The Cellar (Beast House Book 1)

In the small California town of Malcasa Point lies "the Beast House," an old mansion turned tourist attraction where a series of murders have been committed by a murderous creature that supposedly comes out at night. Donna and her young daughter Sandy, both on the run from Donna's sexually and physically abusive ex-husband Roy, end up in the town after their car crashes nearby. They meet up with Judgment "Jud" Rucker and Larry Maywood; the latter is a survivor of an attack from the beast, and the former is a mercenary/assassin hired to take the beast down. The team investigates just what is really going on in Beast House, while at the same time Roy hunts down Donna and Sandy, intending on punishing them for putting him away in jail.As far as horrors and thrillers go, "The Cellar" is an entertaining read. The story goes one way, then another, leading to a rather shocking conclusion that (without giving too much away) reads sort of like something out of hentai. There are enough Beast attacks to keep you interested, as well as plot twists or reveals to make you wonder what's going to happen next. It's a simple read, and my interest was peaked enough that I literally read it in just two days.Characters, for the most part, are pretty bland. When Donna and Jud meet, they instantly fall in love, and literally that same day Jud is talking as if Donna is "the one." Sandy sometimes talks like a child, and at other times throws in words or phrases that sound like someone much older. Ironically, some of the more minor characters felt more real to me than the major ones, save perhaps for Jud (but even then, sometimes it seemed like the only difference between him and Roy was one was the hero and the other wasn't). Also amusing to me was how characters seem COMPLETELY INCOMPETENT when faced against the Beast. In one scene a policeman meets the beast with a shotgun, but is apparently unable to get a shot off even though he's already aiming and the Beast has some distance between the two. Also Jud, who is a skilled mercenary, keeps tumbling and falling over when fighting the Beast, as if he's some character out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Ironically, Donna - who is just a regular mother with no combat experience - handles herself with a gun and in a fight better than most of the male characters with combat training or expertise.Perhaps most shocking for me was the pedophilia found in the book. Roy is a pedophile who sexually abused Sandy at a young age, and who, during his search for his wife and daughter, kidnaps and regularly rapes a 9-year old girl. The rape itself is never described (merely hinted at), but there are a few scenes of molestation described. As the father of a young girl myself, these scenes were more disturbing to me than anything involving the Beast, and I found myself skimming those chapters. I understand Laymon himself wasn't a pedophile (in fact, he too had a daughter), and he was probably trying to ramp up just HOW BAD the character of Roy was, but it was still unsettling. It's probably why I rate this book as 3-stars rather than 4-stars. I have to also mention that I found it just a LITTLE contrived that, after physically abusing his wife and sexually assaulting a six-year old, Roy would get out of prison after just a few years, and based on good behavior. Really? I know our justice system isn't perfect, but come on!Overall, the book's plot, believability, and character development reads like a SyFy Channel original movie. If you're looking for a horror/thriller romp that isn't afraid to disgust you at times, this is probably up your alley. It's not perfect by far, but it can be a casual read for fans of this genre.

Seeing as I am usually looking for a scary horror novel, and have read quite a few authors in the genre, it is perhaps a bit of a surprise that I haven't read any Richard Laymon yet. He is known amongst aficionados as having kicked off the "splatterpunk" movement and has a reputation of going to some extreme places. At least in the case of this book, there are both positives and negatives that go along with that. We follow a woman and daughter on the run from her violent, child-abusing ex-husband, who for some reason has been released from prison. Her flight causes her to come across a small town with an old house that has a very grisly history, and which allegedly houses a vicious, light-averse beast. She also runs into 2 men who are out to catch and kill the monster. There are some genuinely tense moments here, particularly inside the "Beast House", and the subplot following the ex-husband on her trail leads to some violent frights, but this is also where one of the biggest problems arises. A very concerning amount of detail is given to his molestation of a young girl. I understand that it is a thing that really happens, and that it gives him a further sense of evil and menace, and I don't even have a problem with it as a plot point, but the level of detail is troubling enough that it actually took me out of the story while it was happening, and made me question if I wanted to even finish reading. The writing itself also felt somewhat amateurish many times, the characters were thinly developed at best and were also prone to incredibly stupid decisions (why would they keep leaving the daughter unguarded for extended periods of time while knowing of the dangers she was facing?). Despite that though, it kept me in enough suspense to keep reading, and even had me creeped out enough to check the locks on the doors, so that's something.

THE CELLAR Richard Laymon Kindle EditionYou either like Laymon's work or hate it, I do not believe there is much ground between.The Cellar is classic Laymon, with lots of blood suspense and a disturbing sexual under tow. If you like this authors work then you will like this novel, just when you think that you have the storyline figured out, it twists and hurtles into a surprise ending.I had not read this particular book for several years and had forgotten whole sections so it was almost fresh to re-read.

Someone wrote that this book was utter rubbish but I totally disagree! OK, it is a bit different, well, alot, but as you read through it,you just can't put it down. The ending was a real surprise!! I am really enjoying the sequal to it now, "The Midnight Tour". This is totally different to the books I usually read but I think that's what makes it so interesting and enjoyable. I would highly recommend "The Midnight Tour" even though I haven't finished it yet. Can't wait to get stuck back into it. Diane, Tamworth

Fun reading this for sure but I found myself slightly confused at times. Just so much going on and so many characters .The overall story was alright. A woman soon leaves town with her daughter after she learns of her abusive pedophile ex husband's release. They feeling lucky when a kind stranger brings them to a motel but soon they encounter problems unlike anything they could have dreamed of.Towards the end you're left wondering,"But what are they"?

Was described well. Would purchase again. Good price.

I have been reading Bentley Little books for a little over a year now and was looking for an author who was similar. I had come across many articles and blogs sayingt that Richard Laymon's style was similar. I thought this book was OK in comparison to Bentley Little's work. Richard Laymon spent a lot of this book on telling the story of a pedophile's actions in a very blunt and almost disturbing way. These parts of the book did nothing to enhance or add to the overall plot. Even the main character (the mother) wasn't someone i would look up to or call a heroine. She always seemed to need a mans attention. Kind of disappointing. Didn't much care for the characters but the story was interesting and i finished the book. I am undecided about whether I will try reading another one of Laymon's novels. Might just have to go back to Bentley Little!