Rating: 
Summary: I loved this book...I bet you will too
Review: If you're a fan of the coming-of-age horror novel, if you liked Stephen King's "It," Robert McCammon's "Boy's Life," or Dan Simmons' "Summer of Night," you've got to read this book.This is the second book I've ever read by Richard Laymon (I read "Night Show" years ago), but after this one, I'm going to have to seek out some more of his books. It's too bad he passed away this year and won't be giving us anymore really good books like "The Traveling Vampire Show". TVS is not a perfect book. I would agree with some parts of the negative reviews on this page. Some of the characters, especially the villains, could have used some more fleshing out, but there's too much that's good about this novel not to give it five stars. I like to try to read at least one good "summer" horror novel each year, and this one is certainly it for 2001. The main characters, especially Slim and Dwight, are interesting and emotionally involving. Best of all, Laymon really succeeds at creating an imaginative world in this novel that you just don't want to leave. I remember lying in my bed for hours on end each summer morning after waking up the year Stephen King's "It" came out, when I was thirteen. The book was so good, I didn't want to do anything but read all day. I felt some of that again with this book. It's true that Laymon's not as poetic as Bradbury, as consistently good as King, or as emotionally moving as McCammon, but there are elements of all of these styles mixed together in this novel. And that makes for a pretty good concoction, in my book.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't believe the blurbs
Review: Some reviewers have compared this book to classics like Bradbury's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES and King's "The Body". But for several reasons, this book just can't hold a candle in comparison to the two previously metioned classics. 1. The main character - This book centers on three characters: Rusty (an immature pervert), Slim (a tomboy who is wise beyond her years), and Dwight (the nice guy first-person protagonist). Rusty and Slim are two people who would probably be at each others throats- provided that Slim doesn't shoot an arrow through Rusty's- if not for Dwight, whose nature allows other people to define who he is. Dwight's mere sheepiness acts as a buffer for these two conflicting personalities. Although Dwight tends to lean more toward Slim, he finds himself fighting a little harder to control his urges when he is with Rusty. A sheep is not a good choice for a protagonist unless the story makes a statement about being a sheep. This book makes no such statement. A strong character such as Slim would have been a better protagonist. 2. Lacks horrific atmosphere - Most of this book is about teenage shenanigans. I have nothing against this behavior in a novel as long as it is a coming of age novel. TVS is marketed as a horror novel. In the book, the characters seem more concerned about hiding beer bottles and getting away from Rusty's pesky kid sister. 3. Unnecessary subplots - The preoccupation with dogs and the mystery of the chewed-up copy of DRACULA added nothing to the story. 4. The villains - Villains were meant to be hated. The reason why I can't hate the villains here is because this book does very little to build them up along the way. Instead, we have to read about the silly subplots and teenage shenanigans. The villains only make a menacing appearance at the last fifty pages. You don't really learn that much about them then. 5. Anticlimatic ending - I found the ending to be very predictable, unexciting, and absurd. These bad guys must truly be inept to be done in by teenagers who don't know what they are dealing with. This book does have its good points though. First of all, Slim is a very lively character. Secondly, the shenanigans are well done. They just should not be an object of major focus in a horror novel. And finally, there does seem to be a bond among the characters as a TRIO. Slim and Dwight can get along. So can Dwight and Rusty. But Rusty and Slim? Heck, NO!!! While I can understand that other reviewers like this book more than what I did, I must caution you to not expect this book to be the classic the blurbs make it out to be.
Rating: 
Summary: Scary, But Mostly in a Nice Way
Review: This is the first Richard Laymon book I've read, but it definitely won't be the last. The Traveling Vampire Show is a coming of age story similar in scope to Stephen King's The Body, Robert McCammon's A Boy's Life, or - dare I say it? - Ray Bradbury's classic novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes. The novel follows the adventures of three best friends, all in the 16 year old range, who make it their summer goal to see The Traveling Vampire Show. Laymon occasionally lapses into the predictable (hence the 4/5 rating) and the ending left a little to be desired, but I still couldn't put this book down. Laymon's book will, more than likely, join that rare sect of books (maybe a dozen) that I re-read somewhere down the road - and that's one of the highest compliments I can give a book.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I agree entirely with the other negative reviews on this novel. Stephen King is the master of combining coming of age with a good horror story and Richard Laymon has not challenged him at all. I found the story irritating and the plot twists were invariably a disappointment. If you want a good horror read do not buy this book, if you want coming of age read Catcher in the Rye.
Rating:
Summary: It's not what you think
Review: I really enjoyed this book and would recoment it to anyone who liked the film "Stand by Me".
Rating:
Summary: Can't go wrong with Laymon
Review: I'm writing this review because I was pretty disapointed with the star rating you'd given it - I feel it deserves more. In TVS Laymon's character development is, as always, excellent (as it is in Bite, Body Rides and Blood Games). This, I feel, is one of the most important aspects of Laymon's books: his ability to INVOLVE you in the story and to create empathy for the characters. Keeping it short, I recommend this book to any Laymon fan who hasn't already read it - it's great. I am slightly biased though, I love anything Laymon writes (some more than others).
Rating: 
Summary: A HUGE blunder...
Review: I got hooked into Richard Laymon while reading a few chapters of his book "After Midnight" on the web. As "The Traveling Vampire Show" was his most recent publication, I picked it up with high expectations. "The Traveling Vampire Show" reminded me of a college Freshman's final exam from Creative Writing 101. This is a perfect example of a wonderful premise gone terribly wrong. Anyone who has read "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury, or Stephen King's short story "The Body," knows that it is possible to portray young people 'coming of age' in the midst of a horrible and terrifying situation, in an interesting and stylish way. Unfortunately Richard Laymon misses by a mile. To start, the dialog is extremely annoying. Anyone facing fear the way the main characters did, would most certainly not be cracking stupid jokes...non stop. I know how teenagers behave because I used to be one. Second, the plot was only barely tolerable. Each time you thought something exciting was about to happen, you find out it was nothing. Any fan of horror fiction or movies knows that the opposite works fine; you think everything is ok, only to find out that it isn't. Apparently Richard Laymon was trying to be clever by doing the switching the formula around, which could have worked under different circumstances. However, he only succeeded in letting down the reader time and again. Lastly the ending, which STILL may have redeemed the rest of the book had it been shocking and unpredictable, was so sloppy and loose that one would think Mr. Laymon found that he had to go somewhere in a big hurry so he slapped an ending on and sent the story off to the publisher. Perhaps he was just having a bad day, but don't waste your money on this one...
Rating:
Summary: A great book about the "coming of age"!
Review: Like an earlier reviewer noted, "The Traveling Vampire Show" deals a lot more with the "coming of age" of a trio of teenagers than it does with vampires. Comparable to a great book entitled "Boys' Life" by Robert McCammon, "TTVS" deals with the trials and tribulations involving the teens attempt to attend the "adults only" showing of the Traveling Vampire Show. The trio of teens are presented with Laymon's adept way of getting you to know his "characters" without adding a lot of "fluff". It's easy to identify with the shy, but "morally- correct" Dwight, the tomboyish and heroic Slim, and the immature and identity-searching Rusty. Laymon's tight writing and ability to weave a couple of plot lines together, makes this a thoroughly enjoyable journey. Throw in Laymon's signature sets of gratitous violence and sex, and you're got a typical Laymon "read". As a matter of fact, in this reviewer's opinion, this novel ranks among his best (Midnight's Lair, The Stake, and Funland). If this is your first Laymon book, you will not be disappointed and will, most likely, become a fan for life. Unfortunately, Laymon's untimely death in February has taken a terrific author from among the literary ranks. His legion of fans will sorely miss his "over-the-top" style of writing, but collectors of his fiction will have a field day. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A nice set up, but the author blows it....
Review: The notion of a traveling vampire show coming to a small American town in the 60s, during a summer when three teenage friends are "awakening" into adulthood, was truly a great idea. Mr. Laymon certainly pulled some of this idea off, but, unfortunately, he stumbled badly, and what could have been an intriguing story falls flat. The biggest disappointment of this novel is the author's ultra-silly humor, which is never funny, just simply juvenile and irritating, and it's there...basically on every page....during every scenerio...and it really destroys any suspense or momemtem the story may have built up. I did indeed finish this novel, suffering through the great amount of unfunny humor, and I must admit, the preposterous ending equalled the lame humor in it's level of disappointment. There were some (very few) passages that satisfied, like Dwight's awkward feelings concerning his love for Slim, but these were always capped with some silly line, or a never-ending bit of sarcasm from Rusty. This "over-kill" is throughout the entire novel, and it's sad that such a good premise for a story was ruined. These same comments also apply for the only other Laymon novel I read, "Bite" and judging from these two novels, I don't care to read any more from his body of work. I truly love horror, and I enjoy a great sense of humor, but unbearable silliness is not my cup of tea.
Rating:
Summary: should have been a short story
Review: The story had too much filler in it. The author could have cut this down considerably and made a decent short story. The best part of the book is the last 20 or 30 pages. This was my first Laymon book and it will probably be my last. Try Brian Lumley for a series of truly terrifying vampire books.
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