In Laymon's Terms

Holly Newstein

DIDN’T DISCOVER THE guilty pleasures of Richard Laymon’s books until a few years ago. Most of my genre reading was confined to the marquee names, as I struggled to learn the craft of writing horror. Then I had the privilege of meeting Dick at KeeneCon 2000—a charming, funny man with an equally charming family. I saw fans with boxloads of books lining up reverently to have Dick sign their collections. I was much intrigued, and decided I had better read something of his. I began with The Stake, and I haven’t stopped since.

Dick’s books are terrifying, bloody and gruesome, but they are also darkly, laugh-out-loud funny. No one will ever mistake his work for “lit’ra-chure,” but they leave the reader thoroughly entertained. Which is, after all, what a writer is supposed to do.

Dick understood the bargain between reader and writer—if the reader is willing to invest hard-earned money and precious time on the writer’s work, he or she is entitled to a rockin’ good time. And he consistently delivers just that. When I sit down to read The Traveling Vampire Show, or In The Dark, or anything else by Dick, I know I am going to get everything I want and nothing I don’t.

Ralph Bieber and I have tried to remember his legacy as we pursue our own writing careers.