A review by the_bookubus
Blood Games by Richard Laymon
4.0
A group of five twenty-somethings meet up for a week's holiday - their annual tradition since graduating college together. This year is horror fan Helen's turn to choose the destination and they arrive at an abandoned lodge in the middle of nowhere. The reason for it having gone out of business was due to a massacre that took place there several years ago. As the friends explore they discover that maybe the place isn't completely abandoned...
This was my first Laymon novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I know he has many fans but I also hear some negative things about his work such as the portrayal of his female characters. So I was pleasantly surprised to find a group of five well-written female characters here who were unique and well fleshed out with detailed back stories. Sure they also got naked quite frequently but it is fiction and entertaining fiction at that.
The novel includes flashback chapters throughout the story so we learn how the five characters met, how their friendship developed, and the crazy antics that they get up to over the years. I loved the friendship aspect of the story and I loved getting to know the characters, it really made me feel for them and so when some creepy stuff starts to occur I actually cared what would happen to them.
This is much more of a character driven story than I was expecting but it is also fast-paced and entertaining with some excellent moments of tension and bloodshed. My only real gripes were a few outdated attitudes including the references to the size and weight of one of the characters, and also the way an androgynous character was referred to. I believe these are unfortunate products of the time this was written.
I don't want to say too much more about this one as it would end up spoiling things but I do recommend it if you're looking for a horror novel set in a remote location with some badass female characters. There are also quite a few horror references throughout which I thought was really fun. I look forward to reading more Laymon!
This was my first Laymon novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I know he has many fans but I also hear some negative things about his work such as the portrayal of his female characters. So I was pleasantly surprised to find a group of five well-written female characters here who were unique and well fleshed out with detailed back stories. Sure they also got naked quite frequently but it is fiction and entertaining fiction at that.
The novel includes flashback chapters throughout the story so we learn how the five characters met, how their friendship developed, and the crazy antics that they get up to over the years. I loved the friendship aspect of the story and I loved getting to know the characters, it really made me feel for them and so when some creepy stuff starts to occur I actually cared what would happen to them.
This is much more of a character driven story than I was expecting but it is also fast-paced and entertaining with some excellent moments of tension and bloodshed. My only real gripes were a few outdated attitudes including the references to the size and weight of one of the characters, and also the way an androgynous character was referred to. I believe these are unfortunate products of the time this was written.
I don't want to say too much more about this one as it would end up spoiling things but I do recommend it if you're looking for a horror novel set in a remote location with some badass female characters. There are also quite a few horror references throughout which I thought was really fun. I look forward to reading more Laymon!