The Premise
By day, tourists visit a residence known as “Beast House” to see exhibits that depict the strange, violent murders that happened there during the first half the century; by night, those who enter Beast House run the risk of joining that legacy.
In Review
Early on, this tale offers a mysterious monster, violence, a family on the run from a crazy ex-husband just released from prison, and a series of sick crimes. The prose is made up of short sentences that breeze by, and events move just as quickly. Three separate plot lines are introduced, and within short time, Laymon proves that he is more than up to the task of bringing them together for a bloody conclusion.
All of these aspects make The Cellar an entertaining, almost casual read. This is a story about monsters – both ordinary ones in human form, and extraordinary ones – and Laymon doesn't waste time or words getting to the “good parts” of a monster story. There is ample violence - some of the crimes committed are so disturbing, I skimmed the page - some mystery, innocent victims, keepers of the beast, and a hero to take on the beasties.
In fact, though the character who fills this requisite role has a name about as subtle as a beheading – Judgment is his first, you see – and a personality that fits squarely in the Man of Few Words tradition, I found myself liking him a lot. He is competent, not easily impressed, and he deals with situations in a direct manner. There is one scene where he gets the jump on a nasty individual, and his strategy is so awesome, I all but cheered when he beat down the baddie. It's one of those moments that just makes sense, yet rarely happens in Storyland.
Another aspect that drew me into the story is its bizarre sexual content. Now, I will be the first to tell you that I probably rank as a prude when it comes to sexual content in literature and film. I prefer less to more, and rarely consider it a worthwhile addition to the story. In this case, sex is a part of the story, and what Laymon describes is so weird, I found myself saying, No way, really? They didn't . . . did they? Really?
As I discovered at the end, they really did. I won't give it away, but lemme tell you, I just didn't see that one on the horizon.
After finishing this slim little tale of sin, I discovered two surprising facts. The first is that The Cellar is the first in a four-book series, appropriately entitled “The Beast House Chronicles”. Today they are out-of-print, but lately, Leisure Books has been putting out Richard Laymon's earlier work in accessible paperbacks.
Which leads me to my second, and by far most shocking, discovery: Richard Laymon passed away in February of 2001! Nowhere on the Dorchester website, nor in the “About the Author” passages in new editions of his books, is this fact mentioned. Furthermore, I found out that The Cellar was Laymon's first published novel, and the only one to sell decently in the U.S.; his subsequent work was better received abroad, and he established his reputation in foreign markets. So the appearance of this book – and other earlier Laymon works – is a posthumous act of homage to a writer who added a considerable corpus of work to the Horror genre.
10/22/06
