Book Review

The Cellar by Richard Laymon

This book, in fact, was written after he read a book by Stephen King, and it soon became his first best selling novel, with which he detached from his previous nasty, dark suspense thrillers, veering toward the supernatural horror. He decided to come up with a new sort of evil being, rather than build a novel around standardized phenomena like vampires or werewolves. The 'beast' was the result. The Cellar was also inspired by visits to a couple of California tourist attractions: the Hearst Castle and the Winchester House. The original title for the book, besides, was Beast House. Unfortunately for him, the John Belushi film, Animal House, came along so Laymon's U.S. publisher decided to change the title, even though Laymon himself never thought highly of the choice. This is also showed by the fact that later, in the mid '80s, he released Beast House, intended as a sequel to The Cellar. Again, things didn't turn out exactly in the expected way, since Beast House wasn't actually marketed as a sequel. The Cellar sold well over 200,000 copies, it ended up on the B. Dalton bestseller for a month and it was even chosen as one of the 100 Best Horror Novels of All Time edited by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman.

My Review
The Cellar is actually telling 3 different sides to the story, which all start joining together. Main characters are Donna and Sandy Hayes (mother and daughter) who go on the run from her ex husband. They end up in a town which has a Beast House...a tourist attraction because of all the murders that happened there over the years. Judgement Rucker and Larry Maywood happen to meet and Larry seeks help from Judgement about a past experience, which then helps them meet with Donna and Sandy. Roy is Donna's ex husband and throughout the book, he's looking to find her... I started reading this book lastnight (well, this morning) at about 2am. I finished the book at 6:30am. I just couldnt put it down. it kept me gribbed throughout. I highly suggest this book for anyone who's into reading supernatural horror books...even thoughs who arent into those types of books. Richard Laymon, in my opinion, is an amazing writer and this isnt the first book I've read of his. The other kept me gripped to. I suggested it to other people and they also loved it. One person who isnt into this type of book, has now started buying the others he has written. So, go out and buy it or head down the local library. The Cellar It's a must read! (thanks to Rachi for suggesting Richard Laymon books to me)