trudilibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Even when Laymon isn't at his best, I still find myself turning the pages and unable to put the book down. This is dreadful, compelling stuff -- trashy but satisfying, everything a pulp-riff-page-turner should be. For me, Laymon is the equivalent of a greasy cheeseburger and fries -- consume in moderation and enjoy!
itcamefromthepage's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Some cool sequences and Laymon does do some good descriptions of nature, but yeah this is still hella trashy.
The first half is much better than the second.
Rumpacolaypse in this one as there are 17 rumps.
The first half is much better than the second.
Rumpacolaypse in this one as there are 17 rumps.
blatdriver's review against another edition
4.0
This is only my second Richard Laymon book, and the best way I can describe them is comfy, like a home cooked meal, and I am going to buy and read every Laymon book I can get my hands on.
sukidev's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
tutto_mare's review against another edition
2.0
This was book two of my Laymon marathon. This one wasn’t as good as The Traveling Vampire Show. Both books were slow to get to the action which I wasn’t expecting with Laymon. This one started out good but lost more and more steam as it went. I will eventually reread The Traveling Vampire Show because now that I know it’s more of a slow burn, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it more. I can’t say the same for this one. Next up on my Laymon reading list will be One Rainy Night and To Wake The Dead. Both of which I’m excited for! I just hope I’m done with the Laymon slow burns now.
verkisto's review against another edition
3.0
Like Allhallow's Eve, Dark Mountain has a good focus on character. They're not particularly deep, but they're distinctive, which is impressive when you consider that there are eleven central characters in the first half of the book. They're distinguished by their main personality traits
This is still a Laymon book, though, which means it's not without its problems. He spends half the book on a camping trip, which turns out to be nothing more than exposition for the real story, which comprises the second half of the book. It seems overlong; I feel like a defter writer could have taken the core of that half and condensed it down to 30-50 pages without losing anything. One could argue that Laymon was developing character during that time, but like I mentioned above, they weren't deep, so all he does is revisit the same characters under benign circumstances.
Oh, and this book features one use of the non-word "irregardless". I don't care how casual of a writer you are, or how much fluff your writing is. You simply. Don't. Use this word.
That being said, I felt compelled to finish the book because I needed to see what would happen next. I think that's a first with Laymon (at least on this project; I remember feeling that way about The Quake many years ago), and I found the tension that he built in the second half of the book to be a large part of it. I won't spoil it by telling you any details about it, but he managed to make even the most benign circumstances filled with dread over what might happen. He created tension by forcing us to wait for the hammer to fall.
This book was originally credited to Richard Kelly, which is weird since the book's style and narrative is clearly Laymon's. Aside from the prevalent sex, rape, and depravity one would expect to find in one of his stories, the constant use of the word "rump" would have been a dead giveaway. I've been unable to find a reason why this novel was originally published under a pseudonym, but it seems like a waste of time.
I also learned a new word while reading this book: "gorp". I thought it was a weird typo (a lot of these OCR'd ebooks have weird words from misidentified characters, and this book was full of them), but it turns out it's another name for trail mix. I spent at least a minute trying to interpret that word before finally checking to see if it had a definition.
So, Laymon took me by surprise with Dark Mountain. I don't know if I had lowered my expectations enough to be taken in by the story, or if his style improved enough to make it a better story, but it worked pretty well for me.
This is still a Laymon book, though, which means it's not without its problems. He spends half the book on a camping trip, which turns out to be nothing more than exposition for the real story, which comprises the second half of the book. It seems overlong; I feel like a defter writer could have taken the core of that half and condensed it down to 30-50 pages without losing anything. One could argue that Laymon was developing character during that time, but like I mentioned above, they weren't deep, so all he does is revisit the same characters under benign circumstances.
Oh, and this book features one use of the non-word "irregardless". I don't care how casual of a writer you are, or how much fluff your writing is. You simply. Don't. Use this word.
That being said, I felt compelled to finish the book because I needed to see what would happen next. I think that's a first with Laymon (at least on this project; I remember feeling that way about The Quake many years ago), and I found the tension that he built in the second half of the book to be a large part of it. I won't spoil it by telling you any details about it, but he managed to make even the most benign circumstances filled with dread over what might happen. He created tension by forcing us to wait for the hammer to fall.
This book was originally credited to Richard Kelly, which is weird since the book's style and narrative is clearly Laymon's. Aside from the prevalent sex, rape, and depravity one would expect to find in one of his stories, the constant use of the word "rump" would have been a dead giveaway. I've been unable to find a reason why this novel was originally published under a pseudonym, but it seems like a waste of time.
I also learned a new word while reading this book: "gorp". I thought it was a weird typo (a lot of these OCR'd ebooks have weird words from misidentified characters, and this book was full of them), but it turns out it's another name for trail mix. I spent at least a minute trying to interpret that word before finally checking to see if it had a definition.
So, Laymon took me by surprise with Dark Mountain. I don't know if I had lowered my expectations enough to be taken in by the story, or if his style improved enough to make it a better story, but it worked pretty well for me.
jwdonley's review against another edition
2.0
Well, I've heard that Richard Laymon is a good horror author. I don't think that this book represents that statement. This is not one I would recommend. It reads like an 80s horror flick.
ashtheviking's review against another edition
2.0
Pulpy trash horror. Like a low-budget horror movie where you're yelling at the characters for being idiots and questioning why the women are always at least partially nude. Nipples and breasts must have been top in the most frequently used word count- but if you know anything about Laymon then you have to expect the cringe-y descriptions of female bodies and rape. Who gets naked to practice their headstands? (also who was Tanya? it seems like it was a random character just added in part 2 for seemingly no reason).
The beginning was a rather slow set-up as the characters embark on a backwoods camping trip. I love camping and it's looking like I won't be able to get out on a trip this year so I'm sad. He really captures the process of a hike and the slight misery that somehow we always hate in the moment but always want to come back to. The telling of scary stories around the campfire and being spooked later was such a hallmark of childhood trips. I loved the camping bits which is why I was disappointed that a large chunk of the book is set when they return from the woods. I hoped it would be a survival story in the woods.
I think the biggest fault of this story, and I can't believe I'm saying this, is that it's too character focused. There is so much mundane day-to-day shit here and relationship building with the two new couples. The two dads are both Vietnam veterans and poised as tough guys but it has zero relevance to the story. I wish we had had a bit more of the old hag.
Overall I thought it was too long or at least the pages were allotted unevenly. While a budget horror movie is a fun way to pass an hour and a half a novel takes longer and got tiresome.
The beginning was a rather slow set-up as the characters embark on a backwoods camping trip. I love camping and it's looking like I won't be able to get out on a trip this year so I'm sad. He really captures the process of a hike and the slight misery that somehow we always hate in the moment but always want to come back to. The telling of scary stories around the campfire and being spooked later was such a hallmark of childhood trips. I loved the camping bits which is why I was disappointed that a large chunk of the book is set when they return from the woods. I hoped it would be a survival story in the woods.
I think the biggest fault of this story, and I can't believe I'm saying this, is that it's too character focused. There is so much mundane day-to-day shit here and relationship building with the two new couples. The two dads are both Vietnam veterans and poised as tough guys but it has zero relevance to the story. I wish we had had a bit more of the old hag.
Overall I thought it was too long or at least the pages were allotted unevenly. While a budget horror movie is a fun way to pass an hour and a half a novel takes longer and got tiresome.