The Official

Fan Club
3rd Issue September
1996

LAYMON HOLIDAYS: GET AWAY FROM IT ALL TO AN IDYLLIC TROPICAL

ISLAND THIS WINTER
BUT, HOLIDAYS CAN BE MURDER SO DONT FORGET TO PACK A GOOD
BOOK

Included in this issue: Laymon on Island, Did You

Know, Crossword Quiz, Short Fiction Bibliography
Part 2, New Web Site, New Book Announcement,
Your Letters and more

The Official Richard Laymon Fan Club

ENTER AT YOUR OWN PERIL.

I START THIS FAN CLUB NEWSLETTER

THINKING TO MYSELF, WHAT AM I
GOING
TO
WRITE
FOR
AN
INTRODUCTION THIS TIME? ITS A
RAINY
DAY
HERE
IN
PAISLEY.
SCOTTISH SUMMERS WERE NEVER
ANY GOOD FOR INSPIRATION! WELL
IVE DECIDED I WILL START WITH
SOME GOOD NEWS.

I RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM

RICHARD LAYMONS PUBLISHER IN
LONDON, TELLING ME THAT OUR FAN
CLUB WILL BE ADVERTISED IN
RICHARDS NEW BOOK BITE DUE
OUT SOON. IT MIGHT NOT MAKE THE
HARDBACK
EDITION BUT WILL
DEFINITELY BE IN THE PAPERBACK
VERSION. SO BE PREPARED. THE
REST OF THE ARMY IS COMING.

SO WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM THIS

MONTHS ISSUE? THE USUAL GUT CRUNCHIN, BLOOD THIRSTY GORE,
REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS PLUS A QUIZ TO STRETCH YOUR GREY MATTER, AND
ALL THE REST YOU HAVE COME TO EXPECT.
AS ALWAYS, WE WILL BE LOOKING FOR A RESPONSE TO SOME OF THE
FOLLOWING TOPICS:

YOUR FAVOURITE RICHARD LAYMON BOOKS

YOUR BEST GORY BITS

LETTERS TO RICHARD LAYMON

IDEAS FOR FUTURE PUBLICATIONS

YOUR FAVOURITE CHARACTERS

DRAWINGS

OR

SKETCHES

FOR

OUR

FRONT

COVERS

ANYTHING TO DO WITH RICHARD LAYMON AND

HIS BOOKS
ALL RESPONSES WILL BE VERY HELPFUL IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS FAN
CLUB MAGAZINE. AS YOU CAN GUESS, THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH I CAN TELL
YOU ABOUT YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR, SO WE NEED TO SHARE OUR
INFORMATION AND IDEAS TO HELP KEEP OUR CLUB GOING.
ANYWAY, ILL LET YOU READ ON AND HOPEFULLY ENJOY:

THE OFFICIAL RICHARD LAYMON FAN CLUB ISSUE

#3

LAYMON ON ISLAND

Richard Laymon writes about his book Island

Ive always wanted to take a crack at writing a book about people marooned on a
tropical island. There are many classics on that subject, such as Robinson Crusoe,
Swiss Family Robinson, Lord of the Flies. Here in the States, we have the
legendary television comedy series Gilligans Island, in which a group of loveable
goofballs set sail on a three-hour tour, met a storm, and got stranded on an
uninhabited island. And it seems that there have been countless motion pictures
and television movies about marooned people.
I like to take a subject that has been around a while and find a new way to handle it.
THE STAKE was an offbeat angle of vampire stories. RESURRECTION DREAMS took
zombies in a fresh direction. SAVAGE was a very unusual treatment of the Jack the
Ripper story.

ISLAND is my attempt at giving a new angle to the age-old stories of castaways.

Instead of being marooned when a storm destroys their ship, my group is already
ashore, picnicking on an island when their yacht blows up. Within a few hours after
that, one of the castaways is found hanged.
I employed a fairly unusual technique in the writing of ISLAND. The whole story is
actually told, as it occurs, by a young man, stranded with the others, who is keeping
a journal. We see the entire adventure through his eyes, as he chooses to tell it.
What makes this different from the usual first-person narrative is that the writing of
the journal becomes part of the story, and the writer of the journal is not aware of
events until they happen.
Most first-person novels seem to have been written by a character at some
indefinite point in the future, recounting his tale perhaps years after the events of
the story occurred. We usually dont know what has prompted him to tell his story.
The telling seems unrelated to the actual events in the story. And it is generally
obvious, from the start, that the narrator survived to tell his tale.
Not so with ISLAND.
We know why Rupert is keeping the journal. We know when. We know where it is at
all times. But we never know what may happen next or whether he will even be
alive to finish the story.
Because he writes the journal as he goes along, anything can happen.
I had a great time exploring and experimenting with the possibilities of using the
journal format. It opened up a lot of new ways to play with the story, new ways to
surprise myself and my readers.
The technique may have been triggered by my own novel, ENDLESS NIGHT. In that
story, a character named Simon uses tape recordings to keep a running account of
his horrid activities. I was delighted, creating Simons tapes, to discover how many
strange and nifty things are possible when the story is being told as it happens (or
shortly afterwards) by one of the characters.
In ISLAND, I took that technique pretty much to the limit.

Your Letters
Thanks to Bob Buckley of Australia for this
article
Those Gals

While I like the fantastic, gruesome and sometimes gross aspects of Richard
Laymons books, what, to me, sets them apart from others in the same genre and
makes them compulsively readable, are the female characters.

The girls (gals) embody aspects that make Yanks so admirable to those, like
myself, outside the USA. They are strong, tough, independent and self confident,
(no matter what their creator does to throw at them) but they are also
quintessentially feminine, vulnerable and very sexy. Richard Laymon shows an
ability to describe his girls in an intimate and personal way that makes them truly
live.
My favourite half dozen girls, and it is really hard to decide this as every tale has at
least one or often more, are in order:
ANGELA, from DARKNESS, TELL US. Attractive, appealing, long suffering and very
sexy, her relationship with Howard is the main thread of the story which makes all
of the horrors to which they are subjected worth wading through.
SHINER (DEBBIE), FROM FUNLAND. Another top notch girl who develops as the story
unwinds. I guessed who she was about half way through. Her beau, Jeremy (Duke) is
a complete twerp and suffers accordingly for lusting after the unattainable and
unwantable. His is a fate I noticed Richard Laymon dispenses on occasion to weak
males.
BARBARA, from QUAKE. Thank God she is there to lead Pete to salvation.
Resourceful, inventive, intelligent and cute. I particularly loved her trick of playing
dead to escape ferals, who as it turned out didnt come anyway.
JANE, from IN THE DARK. What a dogged little battler this girl is. OK, shes a bit
avaricious, but you have to admire her pluck in following MOGs leads. And the
ending when she fights him to the death. Definitely a winner.
JESSE SUE LONGLEY, from SAVAGE. Perhaps the most appealing of Richards
heroines, she is the sort of girl a chap wouldnt mind wandering the Old West with,
although her method of introducing herself by chucking a rock on Trevors head
before belting into him is perhaps a little extreme. Then again, wrestling with her
mightnt be all that bad.
CONNIE, from ISLAND. This poor misunderstood girl is one of my true favourites.
Rupert, whom I had tagged as a drip from the start really misses his chance with
this girl. Even after she has been slugged out cold, brained with a rock and belts
herself senseless on the bars of her cage, she comes up better each time. OK, she is
a bit cranky from time to time, but any girl who is being constantly outdone by her
mother in the sexuality stakes would develop a bit of a complex. Connie is, I
suspect, a sex firecracker primed to erupt. Tough luck Rupert, youll never know
what you missed.
On a different subject, why do the monsters from BEAST HOUSE have to come
from some heathen place near Australia. Come, come Mr Laymon, lets have them
sourced from darkest Africa or deepest Asia in the future.

Did you Know..?

THE CELLAR was inspired by a real tourist attraction.

Winchester House in San Jose, California was a huge, creepy Victorian house
built by a widow of a rifle maker. Shed been told by a spiritual advisor that
the spirits of people slain by the Winchester rifle needed a rooming house. It
was her job to build it and never to stop building it. She would supposedly not
die as long as construction continued. So construction went on, day and night
for years until she died anyway. The result is a huge, sprawling, bizarre
monument to the old gals lunacy.

FUNLAND was also inspired by actual events that took

place in Santa Cruz, California. The area was fictionalised in the book as well
as the trolling problem. But it was as close to a true life story as possible.

BOOK REVIEW BEWARE

Main Characters: Lacey Allen & Matt Dukane
Lacey Allen is a reporter in a small town called Oasis (You gotta roll with it,
you got to. Stop singing Martin). The local store in Oasis has been visited
by an unknown, unwelcome visitor, eating supplies and making a mess. The
owner of the store Elsie is so spooked, she closes the store up early and goes
to the local pub for a drink and ends up telling the story to Lacey. Being a
reporter, Lacey cant pass up the chance of a good story and suggests they
go and check it out. Upon arrival they find a meat cleaver stuck in the door
which was thrown by the unknown visitor at a customer trying to gain entry
to the closed store. Elsie is given a guard dog by a friend who guarantees the
safety of her shop while the dogs around. Next morning, the dogs body is
found mutilated. The dogs owner promises revenge for his dog and decides
to stay the night in the store himself

This is a very enjoyable book, fast paced with plenty of action and blood to
keep all Laymon fans ecstatic. The story moves from Oasis to Tucson, the
nearest big city, which is when the real action starts. The book contains
cults, conspiracies, black magic, plenty of fast paced action and, of course,
murders a plenty!
A must for all Richard Laymon fans.

RICHARD LAYMON HAS RECENTLY

COMPLETED HIS NEW BOOK, TITLED:

FIENDS
Hardback due out January 1997

SHORT FICTION BIBLIOGRAPHY PART 2

RICHARD LAYMON
THE FOLLOWING INCLUDES ONLY SHORT FICTION PUBLISHED IN A
PROFESSIONAL, PAYING MARKET.
TITLE:
Phil the Vampire
The Fur Coat
Dracuson's Driver
Invitation to Murder
I'm Not a Criminal
Good Vibrations
Eats

PUBLISHED IN:
Vampire Detectives, Daw Books
The Earth Strikes Back, Zeising
Dracula, Prince of Darkness, Daw
Invitation to Murder, Dark Harvest
After the Dark, Maclay
Stalkers #3
Night Screams
Mike Shayne's Mystery Magazine
The 2nd Black Lizard Anthology of Crime

DATE OF
RELEASE:
1995
1994
1992
1991
1993
1991
1996
1985
1988

The Bleeder

Mess Hall
The Hunt
Bad News
Special

Slit

The Bank Street Book of Mystery

A Good, Secret Place
Fiends
New Blood
A Good, Secret Place
Fiends
Book of the Dead
Out are the Lights
Stalkers
Fiends
Best New Horror
Out are the Lights
Under the Fang
System Shock
Fiends
Predators
Fiends

1989
1993
1997
1989
1993
1996
1989
1993
1989
1997
1991
1993
1991
1993
1997
1993
1997

A QUESTION FOR LAYMON (Question by Lisa Markham)

Q: Who are your favourite Horror authors?
Ive been impressed and influenced by such early authors (aside from Chaucer,
Shakespeare, etc.) as Poe, Hawthorne, Bram Stoker, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens,
M.R. James, Algeron Blackwood, and H.P. Lovecraft. A special favourite of mine is
William Hope Hodgson, who wrote astonishingly creepy tales mostly about the
sea.
Other guys who wrote neat, creepy stuff were Seabury Quinn (a WEIRD TALES
contributor), and Davis Grubb (famous for his novel THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER).
As a teenager, I read everything I could find by Robert Bloch and Richard Matheson.
I was also a fan of Ray Russell and Roald Dahl.
Ira Levin has written several excellent horror novels and thrillers. He can always be
counted on for a story thats unusual, creepy, well written and memorable.
Stephen King? I thought SALEMS LOT was just about the best, creepiest book I had
ever read. And it was partly the inspiration for THE CELLAR. Id been working on
violent suspense thrillers before reading SALEMS LOT. After being so impressed by
Kings vampire book, however, I decided to write something spooky. And Ive been
doing that, pretty much, ever since.
Of course, I am a big fan of Dean Koontz. He is also a very close friend. Since
meeting him in about 1980, I have read everything he has written, and I always look
forward to a new book of his coming out. (He has written the introduction for my
story collection, FIENDS, which Headline will be publishing in January, 1997).
Though I like all his books, a few of my real favourites are STRANGERS, ODDKINS,
and TWILIGHT EYES.

Some of my other favourite current American writers are Jack Ketchum, F. Paul
Wilson, Bentley Little, Ed Gorman, and Michael Cadnum.
A big favourite of mine is the Canadian author, Michael Slade. He is actually a
couple of guys, apparently. Slades books are violent, original, very well written,
wonderful. I always grab the new one the moment I see it.
Of current British horror writers, I am a great fan of James Herbert. His book,
SURVIVOR, is one of the creepiest books Ive ever read. THE FOG is even spookier. I
actually had to stop reading THE FOG one night because it was creeping me out too
much. (Of course, I resumed reading it the next day) (coward, Martin). I dont think
anybody does it better than James Herbert.
Other British favourites of mine are Simon Ian Childer and Harry Adam Knight. I
understand that they are the same person, or writing team. Their stuff reminds me
of monster movies from the 1950s but better. Im also a fan of Shaun Hutson,
Stephen Gallacher, and a fairly new writer named Simon Clark, whose stuff is very
creepy.
I am of course, leaving out a lot of writers whose work I really enjoy, but itd take
too much space to name them all. Those mentioned above are a fairly good
sampling, though, of my favourites.
Generally speaking, I read 50-60 books per year. They include bestsellers,
mysteries, classics and horror. And a few non-fiction books, usually about crime or
politics.
RICHARD LAYMON CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS
1.
3.

A big hill with no light

You need a boat to see this
tourist attraction
5.
Dont let the black rain get you
6.
Zombie book, Laymon style
9.
One character drove a hearse
in this book
11.
An invisible enemy was in this
book
12.
Birthplace of Richard Laymon
14.
Librarian adventures
15.
Publishers
16.
Richards pseudonym (womans
name)

DOWN
1.
2.
4.
6.
7.
8.
10.
13.

Supernatural
helped
when
finding treasure, or did it?
Jodie Fargo was the main
character of this book
A night for the witches
Author: ex-teacher
A happy place to be, or is it?
Sounds like meat
Richard Laymons first book
Trevor Wellington Bentley Vs
Jack the Ripper

17.
Main character kept a diary in
this book
18.
You wouldnt want to be in Los
Angeles when this happens

THE RICHARD LAYMON WORLD WIDE WEB PAGE

VISIT THE NEW RICHARD LAYMON WWW PAGE AS OF 30TH AUGUST 1996
ON
HTTP://OURWORLD.COMPUSERVE.COM/HOMEPAGES/MARTIN_WHITE
THE WWW PAGE WILL BE UPDATED EVERY QUARTER ON THE SAME DATE AS
YOU RECEIVE YOUR FANZINE

THE END
I hope you have enjoyed this issue of The Richard Laymon Fan Club. As
mentioned before we need input from YOU. If you are interested in
sending anything to contribute to this fanzine then write to:
MARTIN WHITE,
THE RAMOY BUSINESS CENTRE,
4 BROOMLANDS STREET,
PAISLEY,
PA1 2LR
SCOTLAND, UK.
RICHARD LAYMON

Or you can fax to: 0141 848 6669 (24 hours a day)
Or email: 106022.3106@compuserve.com
ramoybc@aol.com
Or visit WWW Page:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/martin_white
Next issue will be three months from now, so get your pens, word
processors, etc ready. Any questions will be passed on directly to
Richard himself and published in the next issue.
And remember, please dont have nightmares.

SEE YOU
NEXT ISSUE

Special Thanks to:

Mike Bailey, Headline

Richard Laymon, Bob Tanner, International Scripts,

Produced by:
Edited by:

Martin White, Paul Vakharia.

Martin White, Paul Vakharia.

ORIGINALLY PRINTED BY: THE RAMOY CENTRE, 4 BROOMLANDS STREET, PAISLEY, SCOTLAND, UK.