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Daddy's Little Girl
NO ONE COULD FIND HER
NO ONE COULD SAVE HER
Sweet, innocent Deirdre was missing. But no one in the small, quiet town of Burton wanted to find her. They had waited a long time for the perfect sacrifice. And now they had found it…
SHE COULDN'T HEAR IT
SHE COULDN'T SEE IT
But she could feel it. The breath of darkness along her tender flesh. The eyes of the beast piercing her heart. Deirdre cried out in terror. For she knew that when the evil entered her soul she would never again be
DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL
NO ONE COULD SAVE HER
Sweet, innocent Deirdre was missing. But no one in the small, quiet town of Burton wanted to find her. They had waited a long time for the perfect sacrifice. And now they had found it…
SHE COULDN'T HEAR IT
SHE COULDN'T SEE IT
But she could feel it. The breath of darkness along her tender flesh. The eyes of the beast piercing her heart. Deirdre cried out in terror. For she knew that when the evil entered her soul she would never again be
DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL
333 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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175 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 27, 2021
3.5 or so~
Daddy's Little Girl finds itself among the 'skeleton farm' ranks—those deliciously tacky horror covers (high in calcium) used by Zebra Books in the 80s—this one published in 1985. What sets Daddy's Little Girl apart from the others is its author, Daniel Ransom, which is actually a pen name for crime et al. author Ed Gorman, elevating the material by way of solid prose. The plot finds a father and daughter, Adam and Deidre, on their first vacation together since the divorce, stopping off in the small town of Burton to find a room for the night. After checking into a motel, Adam returns to find the car empty; Deidre nowhere in sight. Not long after, Sheriff Wayman assembles a search party in the dead of night, his deputies, the townspeople, and their dogs, all searching for the missing girl. It's only a short matter of time before the interest in finding Deidre starts to wane. Soon indifference rears its head. So with the help of the only journalist in town, Adam begins to unravel the beginnings of a dark and terrifying web of conspiracy at the rotten core of Burton.
Daddy's Little Girl can best be summed up to a horror reader as Ed Gorman's Laymon experiment. Which is to say, one can curiously compare the overarching plot of Daddy's Little Girl to the plots of The Woods are Dark (1981) and The Cellar (1980) combined, both authored by splatterpunk den mother, Richard Laymon, which makes me wonder about the character of Sheriff Wayman and the origin of his name. At the risk of being what some might call "a stretch," Ed Gorman also posted reviews and recommendations for Richard Laymon novels on his personal blog, an admitted fan. Daddy's Little Girl never reaches the levels of depravity that its bolder cousins would, almost effortlessly, I might add, but it fashions itself into a strong, solid thriller worthy of a recommendation. Where Laymon would rile and titillate with his brand of savage buffoonery, Gorman instead decides to engage the reader in a show of terrible strength, leaning more towards convincing, harrowing brutality.
While much can be said in praise of Daddy's Little Girl, especially its dissimilarity of quality coming from the Zebra imprint, it suffers from a mixed cast of characters; you have an absolute delight like Richard, an intellectually disabled vagrant, who made worms meat of me in three pages. You get a dozen unremarkable yokels outside of that, and the main cast of characters are only deemed essential out of necessity to drive the narrative. A scene of extreme, unpredictable sexual violence shows its face in the late-game, which understandably divides readers. While I can agree Ed Gorman plotted it clumsily, I can't deny its impact on me and how I took the book in as a whole. In summation, Daddy's Little Girl is a solid and engaging thriller with a targeted bite, an uneven cast of characters, and a cover whose contents don't match—in my mind, a Richard Laymon fanzine novelized and censored.
Daddy's Little Girl finds itself among the 'skeleton farm' ranks—those deliciously tacky horror covers (high in calcium) used by Zebra Books in the 80s—this one published in 1985. What sets Daddy's Little Girl apart from the others is its author, Daniel Ransom, which is actually a pen name for crime et al. author Ed Gorman, elevating the material by way of solid prose. The plot finds a father and daughter, Adam and Deidre, on their first vacation together since the divorce, stopping off in the small town of Burton to find a room for the night. After checking into a motel, Adam returns to find the car empty; Deidre nowhere in sight. Not long after, Sheriff Wayman assembles a search party in the dead of night, his deputies, the townspeople, and their dogs, all searching for the missing girl. It's only a short matter of time before the interest in finding Deidre starts to wane. Soon indifference rears its head. So with the help of the only journalist in town, Adam begins to unravel the beginnings of a dark and terrifying web of conspiracy at the rotten core of Burton.
Daddy's Little Girl can best be summed up to a horror reader as Ed Gorman's Laymon experiment. Which is to say, one can curiously compare the overarching plot of Daddy's Little Girl to the plots of The Woods are Dark (1981) and The Cellar (1980) combined, both authored by splatterpunk den mother, Richard Laymon, which makes me wonder about the character of Sheriff Wayman and the origin of his name. At the risk of being what some might call "a stretch," Ed Gorman also posted reviews and recommendations for Richard Laymon novels on his personal blog, an admitted fan. Daddy's Little Girl never reaches the levels of depravity that its bolder cousins would, almost effortlessly, I might add, but it fashions itself into a strong, solid thriller worthy of a recommendation. Where Laymon would rile and titillate with his brand of savage buffoonery, Gorman instead decides to engage the reader in a show of terrible strength, leaning more towards convincing, harrowing brutality.
While much can be said in praise of Daddy's Little Girl, especially its dissimilarity of quality coming from the Zebra imprint, it suffers from a mixed cast of characters; you have an absolute delight like Richard, an intellectually disabled vagrant, who made worms meat of me in three pages. You get a dozen unremarkable yokels outside of that, and the main cast of characters are only deemed essential out of necessity to drive the narrative. A scene of extreme, unpredictable sexual violence shows its face in the late-game, which understandably divides readers. While I can agree Ed Gorman plotted it clumsily, I can't deny its impact on me and how I took the book in as a whole. In summation, Daddy's Little Girl is a solid and engaging thriller with a targeted bite, an uneven cast of characters, and a cover whose contents don't match—in my mind, a Richard Laymon fanzine novelized and censored.
January 17, 2015
Another mostly enjoyable Daniel Ransom aka Ed Gorman horror extravaganza. Extremely fun, suspenseful and likeable right up until the climax which involves some unneeded rape. Besides the unfortunate and out of place rape scenes, this is a good read. Gorman aka Ransom's prose is yet again too good for the material. I'll definitely be reading more Ransom books.
May 21, 2025
A teenager disappears in a small town whilst her father is booking in to a motel.
Soon him and the owner of the local newspaper discover the town’s dirty little secret and the terrible pact that had been made
Soon him and the owner of the local newspaper discover the town’s dirty little secret and the terrible pact that had been made
March 9, 2019
I expected more. The cover of this book is very misleading.
December 25, 2021
Since I discovered Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix earlier this year (I know I’m late to the game) I have been trying to find and read as many vintage horror paperbacks as possible. Most people say that these vintage paperbacks are nothing but cheesy, B rated novels. However, Daddy’s Little Girl was actually pretty damn good. I wouldn’t call it a horror novel though. It was definitely suspenseful and wildly entertaining but definitely not a horror novel. That being said still a good read. It’s a mystery that leaves you questioning and wandering until the last few pages. I’m my top 5 books I’ve read in 2021.
May 21, 2012
This book wasn't awful. "Lackluster" is a better word for it. Anyone who enjoys hack horror books (like I do) will probably find it entertaining, if not entirely satisfying. The story was quite predictable. The "nothing-bad-will-happen" vibe was quite strong too. One of the only really positive things I can say about the writing is that a few of the characters were well-done, though this book lapsed into unrealistic teenage-girl dialogue quite a few times.
Basically, it wasn't particularly gruesome, twisted, or well-written. It was still fun to read because I like throw-away horror novels, but this one definitely has no re-readability.
Basically, it wasn't particularly gruesome, twisted, or well-written. It was still fun to read because I like throw-away horror novels, but this one definitely has no re-readability.
September 30, 2011
Once I realized the cover, blurbs, and printed story description displayed on the Zebra edition of the book had nothing to do with the actual story within it, I found it enjoyable. Nice quick read. Just don't go out and pay full retail price because then it may leave something to be desired. Instead, pick it up used from Amazon or from the local library if they carry it.
June 11, 2011
This book was as close to a greek tragedy as you can get. Got plot but horrible story line...nothing but 100% let down
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews