Darkness, Tell Us

Rating:
Summary: "Oui" "Ja"
Review: With each new Laymon book (many of which are technically reprints) it becomes increasingly evident that his untimely demise will continue to impact the Horror community for years to come. His name is getting closer to legend and rightfully so. One need look no further than Darkness, Tell Us. A fascinatingly juvenille tale, filled with chewy pulpy gore, that's way over the top. This is quite possibly the weirdest cautionary tale involving a ouija board ever; but you keep reading because you gotta see where he's going with this. Usually with Laymon it isn't anywhere near where you thought.

We get ghosts, a muscle bound psycho with a limited vocabulary, a survivor of childhood atrocity, and lots of violence. There's sex, blood, and an omnipresent feeling of unease.

Laymon puts his characters and his readers through the wringer, writing like an efficient, yet cruel, drowner. He lets the audience gasp for breath, even letting them be lulled by seemingly calm waters before forcing them back under into the dark and depravity of his sickly sweet mind. No amount of squirming and thrashing can save you, your lungs will fill.

So what makes Darkness, Tell Us so great? It's yeah right fiction that's a frickin' blast to read, not for the wusses or the prudes, but for us sickos who appreciate nasty stuff happening to make believe people. This is the type of horror that kiddies definitely ought to hide from the folks. Truly representative of Laymon's mad genius. He was a master confectioner with a flair for the fantastic who will be sorely missed.

Rating:
Summary: Laymon Gives Us another Reason to Miss Him
Review: Wow. Once again, I found myself out of breath when I finished a Laymon novel. Darkness began a bit on the slow side, but like a true horror novel took me under its spell slowly & before I knew it was riding along with the characters til the wild end.
What starts out as a seemingly simple tale of college students, the occult, and psychopaths soon twist and turn into something much more complex, but not so as to take away from the great pace Laymon sets for the reader.
The characters are likeable, grow with the turn of events, and even the oddest plot twists worked because of them.
I've gone out of my way to find most of his books - this is a good one to start with, but don't stop here!