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lethaldose's review
4.0
This was a fantastic book, well it was fantastic right up until the unsatisfying and demoralizing ending. But I am not going to hold the last 3 pages against a book, even though those are the pages I can't get out of my head.
First I want to warn you this book is not for everyone. Richard Laymon pushes some boundaries, and some people, me included, have to wonder if they all needed pushing. I personally think the book could have done with a little less description of child rape. That is my big complaint here, Laymon does everything he can to make Roy the most despicable person imaginable, and he suceeds very well in that regard, the first and probably worst scene of child rape comes and I think that is horrible, well we won't have to deal with that again. Richard Laymon has established the character and surely he won't do that again, but he does, and again after that. I can't remember how many times and he does at least get less descriptive of it, but it felt like he wanted to keep his reader uncomfortable. As a result of that you are constantly worried for Donna and Sandy, even after their protector Judge shows up.
There are two points where this book is a massive success. First is the house itself, you are instantly interested and curious about Beast House, and the way Laymon morsels out nuggets about it only serves to make you more curious. A need to know what is going on inside Beast House would push you on to the ending alone. But the second point is the book has fantastic characters. They lack a certain amount of believability but that doesn't make them any less likable. Judge is a little too quick to offer to kill the Beast of Beast house for a guy he had never met before. And Donna and Judge get way too close, too fast to be anywhere near believable. But they are likable and you are instantly fond of them as much as you instantly hate Roy. You become invested in the characters of the book very quickly.
I am not going to spoil the ending here, even though I detested it, but you should know that it is very unfufilling and you will feel slightly cheated when you get there, but don't let that ruin what is otherwise a great little horror story.
First I want to warn you this book is not for everyone. Richard Laymon pushes some boundaries, and some people, me included, have to wonder if they all needed pushing. I personally think the book could have done with a little less description of child rape. That is my big complaint here, Laymon does everything he can to make Roy the most despicable person imaginable, and he suceeds very well in that regard, the first and probably worst scene of child rape comes and I think that is horrible, well we won't have to deal with that again. Richard Laymon has established the character and surely he won't do that again, but he does, and again after that. I can't remember how many times and he does at least get less descriptive of it, but it felt like he wanted to keep his reader uncomfortable. As a result of that you are constantly worried for Donna and Sandy, even after their protector Judge shows up.
There are two points where this book is a massive success. First is the house itself, you are instantly interested and curious about Beast House, and the way Laymon morsels out nuggets about it only serves to make you more curious. A need to know what is going on inside Beast House would push you on to the ending alone. But the second point is the book has fantastic characters. They lack a certain amount of believability but that doesn't make them any less likable. Judge is a little too quick to offer to kill the Beast of Beast house for a guy he had never met before. And Donna and Judge get way too close, too fast to be anywhere near believable. But they are likable and you are instantly fond of them as much as you instantly hate Roy. You become invested in the characters of the book very quickly.
I am not going to spoil the ending here, even though I detested it, but you should know that it is very unfufilling and you will feel slightly cheated when you get there, but don't let that ruin what is otherwise a great little horror story.
add_a_little_spook's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Ableism, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Torture, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Child abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Cursing, and Blood
Moderate: Grief
cookiedoof's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
reyna_bm's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.75
bobmetal's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jodieb81's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
horrorhussy's review against another edition
2.0
Thankfully we have improved ways of writing splatter gore since the 80s!
WTF was that ending?
WTF was that ending?
paulabrandon's review against another edition
1.0
Ick. No. This had a good idea at its core, but the detailed descriptions about child sexual abuse were just unacceptable.
the88shrimp's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
billymac1962's review against another edition
3.0
The following review is from my old website...this didn't make the initial migration to Goodreads for some reason.
It wasn't until finishing this novel that I decided to "skull" this review. But the ending was very good, and it was quite shocking in parts.
However...the heroine of the story, Donna, supposedly a caring mother, pissed me off so often that I was tempted to throw the book through a window. I mean, here's a woman on the run with her 12 year old daughter. Her husband, Roy, a child-raping psychotic, has just been released from prison, and doting Donna takes every chance she can get to abandon her daughter and bang away with some stranger (Jud) she just met. It was so bad, I was actually hoping Roy would snatch daughter Sandy...it would have served Donna right. And the love scenes...ugh. Was Laymon 14 years old when he wrote this??
Another unbelievable aspect was Sandy immediately latching onto Jud's buddy Larry, a perfect stranger. This from a 12 year old girl who was raped by her father six years ago.
Give me a break. But...the novel is so short, you don't have to put up with this ridiculousness for long. The ending alone was enough to merit a skull for this review, but I doubt very much I'll be reading Laymon again.
FYI, my website had a cool rotating skull beside those novels I felt bestowed such an honor. This one ranked a skull for the ending alone, but I'm hard pressed to go as high as a four stars...hmmm...OK, three stars but with reservations.
It wasn't until finishing this novel that I decided to "skull" this review. But the ending was very good, and it was quite shocking in parts.
However...the heroine of the story, Donna, supposedly a caring mother, pissed me off so often that I was tempted to throw the book through a window. I mean, here's a woman on the run with her 12 year old daughter. Her husband, Roy, a child-raping psychotic, has just been released from prison, and doting Donna takes every chance she can get to abandon her daughter and bang away with some stranger (Jud) she just met. It was so bad, I was actually hoping Roy would snatch daughter Sandy...it would have served Donna right. And the love scenes...ugh. Was Laymon 14 years old when he wrote this??
Another unbelievable aspect was Sandy immediately latching onto Jud's buddy Larry, a perfect stranger. This from a 12 year old girl who was raped by her father six years ago.
Give me a break. But...the novel is so short, you don't have to put up with this ridiculousness for long. The ending alone was enough to merit a skull for this review, but I doubt very much I'll be reading Laymon again.
FYI, my website had a cool rotating skull beside those novels I felt bestowed such an honor. This one ranked a skull for the ending alone, but I'm hard pressed to go as high as a four stars...hmmm...OK, three stars but with reservations.