Welcome To The Beast House – Four Richard Laymon Books I Recommend
If you love an entertaining yarn combined with characters you can relate to I heartily recommend the books form the Beast House series from Richard Laymon.
“If you’ve missed Laymon you’ve missed a treat”
– Stephen King
Okay so not everyone has heard of Richard Layman (Stephen King obviously has) but I hold this prolific horror author in great esteem.
Richard’s career spanned over 60 short stories and more than 30 novels. Richard was born in Chicago, Illinois and went on to spend his childhood in California. He received a BA in English Literature from Willamette University in Oregon and an MA in English Literature from Loyola University in Los Angeles.
Sadly, in 2001, he passed away after suffering a massive heart attack.
Luckily for those of us on this side of the Atlantic his work has found more success in Europe than it did in the USA.
In 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Bram Stoker award for his novel “The Travelling Vampire Show”.
Richard Layman was a great loss to the horror writing community.
Here I’ve outlined the wonderful series of books I read and loved from this wonderful author.
These are all books I have read and thoroughly enjoyed from the late, great and much underrated Richard Laymon. Please, please give these entertaining books a try.
The Cellar (Beast House Chronicles, Book 1)
Who knows what might be down there…
*The first gripping title in Richard Laymon’s acclaimed Beast House Chronicles, perfect for fans of Stephen King and Dean Koontz
The deeper the tourists go into the Beast House, the darker the nightmares become. But the worst part is beneath the haunted structure. Don’t even think about going into the cellar…
‘The Cellar is a genuine cult classic. I should know. I’m one of the cultists’ – Bentley Little
They call it Beast House. Tourists flock to see it, lured by its history of butchery and sadistic sexual enslavement. They enter, armed with cameras and camcorders, but many never return. The men are slaughtered quickly. The women have a far worse fate in store. But the worst part of the house is what lies beneath it. Behind the cellar door, down the creaky steps, waits a creature of pure evil. At night, when the house is dark and all is quiet… the beast comes out.
Awakened by an early-morning phone call, Donna found out that her ex-husband, Roy, has been released from prison. She immediately dragged her twelve-year-old daughter out of bed and together they hit the road – fast. The last she wants is for Roy to get his hands on them again. But in fleeing one danger, Donna and her daughter are unknowingly heading straight towards another. They’re heading towards Beast House.
The Beast House (Beast House Chronicles, Book 2)
A spine-chilling tale of horror and hauntings
*The deeper you go into the Beast House, the darker the nightmares become. Why not take the tour?
The house known as Beast House has become a kind of museum of the most twisted and macabre kind. It is a monument to its own infamous past. On display inside are wax figures of its victims, their bodies mangled and chewed, mutilated beyond description. The tourists who come to Beast House can only wonder what sort of terrifying creature could be responsible for such atrocities. Surely nothing human…
But some people don’t believe the beast even exists. They are convinced Beast House is a huge hoax, an elaborate tourist trap. Nora and her friends don’t believe. They are determined to find the truth for themselves. They will dare to enter the house at night, when the tourists have gone. When the beast is rumoured to come out. They will learn alright.
The Midnight Tour (The Beast House Chronicles, Book 3)
A chilling horror novel full of suspense
*Horrific events have made the Beast House infamous. For the full story, take the Midnight Tour…
For years morbid tourists have flocked to the Beast House, eager to see the infamous site of many unspeakable atrocities, to hear tales of the beast said to prowl the hallways. They can listen to the audio tour on their headphones as they stroll from room to room, looking at the realistic recreations of the blood-drenched corpses…
But the audio tour only gives the sanitised version of the horrors of the Beast House. There are some facts too gruesome for the average thrill seeker. If you want the full story, you have to take the Midnight Tour, a very special event strictly limited to thirteen brave visitors. It begins at the stroke of midnight. You may not live to see it end.
Friday Night in Beast House (Beast House Chronicles, Book 4)
A chilling tale of a haunted house
*Friday Night in Beast House is the final nightmare in the Beast House Chronicles by Richard Laymon – a nightmare in which your worst fears and darkest desires collide… Perfect for fans of Clive Barker and Dean Koontz.
The legendary Beast House, once home to unspeakable acts of agony and murder, is now a decrepit tourist attraction where the curious go for cheap thrills and daily tours. These days few actually believe the stories of slaughter and sexual torture are true, or that the beast really exists. But in the silence of the night, the cellar door of Beast House opens once again…
Mark and Alison snuck into Beast House after the tours were over for a midnight rendezvous. Mark hopes to get lucky but Alison seems more interested in the gruesome legends. But if the beast is only a legend, who’s responsible for the mutilated carcass of a dog outside? And why is the padlock missing from the cellar door? Will this be the date of a lifetime or a date with death?
*Book Blurbs as appearing on Amazon UK
© Colin Lawson Books