 2017' list for us all at the end of the year! And yes, I know most of what you read wasn't published in 2017 anyway :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownNovember 27, 2017 at 3:25 PM

      Absolutely happening man...towards the last days of December.

      And I definitely have read enough 2017 stuff to have my picks...most of it was read before I started the Blog

      Delete

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