I think I'm going to have a sleazy yet fortuitous relationship with Richard Laymon. He doesn't beat around the bush and immediately revels in all things exploitation. Plots are basic, body counts are high and there's always a high element of perversion in the way nudity and lust are portrayed.
Night Show is book one in Volume 3 of his omnibus collection (there are 17 volumes in all) and tells the story of a man desperate to get into the world of horror VFX because of a bizarre fixation to scare seven shades of shit out of people. However, one of his victims has been mentally scarred by one of his pranks and seeks vengeance.
Whilst his writing prowess is limited, Laymon doesn't half know how to spin a good yarn. It doesn't intend to be anything more than the literature equivalent of a cheesy slasher flick and, in that respect, it succeeds admirably. It's a huge riot that never bores.
My only problem with the three novels I've read of his are that they're over too quickly. I think the next time I indulge with Laymon, it'll be one of his longer novels like Island or Quake or Funhouse (has a certain Point Horror vibe to it wouldn't you say).
I'm slowly falling for this man's perverse mind.
3.5/5
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