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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 against another edition
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.
indiepauli47's review against another edition
2.0
I'm giving it 2 stars, because I was simultaneously reading another book that was so bad, I had to up the rating of this one.
It's been 2 years since my last Laymon, and I did not miss his books; they're the same trash horror that I remember, and even if my ratings of his books are always low after 4 books, it seems it's not low enough to stop me from reading them. Ho well.
Although Dark Mountain was a bit different from my previous experiences with Laymon books; the setting and character development felt more present. Nothing much happens for the first 150 pages, apart from a few very short chapters about "the bad guys". Otherwise, it's just about those 2 families on a camping trip, and their relationship to one another.
Obviously, when you think Laymon, sex is probably in the top list of words that should come to mind. This one is no different, although I feel like it was a bit on the "quiet" side if I dare use this term.
Ho yeah, and on page 192 when
The never-stoping description of the female body though... yeah, that did not change. Every woman is perfect and beautiful, and all the men can't stop themselves from salivating and having boners just by looking at them. But anyway.
I feel like the plot, when you put aside what I just mentioned, was quite weak. I won't spoil, but it was over way too fast, and just quite boring in general ? And easy.
And the ending... did not like it.
It's been 2 years since my last Laymon, and I did not miss his books; they're the same trash horror that I remember, and even if my ratings of his books are always low after 4 books, it seems it's not low enough to stop me from reading them. Ho well.
Although Dark Mountain was a bit different from my previous experiences with Laymon books; the setting and character development felt more present. Nothing much happens for the first 150 pages, apart from a few very short chapters about "the bad guys". Otherwise, it's just about those 2 families on a camping trip, and their relationship to one another.
Obviously, when you think Laymon, sex is probably in the top list of words that should come to mind. This one is no different, although I feel like it was a bit on the "quiet" side if I dare use this term.
Ho yeah, and on page 192 when
Spoiler
the rape happens, and Karen just wants to have sex with Scott literally an hour after it happened.. that was fucked up.The never-stoping description of the female body though... yeah, that did not change. Every woman is perfect and beautiful, and all the men can't stop themselves from salivating and having boners just by looking at them. But anyway.
I feel like the plot, when you put aside what I just mentioned, was quite weak. I won't spoil, but it was over way too fast, and just quite boring in general ? And easy.
And the ending... did not like it.
slxtty_academia's review against another edition
1.0
TW: gore, blood, rape, attempted rape, sexually charged violence
I've read quite a few of Laymon's books and they always tend to be hit or miss for me. I really loved Midnight's Lair and Beware, but none of his work that I've read since have come close to those two for me. It's possible that I've grown out of pulpy horror at last, but I really don't think that's the problem here. Considering what this book is, it's very boring and predictable. The stakes never actually feel really high and even the cheap, fun thrills just didn't work. Maybe I would've given this 3 stars if it weren't for a graphic rape scene immediately being followed by a sex scene? Nothing gets women excited like being assaulted, apparently.
There's also an attempted rape of an underage girl and no one (including herself, her father and her boyfriend) seems to think this is a traumatic experienced for her; it's just played of for shock value and because of this i took a star off.
If you're looking for fun, pulpy horror, I'd recommend other Laymon titles over this one. As I've mentioned, Midnight's Lair and Beware are really good, but from what I remember they take themselves significantly more serious then this book. If you want something that just fully embraces the genre, I'd recommend A Night In Lonesome October.
I've read quite a few of Laymon's books and they always tend to be hit or miss for me. I really loved Midnight's Lair and Beware, but none of his work that I've read since have come close to those two for me. It's possible that I've grown out of pulpy horror at last, but I really don't think that's the problem here. Considering what this book is, it's very boring and predictable. The stakes never actually feel really high and even the cheap, fun thrills just didn't work. Maybe I would've given this 3 stars if it weren't for a graphic rape scene immediately being followed by a sex scene? Nothing gets women excited like being assaulted, apparently.
There's also an attempted rape of an underage girl and no one (including herself, her father and her boyfriend) seems to think this is a traumatic experienced for her; it's just played of for shock value and because of this i took a star off.
If you're looking for fun, pulpy horror, I'd recommend other Laymon titles over this one. As I've mentioned, Midnight's Lair and Beware are really good, but from what I remember they take themselves significantly more serious then this book. If you want something that just fully embraces the genre, I'd recommend A Night In Lonesome October.
glitter_crow's review against another edition
3.0
Kind of disappointed, the setup in the beginning didn't really flow very well into the latter half of the book for me. It was an okay read but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
dippdogg2002's review against another edition
4.0
Honestly better than Stephen King. But to each their own. I have read about 8 of Laymon's books so far and have enjoyed them all quite a bit