54. Night Show -- SPECIAL DEFINITIVE EDITION
By Richard Laymon
"About the Book:
The first ever special edition of Night Show by legendary horror author Richard Laymon is coming from Dark Regions Press! This marks the first special edition of Richard Laymon’s work published in seven years and the first ever special edition of his classic novel Night Show.
This first ever special edition of Night Show includes new material from authors Edward Lee and Steve Gerlach, original wraparound cover artwork and five original interior illustrations by artist Malcolm McClinton, previously unpublished story notes by author Richard Laymon, and signatures from authors Edward Lee and Steve Gerlach, artist Malcolm McClinton, and editors James R. Beach and Kelly Laymon."
My Thoughts:
Before I get started: My condolences to family, friends and fans for your loss. Mr. Laymon passed away in 2001.
Now, this one is going to have some highs and some lows. But let's do the positive stuff first.
Malcolm McClinton contributes the artwork for the Special Definitive Edition.
Light and shadow on a movie set. What is real and what is just the show? And the inner drawings -- at times I wasn't sure if these were freehand creations or if they were photographs run through a computer program to blur their edges into works of art -- but no matter. All were nice additions to the overall book.
Steve Gerlach gives a touching tribute of his own discovery of Laymon's work and how it led to a close friendship.
Richard Laymon has a chapter discussing the genesis of this story and his sincere passion for horror.
And, a draft sample is included in the back of the book and that is part of the process of writing that I always enjoy seeing.
On to the not-so-positive.
And once again, before I get started on this section, I would like to make a couple things clear. If you've read any of my other thoughts on previous books here in this thread, you'll know my stance. But if this is your first time reading any of my thoughts about these books, I need to reiterate at least this first thing.
One: I am a champion for creativity and freedom when it comes to an author's vision and what they ultimately give us as readers. So, when it comes to sex in horror, if it is logical, necessary and true to the characters, then it HAS TO BE IN THE STORY.
Two: I am not a nitpicking reader when it comes to typos or general mistakes. I may or may not notice them. I have this brain that fills in the mistakes. I am so totally with the author while I read along that I don't get hung up on these errors that can happen and do happen. Very rarely is my flow interrupted by a mistake because my brain fixes it in the millisecond that idea is bouncing around my synapses.
Some people do see every little mistake. And that's why they make fantastic proofreaders.
So let's take these one at a time.
1. Sex in this story. Was it necessary?
I asked myself this as I was reading. Was it true to the characters and necessary for the plot? My answer to that is, Yes. It was needed as it was the thing that triggered and escalated our antagonist's actions.
But, did we need the Penthouse Forum Letter version? No.
What these graphic scenes said to me was:
a. I am a beginning writer channeling my inner teenage boy.
b. I don't trust my writing.
c. I don't trust the strength of my story.
d. I don't trust my wider audience past a locker room.
I chalked this tactic up to this being a piece of writing from early in his career. He was one of these writers that bought into the overused and unoriginal formula of sex + violence = horror.
Would these scenes be horrifying if they were happening in real life to someone? Hell yes! But after all these years of that trope being used over and over again in writing and movies, it's a fail. There are rare exceptions. This story didn't need the gimmicks to keep the reader engaged. But, I gave benefit of the doubt that at the time this was written, it might have been a revival of this type of scare. Maybe he was riding the wave of the horror that was happening around him in writing and cinema.
Those are just my feelings. For millions of other horror people, it does work. So, Mr. Laymon is writing to a very strong fan base. Even Steve Gerlach in his entry confirms that he and his teenage friends would get together to read Laymon's work out loud to each other, especially the "memorable sex-filled ones."
In reading more about Richard, the use of graphic sex doesn't seem to be a unique decision for this piece. It sounds like this is his style throughout his body of work.
I don't know, I would want to be known for the strength of my story and not the strength of the reader's boner.
Different strokes for different folks. Pun intended.
Having said all of that, and despite having Laymon talk dirty to me throughout, I really liked this story. There were two bits of work running side by side throughout the book and I was right there with him. How was he going to weave these two separate storylines together? He did a great job. And the last bit of action in the book had me so anxious -- he hit my number one fear since I was a child and my nerves were twanging like vibrating banjo strings.
2. Typos in this SPECIAL DEFINITIVE EDITION.
As I keep highlighting , this was a Special Definitive Edition. It is signed by 5 people passionate about Richard Laymon and his work. And this is why this part of my thoughts hurts my heart.
Someone dropped the proofreading pen and they decided to not bend over and pick it back up.
This pretty book was riddled with typos. I have never read a book with so many errors. And for me to notice? That's saying something because I just don't register these things. It got to the point I was wishing I had those little red page flags you can buy at Office Depot. By the time I got finished I would have had a nice fringe of bright red, a pińata of words!
This book was expensive so the sloppy and unprofessional finished product was very disappointing. I expected more.
By Richard Laymon
"About the Book:
The first ever special edition of Night Show by legendary horror author Richard Laymon is coming from Dark Regions Press! This marks the first special edition of Richard Laymon’s work published in seven years and the first ever special edition of his classic novel Night Show.
This first ever special edition of Night Show includes new material from authors Edward Lee and Steve Gerlach, original wraparound cover artwork and five original interior illustrations by artist Malcolm McClinton, previously unpublished story notes by author Richard Laymon, and signatures from authors Edward Lee and Steve Gerlach, artist Malcolm McClinton, and editors James R. Beach and Kelly Laymon."
My Thoughts:
Before I get started: My condolences to family, friends and fans for your loss. Mr. Laymon passed away in 2001.
Now, this one is going to have some highs and some lows. But let's do the positive stuff first.
Malcolm McClinton contributes the artwork for the Special Definitive Edition.
Light and shadow on a movie set. What is real and what is just the show? And the inner drawings -- at times I wasn't sure if these were freehand creations or if they were photographs run through a computer program to blur their edges into works of art -- but no matter. All were nice additions to the overall book.
Steve Gerlach gives a touching tribute of his own discovery of Laymon's work and how it led to a close friendship.
Richard Laymon has a chapter discussing the genesis of this story and his sincere passion for horror.
And, a draft sample is included in the back of the book and that is part of the process of writing that I always enjoy seeing.
On to the not-so-positive.
And once again, before I get started on this section, I would like to make a couple things clear. If you've read any of my other thoughts on previous books here in this thread, you'll know my stance. But if this is your first time reading any of my thoughts about these books, I need to reiterate at least this first thing.
One: I am a champion for creativity and freedom when it comes to an author's vision and what they ultimately give us as readers. So, when it comes to sex in horror, if it is logical, necessary and true to the characters, then it HAS TO BE IN THE STORY.
Two: I am not a nitpicking reader when it comes to typos or general mistakes. I may or may not notice them. I have this brain that fills in the mistakes. I am so totally with the author while I read along that I don't get hung up on these errors that can happen and do happen. Very rarely is my flow interrupted by a mistake because my brain fixes it in the millisecond that idea is bouncing around my synapses.
Some people do see every little mistake. And that's why they make fantastic proofreaders.
So let's take these one at a time.
1. Sex in this story. Was it necessary?
I asked myself this as I was reading. Was it true to the characters and necessary for the plot? My answer to that is, Yes. It was needed as it was the thing that triggered and escalated our antagonist's actions.
But, did we need the Penthouse Forum Letter version? No.
What these graphic scenes said to me was:
a. I am a beginning writer channeling my inner teenage boy.
b. I don't trust my writing.
c. I don't trust the strength of my story.
d. I don't trust my wider audience past a locker room.
I chalked this tactic up to this being a piece of writing from early in his career. He was one of these writers that bought into the overused and unoriginal formula of sex + violence = horror.
Would these scenes be horrifying if they were happening in real life to someone? Hell yes! But after all these years of that trope being used over and over again in writing and movies, it's a fail. There are rare exceptions. This story didn't need the gimmicks to keep the reader engaged. But, I gave benefit of the doubt that at the time this was written, it might have been a revival of this type of scare. Maybe he was riding the wave of the horror that was happening around him in writing and cinema.
Those are just my feelings. For millions of other horror people, it does work. So, Mr. Laymon is writing to a very strong fan base. Even Steve Gerlach in his entry confirms that he and his teenage friends would get together to read Laymon's work out loud to each other, especially the "memorable sex-filled ones."
In reading more about Richard, the use of graphic sex doesn't seem to be a unique decision for this piece. It sounds like this is his style throughout his body of work.
I don't know, I would want to be known for the strength of my story and not the strength of the reader's boner.
Different strokes for different folks. Pun intended.
Having said all of that, and despite having Laymon talk dirty to me throughout, I really liked this story. There were two bits of work running side by side throughout the book and I was right there with him. How was he going to weave these two separate storylines together? He did a great job. And the last bit of action in the book had me so anxious -- he hit my number one fear since I was a child and my nerves were twanging like vibrating banjo strings.
2. Typos in this SPECIAL DEFINITIVE EDITION.
As I keep highlighting , this was a Special Definitive Edition. It is signed by 5 people passionate about Richard Laymon and his work. And this is why this part of my thoughts hurts my heart.
Someone dropped the proofreading pen and they decided to not bend over and pick it back up.
This pretty book was riddled with typos. I have never read a book with so many errors. And for me to notice? That's saying something because I just don't register these things. It got to the point I was wishing I had those little red page flags you can buy at Office Depot. By the time I got finished I would have had a nice fringe of bright red, a pińata of words!
This book was expensive so the sloppy and unprofessional finished product was very disappointing. I expected more.
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