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Richard Laymon Collection #4
The Richard Laymon Collection, Volume 4: Beware / Dark Mountain
BEWARE! Elsie doesn't normally shut shop early, but neither is it normal for meat cleavers to fly through the air by themselves, or for Elsie to wind up on the meat counter neatly wrapped and jointed. Something very strange is happening in the small town of Oasis and everyone had better... BEWARE!
DARK MOUNTAIN It was supposed to be a peaceful escape for the two families camping high in the California mountains. But they made the mistake of camping at Mesquite lake, home to two of the wilderness's most terrifying inhabitants: an aged hag with gruesome powers and her depraved son whose unnatural lusts even she cannot control...
DARK MOUNTAIN It was supposed to be a peaceful escape for the two families camping high in the California mountains. But they made the mistake of camping at Mesquite lake, home to two of the wilderness's most terrifying inhabitants: an aged hag with gruesome powers and her depraved son whose unnatural lusts even she cannot control...
Paperback
First published June 5, 2006
218 people want to read
About the author
Richard Laymon
216 books2,280 followersRichard 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 7, 2024
“The witch is naked. She's ugly and she's dead. It'd be perverted to look at her. But he did. Her breasts, lit by the moon, were gray like stones. The nipples looked almost black.”
September 30, 2013
I read both these books years ago as a teenager. I went through a phase where I read every Richard Laymon book that I could find.
I read the first book with utter disgust. You know how when you read a book when you are much younger, you don't see certain adult themes?
It was like that. The main male leads first action, when he met a woman? He checked out her chest first before her face.
There was so much sexist garbage that I was shocked. It's just not one of Richard Laymon's better books.
The second story was okay.
But spare yourself, don't read this. It is not good horror.
I read the first book with utter disgust. You know how when you read a book when you are much younger, you don't see certain adult themes?
It was like that. The main male leads first action, when he met a woman? He checked out her chest first before her face.
There was so much sexist garbage that I was shocked. It's just not one of Richard Laymon's better books.
The second story was okay.
But spare yourself, don't read this. It is not good horror.
September 23, 2021
Beware:
** spoiler alert ** There are two kinds of Richard Laymon novels: ones with an acceptable level of stupidity, and ones where the stupidity rises like a tidal wave and subsumes the whole story. Unfortunately, BEWARE is one of the latter.
Plot-wise, the book is pure Dean Koontz. A young, attractive heroine teams up with a mystery writer and a private detective to evade a psycho-killer rendered invisible by a murderous death cult. (Trust me, that's not the stupid part.) However, Dean Koontz would never even THINK of penning a novel this schlocky, this nasty, this rape-happy. If Laymon were either a better author or a worse one, BEWARE would offend you, scare you, or at least make you nauseous. However, Laymon's over-the-top, cartoonish literary style and bare-bones narrative take the edge off the book's sadism, treating the whole thing as a big lark. Is it in poor taste? Absolutely. Can I defend him for writing it? Nope. Did I enjoy it anyway? Guilty as charged (at least for the first half).
But though I didn't take the book seriously enough to be offended by it, I did take issue with how dumb certain aspects of it were. The "invisible man" in this story does nothing but murder people and cause mayhem throughout, yet the main characters insist on going out of their way to capture him alive. Why, you ask? So they can get his story, write a book about him, and make tons of money in royalties, of course. What could possibly go wrong with a plan like that?
And if that weren't bad enough, they actually let the invisible killer go free at one point, hoping he will help them out of a jam. Trust me, that decision doesn't end well.
There's other dumb stuff to complain about, too, but I think you get my point. BEWARE is a lousy horror novel by an author whose best work I have a hard enough time defending as it is.
Dark Mountain:
This is probably the only Laymon novel that I might describe as a slow burn. After a gruesome opening sequence, Laymon is content to spend the next 200 pages or so mostly just developing his characters and their relationships to each other. Most of the story revolves around camping, so this is a good one to take with you on a long backpacking trip or something. You get the impression that Laymon really loved camping trips... You also get the impression, once again, that he was a pervy son of a gun. This novel positively drips with sex, much of which is incredibly uncomfortable for one reason or another. And he's so straightforward and unapologetic about it, one has to wonder if he even realized how cringy some of these scenes are.
The novel never gets around to doing anything new or interesting (though it does anticipate the movie FINAL DESTINATION to some degree), but it's entertaining enough in its own demented way. Scary stuff happens throughout, but it's all too implausible and shlocky to ever be truly creepy.
This is the kind of horror novel your parents said would rot your brain. And while I did have a good time with it, I can't say I entirely disagree with that assessment.
** spoiler alert ** There are two kinds of Richard Laymon novels: ones with an acceptable level of stupidity, and ones where the stupidity rises like a tidal wave and subsumes the whole story. Unfortunately, BEWARE is one of the latter.
Plot-wise, the book is pure Dean Koontz. A young, attractive heroine teams up with a mystery writer and a private detective to evade a psycho-killer rendered invisible by a murderous death cult. (Trust me, that's not the stupid part.) However, Dean Koontz would never even THINK of penning a novel this schlocky, this nasty, this rape-happy. If Laymon were either a better author or a worse one, BEWARE would offend you, scare you, or at least make you nauseous. However, Laymon's over-the-top, cartoonish literary style and bare-bones narrative take the edge off the book's sadism, treating the whole thing as a big lark. Is it in poor taste? Absolutely. Can I defend him for writing it? Nope. Did I enjoy it anyway? Guilty as charged (at least for the first half).
But though I didn't take the book seriously enough to be offended by it, I did take issue with how dumb certain aspects of it were. The "invisible man" in this story does nothing but murder people and cause mayhem throughout, yet the main characters insist on going out of their way to capture him alive. Why, you ask? So they can get his story, write a book about him, and make tons of money in royalties, of course. What could possibly go wrong with a plan like that?
And if that weren't bad enough, they actually let the invisible killer go free at one point, hoping he will help them out of a jam. Trust me, that decision doesn't end well.
There's other dumb stuff to complain about, too, but I think you get my point. BEWARE is a lousy horror novel by an author whose best work I have a hard enough time defending as it is.
Dark Mountain:
This is probably the only Laymon novel that I might describe as a slow burn. After a gruesome opening sequence, Laymon is content to spend the next 200 pages or so mostly just developing his characters and their relationships to each other. Most of the story revolves around camping, so this is a good one to take with you on a long backpacking trip or something. You get the impression that Laymon really loved camping trips... You also get the impression, once again, that he was a pervy son of a gun. This novel positively drips with sex, much of which is incredibly uncomfortable for one reason or another. And he's so straightforward and unapologetic about it, one has to wonder if he even realized how cringy some of these scenes are.
The novel never gets around to doing anything new or interesting (though it does anticipate the movie FINAL DESTINATION to some degree), but it's entertaining enough in its own demented way. Scary stuff happens throughout, but it's all too implausible and shlocky to ever be truly creepy.
This is the kind of horror novel your parents said would rot your brain. And while I did have a good time with it, I can't say I entirely disagree with that assessment.
July 28, 2017
Volume 4 of the Richard Laymon Collection contains the originally published versions of "Beware!" and "Dark Mountain".
"Beware!" involves a curious cat and mouse game of survival and escape, a blood thirsty cult, and a mysterious (and quite repugnant) villain. The main female protagonist, Lacey, is the target of the villain, the villain is the target of the cult, and the cult is the target of Dukane (one of the male heroes who is also a friend of Scott, the other male hero who ended up having a relationship with Lacey before they even knew about the cult!). Confused? Don't be - amazingly enough it's actually fairly easy to follow once you get into the story.
"Dark Mountain" tells the story of two families who go on a camping trip...only to have their worlds turned upside down in a deadly manner by an old hag with evil powers and her lust driven son.
As I've said previously about Richard Laymon's books - these don't have the polish and class of a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist but if you were expecting that then you were in the wrong section of the book store (actual or electronic) to start off with.
Laymon doesn't stray too far from his usual style of violent horror and loads of sex (I've never read an author so preoccupied by nipples in my life!). However he has turned his attention to better story telling giving more depth and background to his characters. While he still doesn't disappoint by having some rather stupid events and actions by his main characters they are a little bit deeper than the car park puddles of his earlier books. This to me shows that his writing style "matured" with each new novel.
Overall from a storyline point of view "Beware!" and "Dark Mountain" are probably the most rounded of his books that I've read so far (though I have only read his early work so there could still be better to come).
Three horrible death curses out of five.
"Beware!" involves a curious cat and mouse game of survival and escape, a blood thirsty cult, and a mysterious (and quite repugnant) villain. The main female protagonist, Lacey, is the target of the villain, the villain is the target of the cult, and the cult is the target of Dukane (one of the male heroes who is also a friend of Scott, the other male hero who ended up having a relationship with Lacey before they even knew about the cult!). Confused? Don't be - amazingly enough it's actually fairly easy to follow once you get into the story.
"Dark Mountain" tells the story of two families who go on a camping trip...only to have their worlds turned upside down in a deadly manner by an old hag with evil powers and her lust driven son.
As I've said previously about Richard Laymon's books - these don't have the polish and class of a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist but if you were expecting that then you were in the wrong section of the book store (actual or electronic) to start off with.
Laymon doesn't stray too far from his usual style of violent horror and loads of sex (I've never read an author so preoccupied by nipples in my life!). However he has turned his attention to better story telling giving more depth and background to his characters. While he still doesn't disappoint by having some rather stupid events and actions by his main characters they are a little bit deeper than the car park puddles of his earlier books. This to me shows that his writing style "matured" with each new novel.
Overall from a storyline point of view "Beware!" and "Dark Mountain" are probably the most rounded of his books that I've read so far (though I have only read his early work so there could still be better to come).
Three horrible death curses out of five.
October 9, 2024
This guy really likes boobs! Also, he has no idea how traumatic sexual assault can be. If you can get over these two things and you have a penchant for 80s late night movies then you will like this. Laymon's stories feel like your back in 1980-something and you've stayed up way past your bedtime. You clicked the remote until you landed on "skinemax" where some soft-porn thriller is on. The plot is bananas, the acting is over-the-top, there are naked women everywhere, and the soundtrack is like a vaporwave fever dream. This is what Laymon's books are to me.
October 15, 2023
DNF either stories
Not interesting and way too horny
Not interesting and way too horny
February 20, 2009
I read a half dozen or so Laymon books as a teenager and remember enjoying them so seeing the Beware/Dark Mountain double edition going cheep in the sales was an easy sell. I guess my tastes must have changed over the years.
I still like horror books and enjoy being shocked and even grossed out. But Beware which is the first book of the two really sucks ass and is about as bad a demonstration of the genre as you could have the misfortune to read.
The plot is fantastical but that’s nothing unusual with horror so no problem. The problem comes manly from the characters who are so juvenile and one dimensional as to be insulting. The scenes of sex and violence are without merit, gratuitous and presented so as to stun you with how twisted and perverted the writer can be. It’s almost like Laymon is trying for the plot around some sick ideas and set pieces rather than having it flow the other way.
For example ***spoiler*** the main character gets raped twice on two separate occasions in the first 50 pages. That’s going to be a hard sell in any circumstance but this is done clumsily and with out any thought to the definition of the characters. And with in the 72 hours of this double rape she’s worried about hurting the feelings of a stranger hitting on her. And a couple hours after that she having consensual sex with him. Clearly Laymon has never been introduced to a female ‘cos he has no idea how their minds work.
Every female is there simply for sex and to lean on the fellas for a bit of moral support. I no great supporter of feminist principles (I’m ambivalent to them) but even I felt offended by this shtick.
This ‘book’ really should never have been published it’s that bad.
****************
Let’s hope Dark Mountain is better.
****************
Dark Mountain was some small measure better. It was at least a reasonable plot and built up some anticipation/tension. However, the reliance of intertwining sex and horror/violence just seems like a twisted fantasy. Also the relationships are paper thin and only come across as written by a schoolboy. In fact I was writing this kind of thing during my English lit classes when at school.
As for his view on women…. I believe in equality and women’s rights re sex etc but am no great advocate of feminism and their arguments regarding the objectification of women. But Laymon proves any point they want to make and shows a complete lack of understanding of the female mind.
I’m not female but I’m certain that I’m 100% correct in saying that if I had just been raped, the first thing I would not do once I regain consciousness is turn to my new boyfriend and ask him to make love to me. And we are only talking a matter of minutes after the violation.
I can’t help that think that he’s pandering to those out there with rape fantasies.
I still like horror books and enjoy being shocked and even grossed out. But Beware which is the first book of the two really sucks ass and is about as bad a demonstration of the genre as you could have the misfortune to read.
The plot is fantastical but that’s nothing unusual with horror so no problem. The problem comes manly from the characters who are so juvenile and one dimensional as to be insulting. The scenes of sex and violence are without merit, gratuitous and presented so as to stun you with how twisted and perverted the writer can be. It’s almost like Laymon is trying for the plot around some sick ideas and set pieces rather than having it flow the other way.
For example ***spoiler*** the main character gets raped twice on two separate occasions in the first 50 pages. That’s going to be a hard sell in any circumstance but this is done clumsily and with out any thought to the definition of the characters. And with in the 72 hours of this double rape she’s worried about hurting the feelings of a stranger hitting on her. And a couple hours after that she having consensual sex with him. Clearly Laymon has never been introduced to a female ‘cos he has no idea how their minds work.
Every female is there simply for sex and to lean on the fellas for a bit of moral support. I no great supporter of feminist principles (I’m ambivalent to them) but even I felt offended by this shtick.
This ‘book’ really should never have been published it’s that bad.
****************
Let’s hope Dark Mountain is better.
****************
Dark Mountain was some small measure better. It was at least a reasonable plot and built up some anticipation/tension. However, the reliance of intertwining sex and horror/violence just seems like a twisted fantasy. Also the relationships are paper thin and only come across as written by a schoolboy. In fact I was writing this kind of thing during my English lit classes when at school.
As for his view on women…. I believe in equality and women’s rights re sex etc but am no great advocate of feminism and their arguments regarding the objectification of women. But Laymon proves any point they want to make and shows a complete lack of understanding of the female mind.
I’m not female but I’m certain that I’m 100% correct in saying that if I had just been raped, the first thing I would not do once I regain consciousness is turn to my new boyfriend and ask him to make love to me. And we are only talking a matter of minutes after the violation.
I can’t help that think that he’s pandering to those out there with rape fantasies.
July 18, 2014
I read this book when I was a teenager and it was the first Richard Laymon book I'd read. At the time I loved it because it was an easy transition from going to young adult fiction to adult fiction, I now look back and find them both extremely predictable and unoriginal and extremely perverted!
There is a vast amount of violent sexual content in both of the stories which I found is a frequent theme in many of Laymons works, it has all the ingredients for a film a bunch of teenage boys would enjoy watching.
I think if your looking for a sophisticated read with some interesting thought provoking content and character depth give this a miss, it's an easy read for someone looking for a fast paced horror full of cheap thrills and sex scenes.
There is a vast amount of violent sexual content in both of the stories which I found is a frequent theme in many of Laymons works, it has all the ingredients for a film a bunch of teenage boys would enjoy watching.
I think if your looking for a sophisticated read with some interesting thought provoking content and character depth give this a miss, it's an easy read for someone looking for a fast paced horror full of cheap thrills and sex scenes.
September 8, 2016
Why I read to the end of this rubbish I will never know!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews