The Richard Laymon Collection, Volume 2: The Woods Are Dark / Out Are The Lights

Richard Laymon Collection #2

by Richard Laymon

Barcelona. 18 cm. 348 p. Encuadernación en tapa blanda de editorial ilustrada. Colección 'Bolsillo'. Traducción de M. Giménez Sales y Domingo Santos. Traducción The woods are dark ; Out are the lights. Laymon, Richard. 1947-. Giménez Sales, Miguel. 1922-. Santos, Domingo. 1941-2018. Apagadas están las luces. Bolsillo (Ediciones Martínez Roca) .. Este libro es de segunda mano y tiene o puede tener marcas y señales de su anterior propietario. 8427018703

Genres: Horror

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Richard Laymon was born in Chicago and grew up in California. He earned a BA in English Literature from Willamette University, Oregon and an MA from Loyola University, Los Angeles. He worked as a schoolteacher, a librarian, and a report writer for a law firm, and was the author of more than thirty acclaimed novels.

He also published more than sixty short stories in magazines such as Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, and Cavalier, and in anthologies including Modern Masters of Horror.

He died from a massive heart attack on February 14, 2001 (Valentine's Day).

Also published under the name Richard Kelly

Reviews

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Woods Are Dark (25/01/23)

So Books 2 and 3 of my Richard Laymon readthrough are complete.

There's a lot to like about the uncut version of The Woods Are Dark with its tale of sacrifice, lost tribes, Gods? and survival.

I particularly enjoyed the tribe and their founder. I just wish there was more about that rather than focussing on some problematic material (rape and paedophilia) in more detail than required.

My main issues were Lander who is looking for his missing daughter. Having only been searching for what seemed less than an hour he stumbles across two woman washing themselves in a river. His first thought was to rape the thinner woman, the extra stimuli being that she appeared to be young 🤤

I did miss first time I read this that Lander does acknowledge he's a wrong 'un. But that does not make his actions acceptable. I appreciate this is fiction and Lander is the good guy gone bad, but it just wasn't believable. He was running about the woods wearing nothing but a top made out of a man's skin looking to rape and pillage having lost his daughter an hour earlier. A daughter he had odd thoughts about. (or did I misinterpret that?)

Young kids are sexual abusers in this. One is a tribe member, the other a 'normal' from the town. It just made me feel grubby and took me out of the story. A real shame as there's a lot to like otherwise about this story.

I'm perfecting the art of skim reading the problematic stuff. As with The Cellar, I'd prefer implication rather that having this content forced upon me (poor taste pun intended). The violence and gore is great as is the majority of the plot, I could just do without the abusive/misogynistic violence.

Maybe there's a sequel in the archives (or the Krull appear in a later published book)

Problems aside, I did enjoy this book. It was fast, punchy and had some great moments. Sadly, it feels underwritten which may not be surprising if you read into the books history.

2 heads on spikes out of 5

Out Are The Lights (30/01/23)

Now this was bloody good. A twisty, interlocking plot featuring lots of sex and violence and a story that had me hooked.

My only issues with Out Are The Lights was that it all ended somewhat abruptly. The two storylines were incredibly enjoyable and yes, they do both reach a conclusion. It's just that they weren't particularly satisfying.

Good to see Laymon write a pretty decent final girl although I did find her choices a little odd at times.

3/5

Mess Hall (30/01/23)

The Reaper is a serial killer with his 8th victim in his grasp. Sadly for him victims 1 to 7 show up.

I'm not sure what to make of this tale. Incredibly violent, with some wonderful descriptive body horror. The story started off well but once victims 1 to 7 appear it becomes muddled. Don't get me wrong the action is pacey and enjoyable enough but I do question why 1-7 would be after Jean. Yes, The Reaper deserves what was coming but 1-7 showed a modicum of teamwork, a bond, an intelligence. Why go after Jean, who is effectively one of their own?

(2/5)

Dinker's Pool (30/01/23)

Loved this tale of a woman muscling in on a gold prospectors partnership. He loves telling stories. She refuses to believe them and continues to drive a wedge between these old friends.

One such story is about Dinker's Pool, a body of water she just happens to be bathing in.

I loved how this was written. You couldn't help but put a cowboy twang on when reading. You could almost taste the dust and hear the splat of the tabacco juice hitting the floor. Read very much like an old EC story. Superb!

(3/5)

Madman Stan (30/01/23)

A babysitter tells her charges a scary story before bed. It couldn't be true...could it?

I love this story. In fact, it's up there as one of my all-time favourites.

(5/5)

Bad News

The morning newspaper is sadly full of bad news, bad news with gnashing teeth and a craving for flesh.

An enjoyable enough short with some decent set pieces.

(3/5)

The Tub

A Bram Stoker nominated author visits New York for the awards ceremony. Meanwhile his wife stays at home and invites her lover over. She wants to 'christan' her husband's prize bathtub.

Things go horribly wrong and get VERY messy.

I really enjoyed this short although its difficult to ignore the similarities to Stephen King's Gerald's Game.

(4/5)

[Lin Carbajales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro incluye dos novelas y cinco relatos de Richard Laymon. Yo leí la edición en inglés. Las dos novelas (desconozco si los relatos) también están juntas en una vieja publicación española de Martínez Roca. La editorial las tenía además en libros independientes de su colección Super Terror.

-The Woods Are Dark / Sangre en el bosque. No recuerdo otra novela que haya leído con mayor rapidez y facilidad. De forma similar a Temporada baja (Off Season) de Jack Ketchum, plantea la existencia de una tribu salvaje y sanguinaria en el corazón de los Estados Unidos modernos, aunque en este caso con el apoyo de la población civilizada cercana.

Una de las cosas que más me gustan de Richard Laymon es lo poco que le importa que los personajes sean realistas en oposición a que resulten entretenidos y sorprendentes. La estrella durante buena parte de esta historia es una chica, creo entender que de unos trece años, que sin un buen motivo (lee muchas novelas de misterio) es una experta en supervivencia sin piedad alguna. Los capítulos sobre otros personajes no dejaban de ser muy amenos, pero yo siempre estaba esperando la siguiente aparición de la niña killer Rambo. Por desgracia acaba siendo una más de las víctimas secuestradas por la tribu del bosque y su anterior fuerza queda en poco o nada.

El final parece sacado de la manga sin mucho desarrollo previo, aunque tengo entendido que esta edición tuvo muchos recortes editoriales y hay una versión más completa publicada posteriormente. De todas formas estas cosas son habituales de Richard Laymon, claramente un escritor de brújula cuyo principal interés creativo no era una gran coherencia narrativa.


-Out Are the Lights / Apagadas están las luces. En un cine especializado en terror emiten, entre medias de las sesiones dobles, unos sangrientos cortos que son en realidad películas snuff. Sus realizadores secuestran a mujeres jóvenes para utilizarlas como víctimas en las grabaciones. Su objetivo de emitirlas de tapadillo en un cine normal y luego vendérselas a una productora resulta bastante ridículo, pero no creo que una perspectiva realista sea la adecuada para leer estas obras. El gore es fuerte e impactante pero aparece a veces con una narración casi inocente, propia de un tebeo de Historias de la cripta (y le cortó las manos y los pies...).

Todo esto queda un poco olvidado en la segunda mitad de la novela, en la que Laymon se centra en un thriller bien llevado pero un poco básico. La protagonista, una escritora sorda con conocimientos de autodefensa, se tiene que enfrentar a las maldades que el exnovio planea junto a su amante. Nuestra heroína cuenta con el apoyo de su nuevo ligue, un detective privado. Tanto la protagonista como la pareja villana funcionan muy bien en el exagerado estilo de peli de serie B típico de Laymon. Me gustó en especial el sorprendente tratamiento que la amante hace de su marido maltratador.

Al final ambas tramas confluyen de forma más o menos esperable. Yo creo que habría estado mejor un desenlace aún más cruento que regresara al gore de la primera mitad. Le habría puesto la guinda al pastel, pero me resultó satisfactorio de todas formas. También eché en falta más víctimas masculinas en las películas snuff, me parece un error que busquen solamente a mujeres que les resulten atractivas. Aun así seguramente sea una novela mucho más tolerable que la anterior para quienes tengan mayores dificultades con las descripciones de violencia sexual.

Me gustó mucho por sus características tanto de película de terror sangrienta como de thriller de su momento, si bien creo que ambas partes llegan a estar demasiado escindidas entre sí.


-Algunos de los relatos están mejor y otros peor, se dejan leer sin ser destacables. La mayor pega es que aunque Laymon, con sus prejuicios y todo, es bien capaz de escribir villanas femeninas en las novelas, en las historias breves me vi a menudo empatizando con mujeres escritas con inquina, mientras que pronto sentía revulsión hacia el hombre o niño que las antagonizaba. En estos aspectos yo veo la tan comentada misoginia de Laymon más que en la sexualización excesiva de los personajes femeninos, que casi era un lugar común en los años 80 y no tan lejos.

Es una pena que esto me estropeara un poco el relato ambientado en el salvaje Oeste, que es por lo demás muy divertido. El cuento de la canguro, sin embargo, no solo tiene este defecto sino que es totalmente anodino, sin las situaciones caóticas y violentas que hacen que las historias de Laymon nos compensen este tipo de cosas.

El resto de cuentos son entretenidos y desagradables en el buen sentido. Tenía curiosidad por leer relatos cortos de Richard Laymon, porque ya llevo un buen puñado de sus muchas novelas y no dudo que caerán más. En principio la narración breve no me parece su fuerte, pero el conjunto del volumen es recomendable para quien tenga interés en este autor.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE WOODS ARE DARK:
Pure, undistilled Laymon mayhem, for better and for worse.
THE WOODS ARE DARK presses the pedal to the metal on the very first page and never lets up. The enjoyment it offers is as superficial as you can possibly get, but there's something to be said for a horror story this unrelenting and unpredictable.
This was Laymon's second published novel (following THE CELLAR), and he famously blamed it for destroying his budding career as a novelist in the US. Not because he was unhappy with his manuscript, but because of Warner Book's heavy-handed, misguided editing decisions and horrible artwork.
Many years after his death, his daughter pieced back together the initial manuscript and re-released the book in "uncut" form. As you can probably guess, the uncut version is unanimously preferred by Laymon fans, but I read the original version regardless, simply because I like getting the omnibus editions of Laymon's work. Considering all the controversy behind it, I was braced for something terrible. However, much to my surprise, it wasn't nearly the mess I was expecting. The plot was easy to follow, the writing felt like typical Laymon fare. It's possible the omnibus version I read, published in England, was cleaned up somewhat from the original, but I find that hard to believe considering how many typos I found. Enough to fill a Boeing 747.
Typos aside, THE WOODS ARE DARK works just fine as a Richard Laymon novel (not to be confused with an ACTUAL novel). I can understand, though, why an editor who didn't "get" Laymon would wind up taking a butcher's knife to it. Superficially at least, Laymon's writing style is the very definition of "unsophisticated" and "in poor taste," even by the relatively lax standards of 80's horror fiction.
But, just as scientists have difficultly explaining why bumblebees can fly despite their tiny wings, it is hard to articulate why Richard Laymon novels are often so fun and satisfying despite lacking any notable literary qualities. It probably helps that, at under 2oo pages, THE WOODS ARE DARK is a very short read that doesn't overstay its welcome. It's breakneck pacing and total unpredictability also serve it well. Certain parts are incredibly nasty and disturbing, but the whole thing comes across as too cartoonish to justify getting upset over. As is often the case with Laymon, the ending feels incredibly rushed, but I'm guessing this is less of a problem in the uncut version.

OUT ARE THE LIGHTS:
A novella and a handful of stories--some good, some bad. Overall, entertaining enough for those who appreciate mayhem for mayhem's sake. Laymon's pervy writing style gets old after awhile, and the endings to some of these stories are incredibly stupid, but there's a certain maniacal energy to Laymon's work that commands your attention and keeps you coming back for more.

[Tex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 2 of the Richard Laymon Collection contains the originally published version of "The Woods Are Dark" (TWAD) and the revised edition of "Out Are The Lights and Other Tales" (OATL&OT) (the originally published version of "OATL" did not include the additional short stories).

How can I put this - TWAD was crap and easily the worst thing I've read this year. A tale of a little country town with a big secret - one that is hazardous to the health of unsuspecting tourists and those passing through. It was also a tale that lacked any form of reasonable explanation as to why the events that occurred did occur, zero background or development of some key characters, and a conclusion that was beyond disappointing.

Now to be fair I do believe that this version of TWAD was the one that was originally published in the US in 1983 which was so heavily edited more than 50pp of manuscript was removed (that's over 20% of the book). That amount of editing would make any story senseless if it removed key info. So based on that I will remove TWAD from my overall rating.

OATL is a novel that has multiple story lines that intersect at certain points - one of deceit, lust, love, and revenge; and one of murder, art, and movie making.

While not a bad tale OATL was not a great one either. Some parts were a little hard to understand as the Laymon didn't really go into the motivation of why particular characters did what they did - some more development in this area would definitely have given the book a lot more substance.

The Other Tales part of the book is comprised of five short stories. Of these a couple were very entertaining, a couple were a little weird, and one was just plain dumb.

Laymon's books can be placed within the horror sub-genre of "splatterpunk" (distinguished by its graphic, often gory, depiction of violence and hyper intensive horror with no limits). His writing style is very simple and basic and one that may not appeal to many people. It is though at times quite effective to provide the visceral impact of some of his gorier scenes. This isn't subtle "look over your shoulder" horror that leaves you feeling uneasy or full of dread; this is a "punch in the face with a bucket of blood dumped on your head" kind of horror. There is nothing wrong with that provided there is more than just that - at times in OATL Laymon forgets this. He gives you lots of sauce and onions but not that much steak to go with it.

Not for everyone but if you don't have a weak stomach, refuse to take it too seriously, and your prepared to channel your inner teenage boy (most of Laymon's books have a lot of sex) the OATL&OT will, if nothing else, kill an afternoon (no pun intended).

Vol 2 gets 2.5 grisly enacted murders out of 5.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Richard Laymon was obsessed with rape. This was one of his scariest stories l have read so far, but again he laces it with rape. What gives? Not at all necessary.

[Lavey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Woods are Dark

Chilling! Despite having the usual "country folk are psychos" setup, Laymon manages to conjure up some horrific scenarios that the protagonists will have to suffer. While "The Cellar" may have skipped over the rape scenes, "The Woods Are Dark" relishes in them, letting us know how terrified one victim is, even when she pretends to be enjoying it.
As the story progresses, more threats make themselves known and you can never really tell if any of the protagonists will make it out alive. The final chapter foregoes an epilogue to instead tell us that there's one more menace out there and that the worst might not be over.
With all the carnage and sexual abuse that goes on, it's pretty safe to assume that this story won't be getting a film adaptation.

To have read "The Woods Are Dark" is to have read fear.

Out are the Lights

A comfortable blend of horror and personal drama. The chapters dealing with the villain's horrific deeds can be skipped over if you're too squeamish, as they don't com into the plot until the last few chapters. The remainder of the story tells of an unfaithful boyfriend and his hypocrisy when a better man than himself enters the picture.

One noteworthy detail is that the main character is deaf, so she compensates by lip-reading. I was pleasantly surprised to see a character overcome her disability in a horror novel of all places. What's more it actually works to her advantage in the final act.

Included are a series of short stories. Two of which would be quite compelling for anyone who is feeling bitter towards an ex-girlfriend.

[Russell Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unbeknownst to me until I started reading it again, I'd already read 'The Woods Are Dark'.

The four star rating here is based on the strength of the second novel in this collection, 'Out Are The Lights', and the short stories which follow it, all of which ooze quality and give a glimpse of Laymon at his goriest and most lecherous best.

A must for any fan of his work, of which I most certainly am one. I've yet to finish scouring the archives of his opuses and hope I stumble across more hidden gems like this before I do.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo mejor de Laymon. Apagadas están las luces me pareció un libro de terror increíble.