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Strange Seed #5
Laughing Man
Jack Erthmun does not believe that the dead actually speak to him, but in their own way they tell him so much. Jack is a New York City police detective with his own very peculiar ways of solving homicides, and those ways are beginning to frighten his colleagues. He gets results, but at what cost? What's happening to Jack Erthmun?
This may be Jack's last case. He's assigned to a series of unspeakable killings, gruesome murders with details that make even seasoned detectives queasy. But as he goes deeper into the facts of the case, facts that make it seem no human killer can be involved, Jack begins to get more and more erratic. Is it the case that's affecting Jack? Or is it something else, something no one even dares to consider?
This may be Jack's last case. He's assigned to a series of unspeakable killings, gruesome murders with details that make even seasoned detectives queasy. But as he goes deeper into the facts of the case, facts that make it seem no human killer can be involved, Jack begins to get more and more erratic. Is it the case that's affecting Jack? Or is it something else, something no one even dares to consider?
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
2 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
About the author
T.M. Wright
63 books64 followersTerrance Michael Wright (AKA T. M. Wright) is best known as a writer of horror fiction, speculative fiction, and poetry. He has written over 25 novels, novellas, and short stories over the last 40 years. His first novel, 1978's Strange Seed, was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, and his 2003 novel Cold House was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. His novels have been translated into many different languages around the world. His works have been reviewed by Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, and many genre magazines.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
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April 12, 2024What am I reading? Not this. Dnf.
June 21, 2025
he is a strange sort of detective. he repeats your phrases back to you without realizing it; he hears the dead speak; he moves faster than a human should move. he has a certain kind of kinship with the serial killer roaming the city.
she is a strange sort of serial killer. she wanders the night; she slashes bodies open with her fingertips; she stuffs chocolate into their mouths. she is but one of a number of such predators - several such hungry killers roam about.
they are a strange sort of predator. they thought of themselves as human, once, then they woke up, into their new selves; they kill at will, and sometimes they feed on what they've killed; they disappear from rooms or walk through walls or explode into fountains of blood, leaving no flesh behind. they are all impossible to understand without reading the author's prior books in this series, despite how disconnected this surreal detective yarn is from everything that came before.
he is a strange sort of author. he wrote of weird and unknowable beings, born of the earth, and to the earth they will return; strange seeds from nature herself, lonely little beings that scamper and kill; little seeds that may grow into what looks like a human, into a detective or a killer, but are quite far from being human indeed. Laughing Man is off-kilter, dreamlike, abrupt, melancholy, brutal... it is an odd ending to an odd series... even its title confuses, no one laughs in this book, not really, although jokes are told by the detective, weird unfunny little jokes.
this is a strange sort of book.
she is a strange sort of serial killer. she wanders the night; she slashes bodies open with her fingertips; she stuffs chocolate into their mouths. she is but one of a number of such predators - several such hungry killers roam about.
they are a strange sort of predator. they thought of themselves as human, once, then they woke up, into their new selves; they kill at will, and sometimes they feed on what they've killed; they disappear from rooms or walk through walls or explode into fountains of blood, leaving no flesh behind. they are all impossible to understand without reading the author's prior books in this series, despite how disconnected this surreal detective yarn is from everything that came before.
he is a strange sort of author. he wrote of weird and unknowable beings, born of the earth, and to the earth they will return; strange seeds from nature herself, lonely little beings that scamper and kill; little seeds that may grow into what looks like a human, into a detective or a killer, but are quite far from being human indeed. Laughing Man is off-kilter, dreamlike, abrupt, melancholy, brutal... it is an odd ending to an odd series... even its title confuses, no one laughs in this book, not really, although jokes are told by the detective, weird unfunny little jokes.
this is a strange sort of book.
October 2, 2020
A weird book. A book that actively defies expectations and yet is oddly compelling. It’s a sort of horror detective story and yet also a kind of dark fantasy. Weird things happen and then more weird things happen, some pretty scary imagery and maybe one of the most idiosyncratic protagonists I’ve seen in a while. And the book refuses to label its events, or tie them together in an easy way. Yet, somehow, it’s as it should be. It’s an existential horror novel about being human. You can see a Ramsey Campbell-esque quality to it, and yet it’s even more cryptic. It just is what it is. Laughing Man is the literary equivalent to counter programming. It’s weird. It makes the reader question weirdness itself and I think, it’s all there really, it’s just not the story you thought it would tell.
November 23, 2011
There is a strange hypnotic quality to T.M.Wright's work. It's sort of held together by dream logic as in when you dream and have the most bizarre dream and things makes sense so long as you're dreaming, but once you wake up and try to recall the events and the reasons behind it, it doesn't really make sense. It's definitely something one has to be in the mood for, but I must have been, because I liked this book, despite its oddness and vagueness. I even liked the ending and found it quite profound, although it didn't have as much of a resolution as I would have normally preferred. And seriously, how awesome is that cover? Hurray for the long gone glory days of leisure horror publishing. This one is tough to recommend, but I enjoyed the book.
After some googling, found out that this book is actually #5 in series...that would have been nice to know or have mentioned somewhere on the cover, but oh well, it read well enough as a stand alone.
After some googling, found out that this book is actually #5 in series...that would have been nice to know or have mentioned somewhere on the cover, but oh well, it read well enough as a stand alone.
July 29, 2020
This book appeared in the U.K. in 1995 under the title of Erthmun, but wasn't available in the U.S. until 2003. It features a New York homicide detective who talks with ghosts investigating a series of very grisly murders and the changes he undergoes. It's written in the strange kind of leisurely dream-like style that was Wright's trademark, but tends to wander rather further afield than his other books. It also shares a setting with his very early four Strange Seed books, but I see it as more of a coda to that group than as a linear part of the series. I was vaguely displeased with the ending, which wasn't resolute enough for my taste, but I enjoyed the story and the writing up to that point. The characters were quite well portrayed. The cover is very striking, perhaps the most memorable that Wright ever got, a sort of Jack Nicholson as The Joker over-the-top thing.
December 14, 2014
I got to chapter 25 and I had to give up. This one was just not holding my attention. A cop who talks to ghosts, I thought it would be a good read. Unfortunately, not.
March 19, 2022
"The Laughing Man" or "Erthmun" is the final book in the Strange Seed Saga. And, what a sad way to end such a great read. I say this with real sorrow, and here's why.
Book One of the novel is great. We are introduced to Erthmun and his partner Patricia. He is the lead detective, and she has been assigned to him. Unluckily for Patricia, Erthmun is a very strange character indeed. He oftentimes repeats other people's words in conversation. He speaks to the dead and has a peculiar way of reading a crime scene. As she becomes more involved in his private life, she notes that his eccentricities don't stop at work. It's this relationship that drives the story so well. And the story gets better when Wright adds in the Chocolate Murderer mystery.
What this book offers is the next step in the Strange Seed mythos. Because Erthmun, as you may have guessed, is not entirely human. Could he be one of the Eath Folk? I won't tell you here because it would spoil the story should you decide to read the book, as it is the only decent twist in the tale.
However, then comes Book Two in the novel, and everything gets messy, confusing, and wasted. Gone is the Chocolate Murderer mystery - with no suspect found. And, Wright moves us on a few weeks and onto another weird event plaguing the area. One handled so poorly that it becomes absurd. The whole second half of the book feels rushed and adds nothing of too much interest for the reader.
Sadly, Erthmun - The Laughing Man could have been a great way to end the series, but it isn't, and I was left unhappy. Be aware that you do not need to read this book to complete the series, I feel The People of The Dark is a much better way to leave the saga, as it takes the reader full-circle.
Take Care, Stay Well, And Make Love Not War.
Book One of the novel is great. We are introduced to Erthmun and his partner Patricia. He is the lead detective, and she has been assigned to him. Unluckily for Patricia, Erthmun is a very strange character indeed. He oftentimes repeats other people's words in conversation. He speaks to the dead and has a peculiar way of reading a crime scene. As she becomes more involved in his private life, she notes that his eccentricities don't stop at work. It's this relationship that drives the story so well. And the story gets better when Wright adds in the Chocolate Murderer mystery.
What this book offers is the next step in the Strange Seed mythos. Because Erthmun, as you may have guessed, is not entirely human. Could he be one of the Eath Folk? I won't tell you here because it would spoil the story should you decide to read the book, as it is the only decent twist in the tale.
However, then comes Book Two in the novel, and everything gets messy, confusing, and wasted. Gone is the Chocolate Murderer mystery - with no suspect found. And, Wright moves us on a few weeks and onto another weird event plaguing the area. One handled so poorly that it becomes absurd. The whole second half of the book feels rushed and adds nothing of too much interest for the reader.
Sadly, Erthmun - The Laughing Man could have been a great way to end the series, but it isn't, and I was left unhappy. Be aware that you do not need to read this book to complete the series, I feel The People of The Dark is a much better way to leave the saga, as it takes the reader full-circle.
Take Care, Stay Well, And Make Love Not War.
November 30, 2025
TM Wright is definitely not for everyone but I am constantly amazed by his sublime weirdness. His novels Strange Seed and Manhattan Ghost Story are the most accessible. If you don't like those, you probably won't like the others. As stories, The Woman Next Door, The Playground, and Carlisle Street are messy but compelling. I didn't care for Sleepeasy, but the ending has stayed with me. And then there's Laughing Man--a loose, distant descendant of Strange Seed. Ignore the title and the cover art; they have nothing to do with anything. As I read, I was convinced I was reading an elaborate metaphor about the inhumanity of sociopathic killers. (A different breed. not born of woman, but of the earth...) But like all of Wright's books, this is ultimately about the mysteries and madness of life on earth, as imagined--and believed--by a very unique writer.
December 29, 2015
Erthmun demonstrates both the strength and the weakness of many of T M Wright's books, in my opinion. His writing style is slightly odd, but once you settle in, it actually suits the subject matter perfectly, helping to create the compelling and eerie storyline and the world in which it takes place. This is one of Mr Wright's strengths - the ability to draw you in and build a slightly unsettling atmosphere in which to tell his story. His characters, too, tend to fit this atmosphere. Erthmun, for example, is surely one of the strangest and most fascinating detectives in fiction. I would like to read more about him. All the preceding are strengths of T M Wright's writing, and why I keep returning to his books. The only thing that stops this particular book getting 5 stars, is the ending. It is faintly unsatisfying, not quite giving the complete ending I was looking for. This is something I have found in several of his books and, therefore, is the one weakness I would identify. But it's not much of a weakness and certainly would never stop me reading more of his books. And it shouldn't stop you either. Erthmun is an excellent, unsettling, eerie book and well worth your time and money.
October 10, 2020
This book was terrible, it didn’t have a proper ending to it nothing was resolved. There were so many characters added every time he added a character he did it just to avoid actually telling a proper story! Would not recommend
June 2, 2017
It was an interesting read but be prepared the ending just stops abruptly.
October 17, 2023
It was weird,but I liked it
March 5, 2013
This is a really weird book. There are a million separate threads in it- a cop who's going insane, a serial killer, weird humanlike creatures in the woods, a criminal who eats people, ANOTHER serial killer who isn't human, etc. I kept wondering how the author was going to tie everything together and explain it so that it all made sense- and he didn't! He just left everything completely confusing and weird. I hate that. I would give this one star, just for the ending, but the truth was I liked the book up until then. then only thing is, I found out that this was number five in a series. So presumably that explains why nothing is explained. Frustrating..I wish I'd known that before I read this. So I would say, definitely read the earlier books in this series first, unless you are willing to read something that does not make much sense. .Other than that, the writing was so compelling and the story really had me hooked, so I immediately went to amazon and bought two of the other books in the series. I am looking forward to reading them on kindle.
July 14, 2013
A very strange book that's kind of hard to get into your head. The main character, Jack Erthman, is really off as a human being, and it's easy to like him and hard to like him at the same time. I don't know about the wisdom of having a protagonist with echolalia, since it gets really annoying. Not only that, but at many times, it makes this book look like a vaudeville act. However, it fits very well with the plot, and it leads to not only one, but two very creepy scenes. This book is definitely an odd ball, and it's worth looking into. Mileage may vary, though. Keep an open mind.
Want to read
August 28, 2011Stephen King recommended author: "T.M. Wright is a rare and blazing talent!"
Want to read
December 21, 2012Stephen King recommended author: "T.M. Wright is a rare and blazing talent!"
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September 7, 2013The audiobook of Laughing Man is now on sale! What a trip it was producing and narrating it. I hope you'll check it out!
Richard Henzel
Richard Henzel
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews