railroad yards in search of victims. It was a surpris-
ingly impressive debut and popular enough that the
publisher placed advertisements in the British sub-
way system. The frightening images apparently un-
settled enough patrons that they were eventually
removed, but only after the publicity provided a
healthy boost to Laws’s early career.
Spectre(1986) was not as overtly horrifying
but was even more suspenseful. A group of friends
begin to die off in unexpected ways, and after each
death the image of that person disappears from a
group photograph. They are apparently under the
threat of a supernatural curse whose nature the
survivors must discover before their turn comes.
The Wyrm(1987) was not quite as good as the first
two, a modified vampire story about a creature
that draws energy from the living when it is re-
leased from imprisonment beneath a gallows.
Although Laws continued to enjoy some
success in England, the collapse of the horror
field by 1990 had cost him his American pub-
lisher, although his books have recently begun to
appear in the United States once again. The
Frighteners(1990) is relatively minor, but Darkfall
(1992) is a very effective chiller about a freak
storm that causes several people to somehow
merge with the building they are sheltering in,
resulting in a terrifying transformation. Gideon
(1993) is another unremarkable vampire varia-
tion, but Macabre(1994), the story of a satanic
cult and its quest to sacrifice the perfect child, is
exceptionally well done.
The author’s last few novels have been more
technically impressive than his previous work but
less exceptional in their plots and images. Dae-
monic (1995) is an entertaining but undistin-
guished haunted house story, and Chasm(1997)
pits a sketchily described isolated community
against a supernatural menace. Somewhere South of
Midnight(1996) describes the aftermath of a terri-
ble automobile accident whose survivors develop
the ability to kill or cure with a touch and is the
best of his recent work. Laws’s short fiction is con-
sistently well done but rarely outstanding. Most of
it has been collected in Voyages into Night(1993)
and The Midnight Man(1999). He is a steady, reli-
able writer whose best work is highly original and
carries a powerful emotional impact.
Laymon, Richard(1947–2001)
Richard Laymon established his basic style with his
first novel, The Cellar(1980), a story in which the
human characters are nearly as repulsive as the in-
human ones. The title location is underneath a
tourist attraction, a building where a brutal and
mysterious crime was committed some years be-
fore. A woman fleeing an abusive husband arrives
there along with her daughter, unaware that a
species of humanoid beast lies in concealment,
ready to murder any intruding men and sexually
enslave any women that happen within their
reach. Although somewhat over the top and occa-
sionally awkward, the powerful imagery make it
memorable, and Laymon would eventually provide
three sequels. The Beast House(1986) is basically a
reprise of the first story with a new cast of charac-
ters. The Midnight Tour(1998) and Friday Night in
Beast House(2001) are both similar but with the
sexual content even more prominent. The last title
also adds an element of twisted humor.
Laymon’s other early novels are considerably
less successful. The Woods Are Dark(1981) in-
volves a lurking creature eventually described
offhandedly as an alien visitor. Bits and pieces of
the story are quite effective, but it is oddly paced
and sometimes almost incoherent. Out Are the
Lights(1982) makes use of a promising premise,
special effects at a movie theater that turn out to
be real, but does little with the idea. Beware!
(1985) shows some improvement. The female pro-
tagonist is bedeviled by an invisible creature whose
presence only she can detect. Several uninteresting
titles, including one for young adults, followed be-
fore Laymon hit his stride, producing several excel-
lent horror novels in a very short period of time.
The best of Laymon’s many novels is Flesh
(1986), which involves a species of parasite that
compels its human hosts to commit acts of increas-
ing savagery and barbarism, eventually leading to
murder and self-mutilation. The story line is neatly
contrived and executed, alternating suspense and
horror to keep the reader constantly on edge. Tread
Softly, originally published in 1986 as The Dark
Mountainunder the pen name Richard Kelly, de-
scribes the unfortunate consequences of annoying
a practicing witch. A party of campers does so, but
after they have returned to their normal lives, a se-206 Laymon, Richard