Richard Laymon: A Horror Writer with BITE.

By: Denise Dumars
Date: Friday, June 30, 2000

Most kids don't know what they want to be when they grow up: not so Richard Laymon. 'While I was still in elementary school, I had dreams of being a writer,' Laymon begins. 'My first piece of fiction, I guess, was a report on a non-existent book I wrote for a friend, maybe in the fourth or fifth grade. I gained my first notoriety when a teacher read one of my 'themes' aloud to the class, maybe in the sixth or seventh grade, and the kids wanted more.'

Laymon wrote poetry and fiction in high school--and the first hints of his budding literary career came along with his first experiences with censorship. 'In ninth grade (first year of high school), I won a prize (five bucks, I think) for a poem published in the high school literary magazine. I also got in trouble for a short story I wrote. Psychological counseling was suggested, but nothing ever came of it. The powers that be insisted, however, that I change the end of my story. (In today's high school climate, I would've been expelled or jailed for writing such a story...and if you think I'm exaggerating, you haven't been reading the newspapers.)'

Laymon's censorship experience did not dampen his enthusiasm for writing, however. 'I continued writing for school literary magazines in college, and won a couple of minor awards. Two years after receiving my B. A., I sold my first fiction: a short story to ELLERY QUEEN'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. I then submitted numerous stories for four years (collecting a wonderful batch of rejection slips, mostly from the great EQMM editor, Eleanor Sullivan) before selling my second story.'


Major publishing success followed...but not immediately. 'Ten years after the sale of my first story, my first novel was bought by Warner Books. It was THE CELLAR, and the first of more than thirty novels I've had published since then,' he says. 'That's the short answer to your question. Anyone interested in the 'long' version might want to pick up a copy of my nonfiction book, A WRITER'S TALE.'

While in London I saw lots of Laymon's novels in bookstores, and his biggest fan website is by an Australian. What does the rest of the English-speaking world know that America hasn't quite caught on to? Laymon explains. 'For most of my career, I have indeed been much more successful in the British Isles, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and so on than in the United States. It's not because of any special differences among readers. It has mostly to do with the differences among publishers,' he reveals. 'Over in England, I have been published well from the start. Here in the States, my various publishers, time and time again, dropped the ball.

'Fortunately, that situation has changed. Here in the States, Richard Chizmar of Cemetery Dance has done a great job publishing limited editions of my hardbounds, and Leisure Books has been doing a magnificent job bringing out mass market paperbacks of my books such as BITE and ONE RAINY NIGHT,' he remarks. 'If things go according to plan, Leisure will continue publishing at least two Laymon books per year for many years to come.'

Laymon's vampire novel THE STAKE is one of my favorite vampire books, and he's written other vampire novels such as BITE and the new novel THE TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW. What's the appeal of vampires? Why do we--both writers and readers--keep coming back for more? 'To keep this reasonably brief, I won't even attempt to analyze the psychological appeal of vampires in general,' he says. 'From my standpoint as a writer, I am intrigued by the long and rich tradition of vampires in real life, literature and film. Part of the appeal for me is that, while our vampire lore has largely been created by certain books and movies, there is a long dark history (in real life) of vampire plagues and how they were dealt with. There are also, currently, real people who believe themselves to be vampires of one sort or another, and act accordingly.' Ahem. 'All this gives a writer great opportunities,' he continues. 'I like to play off the 'real' against the imaginary, our expectations against what we actually encounter, etc.'

THE STAKE, while being a vampire novel, also does what so much of Laymon's writing does: mix supernatural horror with dark suspense, but I resist those who want to lump him in with horror writers who have eschewed supernatural horror for what is essentially crime fiction. 'You're correct in saying that I have not 'eschewed' supernatural horror,' he says. 'While recent novels such as CUTS, COME OUT TONIGHT and AMONG THE MISSING (Leisure Books, October) are pretty much devoid of supernatural elements, THE MIDNIGHT TOUR and THE TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW, two of my most recent novels, are about a 'beast' and a 'vampire' respectively.'

Still, Laymon does not label his fiction 'supernatural horror.' He explains, 'That said, I've always been wary of relying too heavily on supernatural material for my fiction. In many of my books, the supernatural is either absent or minimal. The way I see it, all my books are pretty much 'realistic' horror regardless of whether they contain elements of the supernatural.'

He explains using plot devices--supernatural or no. 'If I bring in a supernatural situation (such as the black rain in ONE RAINY NIGHT), it is mostly a device to 'upset the apple cart' so we can have the fun of watching how regular people deal with it. I don't actually care whether any device is 'realistic' or 'supernatural.' Whatever nicely upsets the apple cart is okay by me. It might be an earthquake (QUAKE), a horny and vicious monster (the BEAST HOUSE CHRONICLES), a vampire (BITE), a very human intruder (AFTER MIDNIGHT), or simply a somewhat mummified human body, a girl, with a stake in her chest (THE STAKE).'

Laymon recounts an interesting aspect of his vampire novels. 'In THE STAKE, as in many of my other books (IN THE DARK comes to mind), I prefer a certain ambiguity as to whether there is any supernatural involvement. In THE STAKE, for example, the reader is never sure--almost to the very end of the book--whether there is an actual vampire. Strangely, this is true of all my vampire novels,' he adds.

ONE RAINY NIGHT is typical of Laymon's fiction: it's fast-paced; it's exciting; it blends supernatural with non-supernatural horror--and it dwells on the rape and degradation of women. I asked him why he feels this is necessary to his fiction. After all, aren't murder, mayhem, and supernatural horror enough?

'Why do my books so often dwell on 'the rape and degradation of women'? Why do I 'feel it's necessary to add this disturbing and off-putting 'element' to my fiction?' he spits back at me. 'Lots of reasons,' he says. 'First, the nature of your question somewhat attests to the shock value of the subject. If we're writing horror, we'd better be writing about stuff that is 'disturbing' and 'off-putting.' Otherwise, we're not writing horror,' he opines.

'Second, the rape and degradation of women is so disturbing and off-putting (and politically incorrect--let's not forget) that most writers prefer to stay away from it entirely or soft-peddle it. Either they have no taste for dealing with it or they are afraid of negative reactions from editors (mostly New York feminists), readers, relatives, and friends. This creates a situation in which the 'rape and degradation of women' is largely not to be found in our literature,' he explains.

Still, he has not explained why it should existespecially in fiction that is meant to be diverting and entertaining. After all, we're not talking about a nonfiction book on the war crimes in Bosnia; we're talking about something people read for fun.

Laymon continues: 'I don't participate in the self-imposed, society-imposed, publisher-imposed censorship on this and other matters. Which goes a long way toward explaining why it has been so difficult to find my books in the United States for the past twenty years.'

Interesting.

'Third, the 'rape and degradation of women' in my books is a reflection of real life. Should I avoid being 'disturbing and off-putting' by choosing not to write about it? When I'm creating a scene, a chief concern is usually this--what would really happen in a situation like this? Am I supposed to pretend (as so many books and movies do) that a woman won't get molested if she falls into the clutches of an evil man? Degrading and raping women is the whole pointof most crimes that are committed against women. In fact, my books are very tame compared to what goes on in real life. Take a look at a few 'true crime' books.'

Now he comes to a very interesting point. 'Fourth...the perception of degradation, rape, and so on within my fiction seems far out of proportion to its actual presence. I've been puzzled by this for many years. A lot of people seem to believe more of it happens in my books than really does. A major reason, I'm sure, is that most other writers don't touch such matters with a ten-foot pole. The fact that I deal with this stuff at all makes it stand out, so people often come away from my work with an impression that I 'dwell' on it whereas actually I'm simply not ignoring it. Another aspect of my fiction is that bad things often happen to likeable characters, so readers feel it more. And because I often underplay what's going on, a great deal is left to the readers' imaginations. Because of what they picture for themselves, they come away from my fiction with an impression that is much stronger than if I'd actually given blow by blow descriptions.'

Laymon makes it clear that he's an equal opportunity employer when it comes to the victims in his stories. 'Having said all that, I also want to point out a couple more things. In my books, it's not just women who suffer from sexual abuse and degradation. So do men. Oddly enough, in our present society, there is often a perception that a crime is somehow worse when it is committed against a woman, a child, a Jew, a homosexual, a homeless person or a 'person of color' (to name a few) than if it is committed against an employed heterosexual white Christian male adult. This is the thinking behind 'hate crime' legislation. To me, a crime is a crime is a crime. Victims are victims, regardless of their individual differences. And assholes are assholes and ought to be taken out.'

Laymon staunchly defends the female protagonists in his novels. 'More often than not, females are the main protagonists in my books. Though bad things often happen to them, they are considered by many of my readers to be among the strongest female characters (intelligent, witty, resourceful, courageous) to be found in fiction anywhere. I seem to have at least as many female readers as male readers. Some of my most ardent fans are women. So apparently they aren't all put off.'

Finally finished, Laymon now tells readers what they can expect to see on U.S. bookshelves in the near future. 'THE TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW has just been published by Cemetery Dance. Many people, including reviewers, consider it to be one of my best books yet. It's a coming of age novel that is being compared to such books as Bradbury's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, King's THE BODY (STAND BY ME), McCammon's BOY'S LIFE, and Simmons's SUMMER OF NIGHT.

'In October, Leisure Books will be publishing AMONG THE MISSING in mass-market paperback. It should be available everywhere. Also in the fall, Cemetery Dance will be publishing a limited edition hardback of my novel, ONCE UPON A HALLOWEEN, a book that I wrote earlier in the year especially for Cemetery Dance.'

Asked if he writes in any other genres besides horror, Laymon replies, 'Early in my career, I wrote some material for young adults. I also wrote a western, THE LAWMEN under the Lee Davis Willoughby pseudonym. I also wrote two contemporary romantic suspense novels (only one of which was published before the company went under) using the pseudonym, Carla Laymon. Otherwise, I've pretty much stuck to horror/dark suspense, etc. My complete bibliography (along with plenty of other information about me and my fiction) can be found at the RICHARD LAYMON KILLS website (www.rlk.cjb.net).'

It would seem that some of Laymon's books would be ripe for screen treatment. After all, if Hollywood can make a film out of AMERICAN PSYCHO, why not a Richard Laymon book? Living in L.A. would afford the perfect opportunity for schmoozing with the film community.

'A few of my books, over the years, have been optioned for film. The subject matter of my books, however, is not exactly conducive to Hollywood film treatment. If and when a 'big-budget' film is ever made based on one of my books, my fans and I will more than likely loathe it because it won't be true to its source. That's almost a given.

'In writing that my 'subject matter is not conducive,' I'm not referring particularly to the sexual content. The wardrobe department could easily conceal enough of the offending body parts to make a film acceptable for an R rating. Nor am I referring to the violence: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN or any given summer action blockbuster action movie has violence that leaves most of my books in the dust.

'What I mean, in particular, is that my fiction doesn't 'scan' the way most movie people think it should. Every plot development in my stories, for example, isn't foreshadowed. Every character action and reaction isn't predictable. My 'good' characters sometimes do things that good characters aren't supposed to do. Even my 'villains' often exhibit behavior that is unacceptable by Hollywood standards.'

Laymon has no faith that the Hollywood system would comprehend the complexity of his plotlines. 'The typical Hollywood-type film person simply won't even understand what's really going on in most of my stories (possibly because it's not a rehash of stuff already seen in thousands of movies). Therefore, if such a person makes a movie based on one, it'll probably bear little more than a superficial resemblance to what I actually wrote.'

Laymon's dismissal of the Hollywood film machine doesn't mean that we'll never see one of his books on celluloid. 'There is interest among some independent filmmakers. Clifton and Dwayne Holmes, of Chicago, have actually completed a low-budget film of my book, IN THE DARK. I'm delighted by the job they did. It truly captures the spirit of the book, and I think that most of my real fans will be delighted by it. I've only seen a rough cut, but I got a great kick out of it. I've shown it to a few close friends, and they've also enjoyed it a lot.

'Though I live in the middle of 'film country,' I have very little to do with it. My own experiences in dealing with 'Hollywood' types is that most are pathological liars, ignorant in the ways of literature and art, lacking in common sense, and incredibly arrogant. They will make empty promises, waste a writer's time, screw in moronic ways with his material, and generally distract a writer from accomplishing anything worthwhile. Though the Hollywood film-type people can be entertaining (rather like watching enthusiastic chimps), they are dangerous to book writers. I stay away from them whenever possible and recommend the same for anyone who aspires to be a novelist.'

At this point the reader may wonder at Laymon's influences. 'Like most guys in my position, I was probably influenced most strongly as a kid by movies I saw on television such as FRANKENSTEIN, THE WOLFMAN, THE MUMMY, DRACULA and so on. I was wild about the magazine, FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND. I was also a big fan of such TV shows at THE TWILIGHT ZONE, THRILLER, ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, THE OUTER LIMITS and other shows of the sort.

'Through FAMOUS MONSTERS, I ordered some of my first horror books. I particularly recall a couple of anthologies called ZACHERLEY'S VULTURE STEW and ZACHERLEY'S MIDNIGHT SNACKS. Gradually, I read more horror, but also read in a lot of other areas. I went on to major in English at Willamette University and to get an M.A. in English Literature from Loyola University.

'I suppose my work has been influenced by hundreds of books and stage plays and movies and television shows. I've been reading anywhere from 55-75 books per year for decades. And I must see several hundred movies each year (including those seen at theaters, on home video, on cable TV and--sometimeson network TV).

'Just to name a handful of the most powerful early literary influences on me, off the top of my head and in no particular order (and sticking to the years before I was an adult): Poe, Shakespeare, Dostoevski, Carl Sandberg, Dylan Thomas, W. Somerset Maugham, Tennessee Williams, William Goldman, Ed McBain and Evan Hunter, Ernest Hemingway, John D. MacDonald, D.H. Lawrence, J.D. Salinger, Harold Robbins, Davis Grubb, Robert Bloch, Seabury Quinn, William Hope Hodgson, H.P. Lovecraft, Richard Matheson and Algernon Blackwood. There are plenty of others who've had an effect on me. In connection with those I've named, however, observant readers should actually be able to detect their influences in my work.'

I'm sure we're all looking for those influences in Laymon's work. I for one can't wait to read his version of a Lovecraft tale--can you imagine what Wilbur Whately would do with all those tentacles growing out of his groin in a Richard Laymon story?