Midnight's Lair by Richard Laymon

Midnight’s Lair by Richard Laymon

October 13th, 2009

‘If you’ve missed Laymon, you’ve missed a treat’ Stephen King

The greatest horror author of all time in my opinion is the late Richard Laymon who sadly died back in 2001. When I heard about his death, I was so upset, because I had already read about 10 of his books and I thought that it was such a huge loss to the horror writing community.

In Laymon’s book, the horror is very real and you hope that it never happens to you. I think this is what scares me so much about his work, while at the same time, I’m fascinated and don’t want to leave it alone.

Midnight’s Lair

The other night, I decided to re-read Midnight’s Lair and already I can’t put the book down.

At the very beginning of this book, Laymon has included a poem that pretty much sums up the mood of Midnight’s Lair. Perhaps it inspired him to write this tale of horror.

The Explorer by Allan Edward DePrey

One day, feeling oh so brave,
I went walking in a cave.

Now, I fear, I can’t get out.
I’ll die in here, I have no doubt.

I’ll mold and turn to slimy bone
Here where the sun has never shown,
Where I’ll lie in darkness all alone,
Here in my tomb of ancient stone.

Remember me, before you dare
To journey into midnight’s lair.
Remember me, and what I write:

‘Here lies one who loved the light
But he was curious and brave –
He went walking in a cave.’

The Book

Kyle Mordock is a horrid, perverted and randy 15yr old who has his eyes on a new tour guide of the family’s caverns. He sneaks into her room and gets off on fantasising about her clothes and lying in her bed, but if you think this is bad, his father caught him sneaking out of her room and decided it was time to pass on the family tradition to his son.

He unlocked room 115 to reveal a two way mirror that filled the entire wall. On the other side was a poor lass who had checked into the hotel alone and now she was tied naked to the bed and gagged. Kyle’s father escorted the horny Kyle into the room and told him that he had one hour with her.

Kyle is now on the tour in the cavern watching the tour guide Darcy and fantasising about her when suddenly the electrics fail and they’re trapped below ground with just a couple of flashlights. Kyle partners up with a young girl as advised by Darcy in order to keep safe, but the poor girl isn’t safe.

No one is safe in a Richard Laymon book!

Midnight’s Lair is one of my favourite stories to read and as with any of Laymon’s books; you really get a feel for all of his characters. You can’t believe what you’re reading and you can’t put the book down, because you need to find out what happens to them.

I often wonder what type of man Richard Laymon was to have such evil and wicked storylines, but it doesn’t stop me from reading his work.

I must state though, I have read some of his books that were published after his death and sadly, they’re not as exciting as those he published when alive. Still, I wouldn’t tell you not to read them.

Why was there never a horror film made based on one of Richard Laymon’s books?