Well, I'm a recently married horror writer, so my mood swings between the macabre and the blissful a...
Well, I'm a recently married horror writer, so my mood swings between the macabre and the blissful at the moment! Very confusing indeed. I've been away a month to get married and such, but will be more active again soon.
Member since:11.07.2000
Reviews:92
Members who trust:69
'The Cellar' was the first novel from Richard Laymon, an author who now fills whole shelves in your local horror section, and it reads very much like what it is. "I'm going to write a horror novel, what do I need to do?", says the author to himself. The answer, apparently, is to hold your breath, type and think at breakneck speed, make sure that everything is either action, sex, or plot, and then send it off to your publisher.
It works very well. The pace is blistering, and the only problem there is that there is no time to stop and appreciate this until the novel is finished. Nothing is lingered on that can be rushed through. The plus side, obviously, is that this is an exciting, pulse-hammering read from start to stop. A slim book, it blazes along breathlessly.
The plot is inventive, a tale woven in two parts - the present and the distant past. At Malasca Point there stands a house with a history, with a Beast which turns up every few years to kill some unsuspecting guest or trespasser before vanishing again. These days, the house is run as a tourist attraction, with the myth of the beast being touted as a Loch Ness Monster-alike, a fabulous myth which may or may not exist. It becomes clear to the reader fairly early on which is the case, and the distant past sections give us details of the whys surrounding the Beast's apparent obsession with the house.
Throw into the mix a bounty hunter, a vicious paedophile, a mother and daughter, and a man with very personal experiences of the house, and we have a rollercoaster ride from start to finish. What I would have enjoyed even more would have been opportunity to stop and take in the view every now and again, but you can't have everything.
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Advantages: blood,gore, monsters and a spooky mueseum owner-what else do you need? Disadvantages: great start to a series of novels about the Beast House
Advantages: blood,gore, monsters and a spooky mueseum owner-what else do you need? Disadvantages: great start to a series of novels about the Beast House
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