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dethklok1985's review against another edition
3.0
I finished it but I still don't understand who MOG is... can someone do a spoiler tag and lmk?
the_enobee's review against another edition
3.0
I tore through this book and was not disappointed in any way. In the Dark hits quite a few marks, with genuinely spooky nighttime excursions, gross outs, incredibly moments of grisly violence, and ever-rising stakes featuring the same. Laymon's style is outrageous and absurd. I liken reading this book to perusing the local VHS rental store (not the chains, but the little store around the corner with the semi-creepy owner behind the counter) and finding some obviously campy horror movie and watching it despite knowing better. Some things are just awesome, and I find In the Dark to be one of them.
kiiriko's review against another edition
1.0
rayford gayford stayford (oder wie au immer de typ gheisse het) und dassme eh kugle während em schuss us de luft fange cha inklusive öppe so fest gingge dassme mehreri meter flügt wäred ah sich nicey sache aber i wil i eifach nur
mxsallybend's review against another edition
4.0
Although it takes a while to find its darkness – 150 pages to become violent, 200 pages to become truly unsettling, and 300 pages to become brutally sexual – In the Dark is another solid piece of horror pulp from the master, Richard Laymon.
Jane Kerry is a small-town librarian who gets drawn into a strange game by someone calling himself MOG, the Master of Games. It all begins with an envelope containing $50 and a clue to the next envelope. It seems harmless, but there’s still a creepiness to it all, with natural fears over who MOG is and what he ultimately wants. As the game goes on, the clues get tougher, the money gets bigger, and what she’s asked to do gets worse.
It is Jane who makes the story so compelling, an ordinary woman who is both tragic and heroic at the same time. She finds herself racing down a slippery slope of morality and purpose, willing to do things she would have otherwise found abhorrent, but greed is only half of her motivation. The other half is part curiosity, needing to know what’s next, and part female empowerment, finding new strength and self-confidence in the game.
Sometimes Laymon assaults the senses from the first page, and sometimes he makes us wait for it. This is one of those slow-burn stories that takes its time being creepy and mysterious (I loved the negligee and the coffin), settling for being unsettling instead of horrific . . . but once it escalates things in the brutal house of horrors (those women were batshit crazy!), it’s a roller coaster ride downhill to the climax . . . and that’s where Laymon excels.
Nobody nails a climax like he does, going all out with the violence, the drama, and the tension, keeping us on edge for the last 30 pages, with a series of big twists that are just perfect.
https://femledfantasy.home.blog/2020/06/16/book-review-in-the-dark-by-richard-laymon/
Jane Kerry is a small-town librarian who gets drawn into a strange game by someone calling himself MOG, the Master of Games. It all begins with an envelope containing $50 and a clue to the next envelope. It seems harmless, but there’s still a creepiness to it all, with natural fears over who MOG is and what he ultimately wants. As the game goes on, the clues get tougher, the money gets bigger, and what she’s asked to do gets worse.
It is Jane who makes the story so compelling, an ordinary woman who is both tragic and heroic at the same time. She finds herself racing down a slippery slope of morality and purpose, willing to do things she would have otherwise found abhorrent, but greed is only half of her motivation. The other half is part curiosity, needing to know what’s next, and part female empowerment, finding new strength and self-confidence in the game.
Sometimes Laymon assaults the senses from the first page, and sometimes he makes us wait for it. This is one of those slow-burn stories that takes its time being creepy and mysterious (I loved the negligee and the coffin), settling for being unsettling instead of horrific . . . but once it escalates things in the brutal house of horrors (those women were batshit crazy!), it’s a roller coaster ride downhill to the climax . . . and that’s where Laymon excels.
Nobody nails a climax like he does, going all out with the violence, the drama, and the tension, keeping us on edge for the last 30 pages, with a series of big twists that are just perfect.
https://femledfantasy.home.blog/2020/06/16/book-review-in-the-dark-by-richard-laymon/
vikingwolf's review against another edition
4.0
Jane is a bored librarian who finds a 50 dollar bill and a cryptic note that leads her to another book with more money and another clue. So begins a scavenger hunt with a difference, starting out with innocent expeditions with the money doubling each time. Then just when Jane is hooked, the tasks start becoming more dangerous and illegal. She starts to have second thoughts about the game but the mystery host has no intention of letting her quit.
This book is clever, full of the suspense that Laymon does so well and it leaves you wondering how far someone would go for money if the game was really happening. It's not the usual gory horror, this is about building suspense and watching Jane put herself in really crazy situations with coffins, tramps, mad dogs etc. Jane is a dolt and you can't help shouting 'don't do that you stupid bitch!' every few chapters but its part of the fun of the book! Brace was a bit pointless, just there to be used for the usual sex scenes. My only complaint is that you don't get answers to the questions that you want to know about why MOG chose Jane for the game and what the purpose was.
This book is clever, full of the suspense that Laymon does so well and it leaves you wondering how far someone would go for money if the game was really happening. It's not the usual gory horror, this is about building suspense and watching Jane put herself in really crazy situations with coffins, tramps, mad dogs etc. Jane is a dolt and you can't help shouting 'don't do that you stupid bitch!' every few chapters but its part of the fun of the book! Brace was a bit pointless, just there to be used for the usual sex scenes. My only complaint is that you don't get answers to the questions that you want to know about why MOG chose Jane for the game and what the purpose was.
shane's review against another edition
4.0
Always enjoy Richard Laymon. You're guaranteed certain things from him no matter what, including, but not limited to, a pretty young woman in red gym shorts(although other colours are available), at least one sex-in-the-shower scene(or it may just be wishful thinking), large quantities of descriptive text involving the aforementioned red gym shorts girl, usually involving the sensitivity of her nipples or more than likely, the wonderfully clinging quality of her red gym shorts in relation to her pert buttocks!
All this is well and good of course but what about the story? Well, this one's a doozy. It involves a librarian called Jane who finds a strategically placed envelope on her chair which contains money and a little riddle leading her to the next envelope containing more money and another riddle. In fact the money keeps doubling each time as the riddles lead her into more and more dangerous situations.
I had read in various reviews around cyberspace that there's a great twist ending. This confused me since I either missed it, or was too stupid to see it, or was just plain wrongly informed in the first place. MOG(master of games) who's the one leaving all the envelopes and riddles reminds me of another of Richard Laymon's characters from one of his other books. I think it was Blood Games but I can't for the life of me remember his name now. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it can't be linked to that character since there wasn't any reason for it to be so. I don't know.
So leaving aside the slight disappointment with the whole who is MOG? mystery which just fizzled away to nothing really(from what I could see), it was a great ride and featured lots of mentions of breasts, pert buttocks and gym shorts(which were blue and shiny in this instance) rather than the traditional red.
Very good. But I wish the whole MOG thing had been dealt with a little more definitively.
As always with our Mr Laymon, Highly Recommended.
All this is well and good of course but what about the story? Well, this one's a doozy. It involves a librarian called Jane who finds a strategically placed envelope on her chair which contains money and a little riddle leading her to the next envelope containing more money and another riddle. In fact the money keeps doubling each time as the riddles lead her into more and more dangerous situations.
I had read in various reviews around cyberspace that there's a great twist ending. This confused me since I either missed it, or was too stupid to see it, or was just plain wrongly informed in the first place. MOG(master of games) who's the one leaving all the envelopes and riddles reminds me of another of Richard Laymon's characters from one of his other books. I think it was Blood Games but I can't for the life of me remember his name now. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it can't be linked to that character since there wasn't any reason for it to be so. I don't know.
So leaving aside the slight disappointment with the whole who is MOG? mystery which just fizzled away to nothing really(from what I could see), it was a great ride and featured lots of mentions of breasts, pert buttocks and gym shorts(which were blue and shiny in this instance) rather than the traditional red.
Very good. But I wish the whole MOG thing had been dealt with a little more definitively.
As always with our Mr Laymon, Highly Recommended.