Introduction
Laymon's horror fiction could be described as puerile, blatantly and overtly sexual, a little predictable and trite nonsense, I have read many of his novels and found them both troubling and mildly offensive, but again I go back to him and read him again because he does at times ... Read review
Advantages: There's a vampire in it Disadvantages: Overlong, tedious and repetitive
Introduction
Laymon's horror fiction could be described as puerile, blatantly and overtly sexual, a little predictable and trite nonsense, I have read many of his novels and found them both troubling and mildly offensive, but again I go back to him and read him again because he does at times deliver some good old fashioned chills and thrills too.
His novels are usually fronted by young sexually frustrated men, men who ... ...literary bent rather than sporty, which makes them more often 'good friend' rather than 'boyfriend' material, they are often in their twenties but are seemingly more adolescent in their attitude and outlook.
The women, or girls in the novels are written almost exclusively one-dimensionally, they are described and represented simply as sexual beings in Laymon's fiction.
His fiction is usually written in a fast-paced, ... more
Introduction
Laymon's horror fiction could be described as puerile, blatantly and overtly sexual, a little predictable and trite nonsense, I have read many of his novels and found them both troubling and mildly offensive, but again I go back to him and read him again because he does at times deliver some good old fashioned chills and thrills too.
His novels are usually fronted by young sexually frustrated men, men who are perhaps on the skinny side, or more of the literary bent rather than sporty, which makes them more often 'good friend' rather than 'boyfriend' material, they are often in their twenties but are seemingly more adolescent in their attitude and outlook.
The women, or girls in the novels are written almost exclusively one-dimensionally, they are described and represented simply as sexual beings in Laymon's fiction.
His fiction is usually written in a fast-paced, straight-forward, gung-ho, go-get-em style, and we are frequently plunged rapidly into the meat of the story with little build up or any nonsense of character development.
That said, onward:
The Review
Cat comes back into Sammy's life after ten years claiming to be the victim of an obsessed and sadistic vampire.
This is page one, beginning of the novel, no holds barred, we are flung headlong into sadistic vampire hell.
Sammy is undeterred, and extremely willing to aid the poor fair maiden in her hour of need, given that she turns up half-naked it is not really that surprising.
Swiftly on, Sammy launches an attack on Elliot the Vampire and the vampire comes to a sticky end. This all happens fairly quickly, the lengthy and excruciatingly detailed disposal of the body follows, and this is where the story really gets going, or so I thought.
I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but from here on in they come up against mishap after mishap and go from adventure to adversity, they come up against a seemingly unstable stranger who could just be worse than Elliot the Vampire...
My humble opinion:
This is quite dire really, the story generally plods along, and goes from a quite promising beginning to an agonising road trip of doom.
I genuinely hated the main characters, I felt sorry for the and strangely jealous of the Vampire who was killed off early on in the novel, at least he didn't have to suffer the rest of the action!
I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt though and I traipsed through the dismally grim middle bit of the book to the end, and I still genuinely hated the main characters!
There is very little to like about this book, Laymon goes over the top in describing every little detail at times, this can be very tedious and treats the readers like they have little imagination of their own, he also seems to repeat himself a little, let me try and explain... on shows sometimes they say 'previously on ...' to get you up to speed on what's gone before, I found that Laymon did this in the novel, he was seemingly retelling the story just to refresh the readers memories - or so it seemed to me.
The characters have no redeeming features, they are one-dimensional and lack any depth, there is no motivation for their actions and they come across as caricatures and exaggerations of personalities rather than real people.
The action does seemingly plod along, and there are some very long painfully excruciating dialogue fuelled descriptions of events that I found myself skimming through, not in wilful wonder and can't wait expectation but simply because they were too awful to read.
This is not a vampire story, nor is it a horror story, it's hard to define it's genre within the horror theme really, it's a hybrid of road-trip and serial stalker menace, and that makes it sound good and it isn't.
Available at Amazon for £5.59, cheaper on Ebay, or free to loan perhaps from your local library.
Advantages: it's Richard Laymon isn't it Disadvantages: Not his best
Before I start I have to admit I was a bit dubious about this novel by Richard Laymon, despite loving everything he reads, as it’s a vampire novel, and that’s really not my sort of book.
However it’s part of the collection and I was destined to read it at some point and I have to say I did enjoy it. It’s not one of my favourites, but it’s certainly not the worst either.
The book is written from Sam’s perspective. He’s a 26 year old male, living ... ...write lot of poetry for his girlfriend, Cat. These poems featured mainly of vampires.
It is because of this Cat turns up on Sam’s doorstep one night after ten years of them being apart. She is asking for his help to kill a vampire that has been abusing her every night for the last year.
This all happens at the start of the book, and I was already pretty confused. I could see this book was going to be one of the stranger ones Laymon has written.
...
yukkibear 05.08.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bite - Richard Laymon
Advantages: quite fast moving Disadvantages: totally unrealistic
...it probably would have dragged. Bite is not at all scary although it was suspenseful. I love Richard Laymon's style of writing and would recommend any of his books. The characters were nothing special and I didn't really like Cat. Bite is not one of his best, but it is pretty average and worth being read by any fans of Richard Laymon's work. ...
Claire102 27.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Bite - Richard Laymon
Advantages: Some moments full of suspense Disadvantages: Poor characters, some confusion (for me) in the story
I went to buy some new Richard Laymon books, as I hadn't read too many and he'd rapidly became my joint favourite author, and for some reason, the cover of 'Bite' intrigued me. So I bought it. My little sister read it before me and handed it back a couple of weeks later, grinning, pronouncing it the best book she'd ever read. I then placed it at the top of my 'To Read' list. At first, I found it very strange. It is written in the first person, through ... ...night and Cat, a woman he's been in love with (though hasn't seen) for 10 years turns up asking him to kill a vampire for her. I thought Cat seemed a bit dodgy and questioned her actions (although maybe this was Laymon's intention) but to me, the way she was towards Sam on the road trip (and before) seemed a bit false...as if she were using him. I did not like Peggy's character and didn't think much to Snow White or Donny. Story wise, I found the ...
grohloholic 19.11.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Bite - Richard Laymon
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Advantages: It's a vampire novel Disadvantages: Doesn't grab you - Not much story till the end
book - to me the final chapter was mismashed and hurriedly put together - not conclusive enough. The final scenes were excellent but could have had so much more happen.
I had the feeling I had watched a film very similar I but I can?t quite put my finger on it.
I wouldn?t say this was a novel I would read again and it hasn?t really inspired me to read another RichardLaymon though I have been told his ?Bite? is very good. Based on my experience with this book I won?t be rushing out to see if this is true right away.
I would warn this does produce some pretty distressing imagery towards the end - some of it was gratuitous and not really needed for the plot I get the feeling it was more for the shock factor which it does succeed in doing. Just leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth.
To sum up:
An enjoyable piece ...
Advantages: gripping read Disadvantages: some stories have been published elsewhere
.
This is the collection of stories in Fiends. I didn't realise it was short stories when I bought the book, but it was a very enjoyable read.
All of these stories have also been published in various magazines throughout the years, except Fiends, which is first, published in this book, hence the title.
Published in 1996. This book can also be found available as a double novel along with Bite, another great one from Richardlaymon.
Thanks for reading.
ISBN: 0747255253 ...
Advantages: fast paced thriller you might not be able to put down Disadvantages: very violent, very bloody
I picked up this hardback book amongst various others at my local library for about 20 pence. I had never heard of RichardLaymon prior to reading this book so had no idea what the book was about nor any clue about his writing style. The recommendation from Stephen King on the front cover "If you've missed a Laymon you've missed a treat" gave me a bit of an incentive to add to the pile of books I was getting as the library was selling off some older and slightly battered books to make room for new stock.
The Times said of this book "This author knows how to sock it to the reader" and I would say I have to agree with that statement 100%! Time Out said of Laymon's book "A gut-crunching writer" and Dan Marlowe is quoted as saying "Stephen King without a conscience".
~*~PLOT TEASER~*~
Sherry and Duane are about to spend ...
Sam is plunged into a nightmarish world of sheer evil when his first love, Cat, reenters his life and he discovers that a vampire is coming for both of them.
Compare Bite - Richard Laymon to other similar Horror Books »
Stephen King's claim to fame ; Superb atmosphere ; Sublime plot ; A vivid imagination that stretches all supernatural boundaries ; Probably responsible for some of the best horror films of the 70's and 80's
Some unessesary background in the first half ; Kubrik mucked up the story too much ; Could have been much more (*)
