I found Laymon for the first time in a borders bookstore in 2008. I was hooked off the bat. His ability to push to the limits and stay true to his stories isn’t celebrated enough. It’s been years since I saw one of his books in stores and it makes me sad. Don’t let this author fade away! It’s been my mission to collect every book he’s wrote now that they are not readily available. RIP Richard. Than you for the scares.
Rest in peace, Richard. Your no holds barred horror inspired me to start writing and if anything I write can be published it will be in your memory. You did horror how it was supposed to be done and for that I say thank you.
As a wannabe writer this fine gentleman taught me two very important things. Never give up and never puss out. RIP Mr. Laymon, a true master of the craft.
This is a treasure. It's hard to find anything on Laymon besides his books. I'm so glad I had a chance to watch this and get to understand a little about the person behind such macabre work. Loved it and thanks for sharing.
Of all the years searching, I finally find an interview with my favourite horror author that ever lived! Its great finally see what he was like as a person. RIP Richard Laymon. You are still sorely missed
Just a memoir... I got into Laymon's book by chance. In the mid-90's - my teenage years - I was a huge fan of Stephen King but wanted a different voice. I saw a few Laymon books at my newsagency and took a chance on Dark Mountain, basically because it had a 'camping' setting and I was an avid camper. I was immediately hooked. I bought all of his books I could find (the newsagency had several more and the local secondhand bookstore had them coming and going continually), and as I now I have read all his novels - the ones published under his own name, anyway - except 2, After Midnight and Cuts. I didn't even know Cuts existed until a few days ago. I was saddened to learn of Laymon's death, and angry at myself that I didn't learn of it until he had been gone 3 years already and although I had been buying the posthumous releases, just didn't bother to read the 'about the author' page. I didn't know the man, but I miss him terribly. He made me laugh, he made me scared, he made me sick, and I loved every minute of it. As an aside, my public library used to have a copy of A Writer's Tale and I managed to read about half of it (not sure why I didn't read it all - probably outstanding fines I couldn't afford to pay). Before I got a chance to borrow it, someone stole it. Odd book for a public library in Melbourne, Australia to have in it's general collection. Just wanted to share.
@@Terminate1101 Yup, I'm in Melbourne. Must confess One Rainy Night was one of my least favourites. A bit too nihilistic and plotless for my liking. A slasher movie on paper
True story: In the fall 1979 ... I was in 9th grade at John Adams Jr. High School in Santa Monica California. There was a librarian in the school, and he was kind of quiet, and some of us (me included) mocked him and said "Lamer" ... "DICK lamer" That Christmas my older cousin read this book and afterwards game it to me ... The Cellar. I read it and enjoyed it a lot. I looked at the cover, and saw the title ... Richard Laymon ... and I thought "no fucking way". Anyhow after X-mas break at school, I went up to him and showed him the book and asked if this was him. He said yes, and I told him that I enjoyed it a lot. I asked him if he'd autograph it, and I was expecting him to say "no" because I was one who teased him, but he signed it anyway. Afterwards when others started to tease him, I would stop it and showed them the book. All the teasing stopped and he became quite famous at the school. The following year I went to Santa Monica High school and never thought about him ever again until tonight. I'm sorry to learn that he had passed .... I was going to reach out to him and say hi. ~~~~~~~~~~
Very cool story, man. I'm his daughter. Is it okay if I repost this (without your name) to his fan sites? He's still going strong out there even though he's been gone over 15 years. ~Kelly Laymon
Kelly Laymon I discovered your fathers books shortly after becoming hooked on Dean Koontz, your Dad really knew how to drive a story forward, exhilarating, sometimes brutal, but always incredibly entertaining. consumers of fiction have been blessed by his work, as I'm sure you've been equally blessed by having such a great father and role model to be proud of. Do you write?
Love reading laymon, he's an absolute genius. Half way through " NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER and still loads to read, I've never been so hooked on an author. RIP my friend thanks for the great reading. If anyone knows of any movies based on laymon's writing It would be much appreciated thanks.
+James Stewart I've been reading Laymon recently too. I read plenty (17 of his books so far) and I've never quite read anything like him. He is by far the most entertaining writer I have ever read. No one comes close.
Night in the Lonesome October is so good!! His wild tendencies are a little more tame on that one, and I actually really prefer it that way, a lot of his stuff is too hardcore for me
That book is SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!! I am always in my eyes.. the hero BOY that gets the girl.. thing is.. in most cases.. i can remember being the age of the kids in his books and having adventures at night with girls... never did they devolve into the absolute nightmare that his books goto.. but it didnt stop me from projecting myself into those stories every single time.. OMG!! Just the title brings back so many memories!!!
The first Laymon novel I read was called The Island. I was instantly hooked on his style of writing and greedily sought out his entire back catalogue, devouring them all in just over a year. I did the same with James Herbert after reading the Rats. Herbert and Laymon are quite different writers in terms of style, though they both are highly addictive and once you sample their work, you,re an instant fan.
I love sitting down to start a Richard Laymon novel - there's no writer like him. He's so much fun, so underrated. Don't think he's done a real bad stinker. You love all his characters, even the really nasty ones (especially the really nasty ones haha)
Sadly gone too soon. Him and SK are my top 2 horror/psycho-thriller-crime novelists of all time, yet I find his work always keeps me awake every single page, unlike SK where there are huge stretches of a novel that would bore me to death. Laymon was hugely underrated and highly missed.
Exactly! Tried reading Salem’s lot by Stephen King, ended up reading and am reading now One Rainy Night by Richard Laymon, its an amazing novel compared to the long drawn out steohen king descriptions imo.
Brilliant to hear Laymon say about not holding back and thats what makes his characters the most demented. Simon from Endless Night was one of his worst psychotic characters. Fantastic reading that In the dark production was great. I sure wish they had made his films into movies Funland would have been great on the big screen. RIP to a horror legend. 😢
When i was 13 my mum gave me BEWARE!!! to read.. over the next 4 years i read every single book of his i could find.. (he was very much alive then) when he died it came as a massive shock.. i still remember my wife finding out on some horror site that he had been dead almost a year.. i broke down in floods of tears.. this really surprised me.. Richard Laymon was the Michael Jackson of the horror novel world.. in the notion that every single book he wrote had NOTES of the same author.. but also told a new and freshly horrific story.. I have now read every single book he has written.. my favorite is most definitely SAVAGE.. least fave.. if there is such a thing ALARUMS.. This man got me through some tough times in my 16 , 17 , 18 years.. How his fame was dwarfed by KING is anyones guess.. he was a far superior horror writer.
First book of his I read was The Island. I found it quite by accident in a prison library in 2008. The only reason I took it with me was because it had a quote by Stephen King on the back which said “if you’ve missed Laymon you’ve missed a treat”. I read it within two days and wondered what kind of a crazy bastard could write something like that. I read five or six more of his within the following six months and loved them. Then I forgot about him for 10 years until this month when I found another. I’m Going to work my way through all of them now, although I’m horrified to discover he’s currently out of print. I think they are a treat. Here’s a tip though, try not to read them in public because the content always threatens to induce an untimely erection.
I find it crazy they would have such a violent book in the library of a prison.. especially one with P**OPHILIC sex scenes in it.. The island is an absolute JOY to read.. When u thought his depravity could go no further.. it does and then some!!!
Laymon is the best writer of horror fiction. His simple style of writing and non-stop action is the best type of writing I have found in the large genre of horror. He IS the best.
He is very raw and his work is often described as rapey but he is miles ahead of Koontz who I can’t get into. Laymon was truly talented and he has no limited and I love his writing style
sorely missed i discovered him right after highschool in my towns itsy library. they had traveling vampire show and End of Night for $1 in the sale section. I have not put a book down since
Im doing weekends in jail currently & I was looking for wrong turn type of books to read & I stumbled upon the woods are dark & a few other im excited to read them when they come in the mail ordered a few last week kids don't drink & drive not worth it!
A few years ago my friend and I tried to write a screenplay of Blood Games that didn't work out. I'd love to take a run at Resurrection Dreams someday.
i just finished resurrection dreams and i have to say it wasn't bad and the whole time i kept thinking "this would make a good 80's b horror movie in the vein of reanimator" or turn his books into netflix original shows
It is an actual tragedy that he passed away in his prime. The late R. Laymon is incredibly gifted storyteller horror-wise. His horror stories have a perfect balance between splatterpunk, humor and pure entertainment. To my best knowledge, his novels are perfect for lonely people, because characters' interactions are so extremely well-written and because of the high pace of almost each novel. Unfortunately, most sertainly he would have been cancelled had he been alive nowadays.
Guy is hella underrated. Loved the edgy sleazy sadistic nature of his writing. It was just my thing ya know lol 🤷🏻♀️. He's definitely not for everyone.
Never heard of this guy until late last year or early this year when I read The Woods Are Dark. Just finished listening to Savage today. Decent books. And I'm not even into horror all like that
Laymon had a formula.. let me know if u think im wrong here... 1. GROUP OF TEENAGERS GO SOMEPLACE... 2. ALWAYS A GOOD GIRL and GOOD BOY amongst the assholes.. 3. ALWAYS A WEIRDO IN THE SAME GROUP!! Thats generally the setup... then the story will always go like this.. WEIRDO SHOWS HIS/HER TRUE COLORS.. CHANCES GOOD GIRL/BOY ALL OVER THE PLACE... GOOD BOY/GIRL GET AWAY... then.. ALWAYS!!! Run into someone WORSE!!! Than the original evil character :) heheh.. Spread some AMAZING!!!! sex scenes around.. and u have a laymon book... One of the BEST scenes was in SAVAGE when the 13 year old boy spends all that time with the MILF and eventually falls for her and she for him.. SO WRONG!! but when ur reading it as a 13 year old boy.. SO DAMN RIGHT!!! :)
I never Read Richard laymon and im fan of Stephen King and i short stories novels by Ramsey Campbell i try to write a short stories book about haunted Cemetery and haunted castle and haunted mansions and cottage.
I love 💕 this man. He's a genius. He's made my nights and days better with his books. I fell in love with them years ago.
One of the few horror writers for whom nothing seemed to be off limits.
I found Laymon for the first time in a borders bookstore in 2008. I was hooked off the bat. His ability to push to the limits and stay true to his stories isn’t celebrated enough. It’s been years since I saw one of his books in stores and it makes me sad. Don’t let this author fade away! It’s been my mission to collect every book he’s wrote now that they are not readily available. RIP Richard. Than you for the scares.
You ain’t lying! Last weekend I was at a bookstore and found five! I couldn’t believe it because they’re THAT hard to find.
Rest in peace, Richard. Your no holds barred horror inspired me to start writing and if anything I write can be published it will be in your memory. You did horror how it was supposed to be done and for that I say thank you.
As a wannabe writer this fine gentleman taught me two very important things. Never give up and never puss out. RIP Mr. Laymon, a true master of the craft.
This is a treasure. It's hard to find anything on Laymon besides his books. I'm so glad I had a chance to watch this and get to understand a little about the person behind such macabre work. Loved it and thanks for sharing.
'The Traveling Vampire Show' was a great read.
what a great author and seems like an awesome dude too. RIP Richard Laymon
Of all the years searching, I finally find an interview with my favourite horror author that ever lived! Its great finally see what he was like as a person. RIP Richard Laymon. You are still sorely missed
Just a memoir... I got into Laymon's book by chance. In the mid-90's - my teenage years - I was a huge fan of Stephen King but wanted a different voice. I saw a few Laymon books at my newsagency and took a chance on Dark Mountain, basically because it had a 'camping' setting and I was an avid camper. I was immediately hooked. I bought all of his books I could find (the newsagency had several more and the local secondhand bookstore had them coming and going continually), and as I now I have read all his novels - the ones published under his own name, anyway - except 2, After Midnight and Cuts. I didn't even know Cuts existed until a few days ago.
I was saddened to learn of Laymon's death, and angry at myself that I didn't learn of it until he had been gone 3 years already and although I had been buying the posthumous releases, just didn't bother to read the 'about the author' page.
I didn't know the man, but I miss him terribly. He made me laugh, he made me scared, he made me sick, and I loved every minute of it.
As an aside, my public library used to have a copy of A Writer's Tale and I managed to read about half of it (not sure why I didn't read it all - probably outstanding fines I couldn't afford to pay). Before I got a chance to borrow it, someone stole it. Odd book for a public library in Melbourne, Australia to have in it's general collection.
Just wanted to share.
Your in Melbourne too? Currently im reading One Rainy Night and it pretty good, just very rapy..
@@Terminate1101 Yup, I'm in Melbourne. Must confess One Rainy Night was one of my least favourites. A bit too nihilistic and plotless for my liking. A slasher movie on paper
@@jayrobb9 we all have opinions ay?
True story:
In the fall 1979 ... I was in 9th grade at John Adams Jr. High School in Santa Monica California. There was a librarian in the school, and he was kind of quiet, and some of us (me included) mocked him and said "Lamer" ... "DICK lamer"
That Christmas my older cousin read this book and afterwards game it to me ... The Cellar. I read it and enjoyed it a lot. I looked at the cover, and saw the title ... Richard Laymon ... and I thought "no fucking way".
Anyhow after X-mas break at school, I went up to him and showed him the book and asked if this was him. He said yes, and I told him that I enjoyed it a lot. I asked him if he'd autograph it, and I was expecting him to say "no" because I was one who teased him, but he signed it anyway.
Afterwards when others started to tease him, I would stop it and showed them the book. All the teasing stopped and he became quite famous at the school.
The following year I went to Santa Monica High school and never thought about him ever again until tonight.
I'm sorry to learn that he had passed .... I was going to reach out to him and say hi.
~~~~~~~~~~
dude that is pretty fuckin sick
Very cool story, man. I'm his daughter. Is it okay if I repost this (without your name) to his fan sites? He's still going strong out there even though he's been gone over 15 years. ~Kelly Laymon
Kelly Laymon I discovered your fathers books shortly after becoming hooked on Dean Koontz, your Dad really knew how to drive a story forward, exhilarating, sometimes brutal, but always incredibly entertaining. consumers of fiction have been blessed by his work, as I'm sure you've been equally blessed by having such a great father and role model to be proud of. Do you write?
So you only stopped teasing him because you found out he was an author you liked. You sound like a real piece of shit.
@@json8970 C'mon man, 9th grade kids can be little pricks. I could be.
I keep coming back to this video. Dear God, I miss this man. Stephen may be the King, but in my eyes, Richard Laymon will always be God.
discovered laymon 25 years ago.thank you so much Mr laymon.you were truly the best of the best.sorely missed.r.I.p
Have just ordered THE STAKE from Amazon. A lot of people have told me that's a real classic. Very much looking forward to getting it!
Reading Endless Night now and holy crap! It's a doozy!
Absolutely love Laymon's work. One of the greatest of all time.
Love reading laymon, he's an absolute genius. Half way through " NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER and still loads to read, I've never been so hooked on an author. RIP my friend thanks for the great reading. If anyone knows of any movies based on laymon's writing It would be much appreciated thanks.
+James Stewart I've been reading Laymon recently too. I read plenty (17 of his books so far) and I've never quite read anything like him. He is by far the most entertaining writer I have ever read. No one comes close.
In the Dark is one of his movies
Night in the Lonesome October is so good!! His wild tendencies are a little more tame on that one, and I actually really prefer it that way, a lot of his stuff is too hardcore for me
In The Dark Is a fan film but it's the most you can find
That book is SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!! I am always in my eyes.. the hero BOY that gets the girl.. thing is.. in most cases.. i can remember being the age of the kids in his books and having adventures at night with girls... never did they devolve into the absolute nightmare that his books goto.. but it didnt stop me from projecting myself into those stories every single time.. OMG!! Just the title brings back so many memories!!!
GOAT. R.I.P
The first Laymon novel I read was called The Island. I was instantly hooked on his style of writing and greedily sought out his entire back catalogue, devouring them all in just over a year. I did the same with James Herbert after reading the Rats. Herbert and Laymon are quite different writers in terms of style, though they both are highly addictive and once you sample their work, you,re an instant fan.
What's the main difference between them? Who of them do you like more?
Thank you SO much for the upload! Richard Laymon is one of the greatest horror writers to have ever lived :)
I love sitting down to start a Richard Laymon novel - there's no writer like him. He's so much fun, so underrated. Don't think he's done a real bad stinker. You love all his characters, even the really nasty ones (especially the really nasty ones haha)
One of my all time favourite writers. Very missed indeed.
Currently reading Island, and enjoying it, RIP Mr. Laymon
My favorite author. I'm so glad I can watch this
Sadly gone too soon. Him and SK are my top 2 horror/psycho-thriller-crime novelists of all time, yet I find his work always keeps me awake every single page, unlike SK where there are huge stretches of a novel that would bore me to death. Laymon was hugely underrated and highly missed.
Exactly! Tried reading Salem’s lot by Stephen King, ended up reading and am reading now One Rainy Night by Richard Laymon, its an amazing novel compared to the long drawn out steohen king descriptions imo.
@@Terminate1101 I've read a few books by Laymon and nearly finished Misery by King. Laymon doesn't ramble on whereas King does.
RIP Richard Laymon his style is simple and really creates vivid imagery he is in my top 5 authors of all time
Unfortunately, I think this is the only video interview conducted with him. Glad people are appreciating it.
Great writer. Probably the only writer whose work actually creeped me out.
Brilliant to hear Laymon say about not holding back and thats what makes his characters the most demented. Simon from Endless Night was one of his worst psychotic characters. Fantastic reading that In the dark production was great. I sure wish they had made his films into movies Funland would have been great on the big screen. RIP to a horror legend. 😢
Brilliant writer. Proud to own all his books in mint condition. Sadly missed.
Part pervert, part big kid, part creep, part masochist, part dreamer,,,,,,phenomenal writer.
We’re you get that from
When i was 13 my mum gave me BEWARE!!! to read.. over the next 4 years i read every single book of his i could find.. (he was very much alive then) when he died it came as a massive shock.. i still remember my wife finding out on some horror site that he had been dead almost a year.. i broke down in floods of tears.. this really surprised me.. Richard Laymon was the Michael Jackson of the horror novel world.. in the notion that every single book he wrote had NOTES of the same author.. but also told a new and freshly horrific story.. I have now read every single book he has written.. my favorite is most definitely SAVAGE.. least fave.. if there is such a thing ALARUMS.. This man got me through some tough times in my 16 , 17 , 18 years.. How his fame was dwarfed by KING is anyones guess.. he was a far superior horror writer.
The real KING without crown
Thanks so much for this! I've never seen video of this great writer. I hope there's a lot more out there.
First book of his I read was The Island. I found it quite by accident in a prison library in 2008. The only reason I took it with me was because it had a quote by Stephen King on the back which said “if you’ve missed Laymon you’ve missed a treat”. I read it within two days and wondered what kind of a crazy bastard could write something like that. I read five or six more of his within the following six months and loved them. Then I forgot about him for 10 years until this month when I found another. I’m Going to work my way through all of them now, although I’m horrified to discover he’s currently out of print. I think they are a treat. Here’s a tip though, try not to read them in public because the content always threatens to induce an untimely erection.
That was the same reason I read his book was because of Kings quote at the back 😂
I find it crazy they would have such a violent book in the library of a prison.. especially one with P**OPHILIC sex scenes in it.. The island is an absolute JOY to read.. When u thought his depravity could go no further.. it does and then some!!!
Lol 🤣❤️❤️❤️ awesome story!!
Mine was Funhouse
This man was a genius. Love reading his books!!!!
Richard Laymon was the bomb Island fairground basement so many more G,B,B.G,G and friends. All my love to all who loved you.
Laymon is the best writer of horror fiction. His simple style of writing and non-stop action is the best type of writing I have found in the large genre of horror. He IS the best.
I own more Richard Laymon novels than that of any other author.
i traded in my entire King collection fer him :)
Ditto. Richard Laymon and James Herbert are among my favourite authors along with HP Lovecraft.
He is very raw and his work is often described as rapey but he is miles ahead of Koontz who I can’t get into. Laymon was truly talented and he has no limited and I love his writing style
sorely missed i discovered him right after highschool in my towns itsy library. they had traveling vampire show and End of Night for $1 in the sale section. I have not put a book down since
End of night?
Im doing weekends in jail currently & I was looking for wrong turn type of books to read & I stumbled upon the woods are dark & a few other im excited to read them when they come in the mail ordered a few last week kids don't drink & drive not worth it!
someone needs to make one of his books into a movie he was a genius writer
A few years ago my friend and I tried to write a screenplay of Blood Games that didn't work out. I'd love to take a run at Resurrection Dreams someday.
i just finished resurrection dreams and i have to say it wasn't bad and the whole time i kept thinking "this would make a good 80's b horror movie in the vein of reanimator" or turn his books into netflix original shows
Might have to censor a lot but that would be cool for him to get a movie adaptation maybe the beast house series
I wish he still was alive. A really talented horror writer (and my personal favorite horror writer) 🖤
It is an actual tragedy that he passed away in his prime. The late R. Laymon is incredibly gifted storyteller horror-wise. His horror stories have a perfect balance between splatterpunk, humor and pure entertainment. To my best knowledge, his novels are perfect for lonely people, because characters' interactions are so extremely well-written and because of the high pace of almost each novel. Unfortunately, most sertainly he would have been cancelled had he been alive nowadays.
Outstanding!
He is the Master !
Richard Laymon = MOG
Mater of Gruesome ❣️
Guy is hella underrated. Loved the edgy sleazy sadistic nature of his writing. It was just my thing ya know lol 🤷🏻♀️. He's definitely not for everyone.
Thank You!
Richard Laymon is a legend! Hey Clinton; see you in Funland :)
The Sam Raimi of Horror Literature
Great author. Gone too soon.
This is amazing. Thanks so much for the upload. Any clue where to watch In The Dark?
Just got Beware! from the mail today. Feels like Christmas ^^
About to pick that one up. Excited!
Anyone know the easiest way to get a hold of his non-fiction book A Writer's Tale? Seems impossible to find and I'm dying to read it.
5:58 Man, Laymon never shied away from his fantasies wtf.
I read The Cellar in one sitting. So disturbing.
Never heard of this guy until late last year or early this year when I read The Woods Are Dark. Just finished listening to Savage today. Decent books. And I'm not even into horror all like that
@@madbull8763 will give it a try. I'm reading Endless Night now
😎🖤🙏🏻👏
Makes Stephen King and Dean Koontz look like Enid Blyton
I don’t care for Dean Koontz I find him to be a boring writer.Love Stephen King
@@dornravlin I don't mind some of King's but a bit tame for me lol
@@stevegarth6902 Really and is the marquis de sade a prude
does he have any audio books? 🤔
Traveling vampire show
Laymon had a formula.. let me know if u think im wrong here... 1. GROUP OF TEENAGERS GO SOMEPLACE... 2. ALWAYS A GOOD GIRL and GOOD BOY amongst the assholes.. 3. ALWAYS A WEIRDO IN THE SAME GROUP!! Thats generally the setup... then the story will always go like this.. WEIRDO SHOWS HIS/HER TRUE COLORS.. CHANCES GOOD GIRL/BOY ALL OVER THE PLACE... GOOD BOY/GIRL GET AWAY... then.. ALWAYS!!! Run into someone WORSE!!! Than the original evil character :) heheh.. Spread some AMAZING!!!! sex scenes around.. and u have a laymon book... One of the BEST scenes was in SAVAGE when the 13 year old boy spends all that time with the MILF and eventually falls for her and she for him.. SO WRONG!! but when ur reading it as a 13 year old boy.. SO DAMN RIGHT!!! :)
I never Read Richard laymon and im fan of Stephen King and i short stories novels by Ramsey Campbell i try to write a short stories book about haunted Cemetery and haunted castle and haunted mansions and cottage.
R U M P
He seems to think it's pretty funny that he wrote a nasty scene with an underage girl. Dude had some issues
I actually think it's pretty funny that americans elected an actual "pizza lover" as a president. Dude clearly has issues 😀
A
He had some very creepy eyes
He seems a little creepy to me lol
The Cellar is absolute garbage. 👎🏻
No. The Cellar is a masterpiece.