The Richard Laymon Collection Volume 1: The Cellar, The Beast House & The Midnight Tour

Having read all of James Herbert's works, I was looking for something that could compete, and this definitely does.It's horror at its best, with all the thrills and humour thrown in.Definitely recommend

I really enjoyed these 3-in-1 books about the Beast House. I also completed Friday Night in Beast House which is the fourth instalment to the BH series. That is more of a short story of about 100 or so pages, it was very short.What disappointed me was the very end of The Midnight Tour (book 3)*spoilers* *spoilers* *spoilers*Dana gets kidnapped by Beast Eric and it seems nobody has gone to rescue her. Her so called boyfriend Warren should’ve done something, her friends should’ve done something. There’s no book (that I know of) that tells the story of Dana’s confinement, I really want to know what happened to her. I was hoping book 4 would mention something but it doesn’t.As always with Richard’s books, there’s a lot of sex happening and these books are no different. But overall it was a good storyline throughout the 3 books.

As a long-time reader of horror tales by King, Herbert, Koontz and many others, a friend recently expressed surprise that I'd never read Laymon, and in particular, the Beast House trilogy. So I picked up this omnibus edition, with its 5-star reviews, and expected great things. I was sorely disappointed.There are two things that bug me about this book - the first is the story, the second is the actual edition. Let's do the edition first, as it's spoiler-free.This book is riddled with typos. Sometimes three or more on a page - spelling mistakes (sometimes funny ones), double spaces, missing spaces, full stops in the middle of sentences... it's embarrassing. I'm an editor - I would hang my head in shame at this. There are so many that it becomes noticeable and destroys the flow.And as for the story...**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**This review refers to the Cellar - the first book in the trilogy. I'm certainly not going to read the others!I don't think this book could actually be written today. The graphic scenes of child rape and torture are absolutely unnecessary, and are written ion such a salacious, pornographic manner that it's uncomfortable to read. In fact, it's written in a 'sexier' way than the sex scene between consensual adults (which feels like it was written by a man whose sole experience of intercourse was the readers' letters page in Hustler). Clunky and amateurish. What irks me the most about the paedophilia scenes (there's more than one...) is that it has absolutely no bearing on the main storyline. When that plotline is resolved at the end, you just think, 'Oh... really? That seemed a tad unnecessary then.'I wonder about Laymon's personal attitudes towards women too. Every single female character in this book - child, adult or OAP - who is mentioned even in passing, is raped, tortured and/or killed. Just read that again, you weren't mistaken: EVERY SINGLE ONE. They also have their breasts described in detail, even when a chapter is written from the point-of-view of a woman, which is weird (but not unique in the genre - Herbert is terrible for this). The lead character, who is a sassy, middle-class, thirty-something woman, even passes comment at one point on the skimpy clothing of a CHILD, and thinks 'she's going to get herself raped'! As if rape is something that women - especially children - can control. As if the blame is on the woman/girl for dressing a certain way, and not on the psycho for committing the act. There's an element of misogyny in this book that goes beyond the pale, and the fact that all the characters seem to think that way makes me wonder about the author's intent.And of course, if that's not horrifying enough, you have a houseful of 'beasts' whose sole purpose is to rape everyone: male, female, young or old, who enters the house. Wanna read graphic detail of pig-headed beast-men triple-teaming a pensioner, sexually assaulting a teenage boy or impregnating a pre-teen girl? Good, then this is the book for you.Oh, and I'm all for bleak endings in horror books - it's par for the course really, but this? An innocent child, sexually abused and running scared, ultimately gets trapped by the beasts, made pregnant, and becomes so psychologically damaged that she falls in love with them. The end. I wouldn't normally post that kind of spoiler about a book, but this is one instance where you really need to know what you're getting into.I'll end on a positive - and this is why the book gets a star at all. Laymon's style is fast and engaging. You can't help but keep turning the pages - he has such a straightforward way of writing that it keeps you reading, even when you really don't want to. I've given up on far better books than this, so that must say something. As a professional, I'd say Laymon's prose is far and away better than Koontz's for example, in the same genre; but man, his ideas are thoroughly twisted.

Classic splatterpunk.

I have already read the beast house trilogy before, many years ago, and I recently bought these books again, and OH MY GOD! I was doing nothing but read! I was totally hooked, infact so much I actually felt quite sad when it came to the end of the book :o( laymon has to be my favourite writer, I cant describe what it is? you just have to find out your self! Definatly buy this, but a warning- you'll find it hard to put it down, but you wont be disapointed! I promise!

Great author, great read.

A book you don't want to put down. A gripping story line of the beast. Not for the faint hearted.

Perfect condition.