Richard Laymon

Richard Laymon (1947-2001) was an American horror and suspense novelist associated with splatterpunk, best known for The Cellar (1980) and its Beast House sequels.

Born on 14 January 1947 in the Chicago area, he taught high-school English, worked in the library of Mount St. Mary's College and edited The Executioner Mystery Magazine and The 87th Precinct Mystery Magazine before writing full time. From 1977 to 1979 he was regional director of the Los Angeles chapter of Mystery Writers of America. He wrote more than 30 novels and over 60 short stories, some as Richard Kelly, Carl Laymon or Lee Davis Willoughby.

His first novel, The Cellar, came out from Warner Books in 1980 and began the Beast House Chronicles, continued in The Beast House (1986), The Midnight Tour (1998) and Friday Night in Beast House (2001). Other novels include Flesh (1987), named best horror novel of 1988 by Science Fiction Chronicle, Funland (1989) and The Traveling Vampire Show (2000). Early in his career he sold better in Britain and Europe than in America, partly, Wikipedia suggests, because the first edition of The Woods Are Dark was published with over fifty pages missing; American recognition grew from 1999 through Leisure Books. He was president of the Horror Writers Association in 2000 and 2001 and died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on 14 February 2001. The Traveling Vampire Show won a Bram Stoker Award after his death.

For collectors

The obvious starting point is the Warner Books first of The Cellar (1980). Collectors should also note that the uncut text of The Woods Are Dark, issued in July 2008 by Leisure Books and Cemetery Dance Publications, differs from the shortened original edition.