The Stake single-handedly changed my mind about Vampire novels. I've always liked horror stories, but never been a fan of those gothic, historical vampire books. Well The Stake very definitely contains a vampire, but any similarity ends there. It's set in the present day, and is about a group ... Read review
In an abandoned hotel in a California ghost town, horror writer Larry and his friends make ... more
a chilling discovery. By chance they stumble across a naked woman in a coffin with a stake driven through her heart. Was she a vampire or the victim of a gruesome murder?
Advantages: Highly entertaining Disadvantages: None spring to mind
The Stake single-handedly changed my mind about Vampire novels. I've always liked horror stories, but never been a fan of those gothic, historical vampire books. Well The Stake very definitely contains a vampire, but any similarity ends there. It's set in the present day, and is about a group of friends who come across a coffin in an old house, containing a woman with a stake through her heart... It's a highly entertaining read, and Laymon is very ... more
The Stake single-handedly changed my mind about Vampire novels. I've always liked horror stories, but never been a fan of those gothic, historical vampire books. Well The Stake very definitely contains a vampire, but any similarity ends there. It's set in the present day, and is about a group of friends who come across a coffin in an old house, containing a woman with a stake through her heart... It's a highly entertaining read, and Laymon is very clever in the way that he's taken the most obvious horror cliche (the vampire) and managed to write a novel which then totally avoids all those cliches, and is instead original and fresh. If you don't think you like vampire novels, try this - it might change your mind.
Advantages: Creepy, tense, atmospheric - a simply marvellous book. Disadvantages: Not Laymon's usual style at all - fans of his blood and guts novels might want to think carefully here.
...classic in every sense of the word. When horror writer Larry Dunbar and his friends explore an abandoned Californian ghost town, they find a coffin hidden away in an old hotel. The body inside is skeletal and, most curiously, staked through the heart. Though they drive away spooked and excited, the body plays on Dunbar's mind, becoming an obsession, until he returns to the town one night and retrieves the body. Could it really be a vampire? If he ... ...And there lies the novel. Will he pull out the stake? What will happen if he does? What will happen if he doesn't? A delicious 'what if' scenario, that's explored carefully and meticulously by the author. Much of Laymon's work is blood and guts action horror, but here we have something quieter and more sinister. Where he would normally shock, he twists the thumbnails of suspense to almost unbearable extremes - and it's a wonderful tension for the ...
RichardW 06.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Stake - Richard Laymon
Advantages: A solid Richard Laymon story. Disadvantages: Despite Laymon's efforts vampires are an increasingly tired concept.
The Stake is not your average vampire story. The Stake is your average Richard Laymon story though – and this might or might not be a good thing.
The story is set in the present day – it starts in a hotel in a Californian ghost town. The hero of the book is a horror writer (which, I feel, is always an interesting choice for a hero when, of course, the author himself is a horror writer) who comes across a naked woman with a stake through her heart.
... ...then wickedly agile in ripping the flesh and blood back out from them. Laymon’s favourite types of people to torment with carefully constructed obscenities are pretty young girls. This said, then, the idea of a possible pretty and young-looking female vampire fits snuggling into Laymon’s preferred grounds. It is worth noting, though, that this book does not snuggle up to any of the dozen or so vampire cliches and this can only be a good thing. ...
Manx 09.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Stake - Richard Laymon
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Advantages: Another brillian book by this author Disadvantages: Not keen on ending
Richardlaymon (the cellar, island and the stake) has done a brilliant job up until the end which i thought was poor. The glory bus was brought out in 2005 and you can get it at most major bookshops for about £6.99. You could probably get in cheaper on the net.
The book revolves around two main characters. Theres pamela who has just got married, kidnapped by rodney, a rapist and murderer who has had a crush on her since school. Then there's shy, quiet norman who goes into a garage to pay for his petrol and comes back to find someone sat in his car demanding a ride.
The book kicks off with rodney kidnapping pamela, leaving a female corpse to take her place in her house, with her husband and setting it on fire. Nobody will realize that pamela has been kidnapped, they will mistake the corpse for her. Pamela manages to escape after ...
In an abandoned hotel in a California ghost town, horror writer Larry and his friends make a chilling discovery. By chance they stumble across a naked woman in a coffin with a stake driven through her heart. Was she a vampire or the victim of a gruesome murder?
Compare The Stake - Richard Laymon to other similar Horror Books »
The writing is taut and effecive, and several stand alone scenes are magnificent. The conclusion, had it been published as a stand alone novella, would have been wonderful.
Nothing happens, and there is some nasty use of forced incest as a means to create a tawdry shock. Oh, and nothing happens. (*)
