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3.1 AVERAGE
3.1 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Rape, Cannibalism
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
I’m a Richard Laymon apologist!! This was extremely reminiscent of Ketchum’s Off Season - but less built out.
This is not a book to be read by people susceptible to gore, horror, necrophilia, cannibalism, pedophilia and other... things...
I read the restored and uncut version of the book. Most Landers chapters are missing from the previous edition and I can see why. They are disturbing as hell. Beware. You have been warned.
This book is relatively small, with only 215 pages and right from the first chapter you are inside the rollercoast that finish in the last page.
You've got two separated sets of characters that are captured and left as food to some strange human beings, probably the result of inbreeding. After leaving them there, one of the captors, turns back because he wants to save one of the girls he just left. This result in the bloody chaos this book is all about.
My opinion on issues inside this book...
There are some issues here as I said before that can shock some people. Cannibalism, necrophilia, pervated sex or rape are the "usually" issues in other gore books/films. But pedophilia, if you can call it that is not a situtation most writers are willing to write since it can really hurt an author images It's a sensative issue. (In no way I am saying that it's okay. Don't get me wrong. It exists in our society, therefore people should write an talk about it). Killing a person is wrong, right? As wrong as pedophila? Less or More? - But writers write about it and we accept the acts in the book... as fiction. When I read this book, everything is/was fiction right? So what's the problem? This is the same thing as racism, necrophilia and other sad things humankind is capable of doing. I don't condemn a writer who writes a racist character, and neither I will condemn a character that commits an arson, kills, pedophile and so on... because this is FICTION. I don't believe the writer himself wants to eat or fornicate a dead person, is a pedophilie or wants to mutilate someone. If that would be, most horror/thriller/fantasy/sf writers would be mass murderers, crazies, madmen that should be lock up in a sanitarium. If it was possible to remove all sensitive issues of our fiction -we should have only a handful of boring books avaiable to read. I think most people are too sensitive to read about racism or pedophilia, because, unfortunally, it exits in our society and shames us, but we "accept" more easily a murder. But in my book, each one is wrong.
Sorry for my ramblings... What I was trying to say is... It's fiction. Read as fiction, but beware of issues that upset you. You have been warned.
Some spoilers ahead:
There are some things in this novel I didn't enjoy. First of all, the ending, who was that old man? A bit deus-ex-machina in my book. The love between the captor and the victim, a bit over-do? Stockholm syndrome? I think that sex scene was a bit too much unreal.
The characters are almost blank with the exception of Sherri who comes out of the closet, Cordelia who must do anything to survive and his Landers who became a bit insane, quoting Shakespeare with a perverse attitute of killing, fvcking and some pedophilie urges.
I can see why Warner remove all Landers chapters.
Page 73/74
"At this very moment, someone could be raping Ruth. I could the same to these, he thought. I could kill the grubby one. I could rape the pretty one, then kill her. It would serve them right. An eye for an eye. A rape for a rape." - "The tight hole that gripped his cock as he pushed roughly into her. God, it would be magnificient! Such stuff as dreams are made of. And he could do it, he really could." "God, to be able to take her in his arms, push his throbbing cock into her, watch the agony of pleasure twist her face!"
Page 127
"She was young. Thirteen or fourteen. Her tanned shoulders were bared."I'm Lilly""
Page 214/215
"What do they call you? he asked. "Lilly" - He touched her small breasts. "Buds and petals. Sweet nectar. Shall I spare you? Shall I take you to my palace?" Her hand slipped through the hanging hair, and touched him. "Perchance I shall." He put the hatchet away and lifted her. He kissed her breast.
END OF SPOILER
Conclusion
I think this book is quite good. A good gore novel that should be made into a movie. I advice to anyone who has read Laymon before. I won't advice to the fainthearted or people who are more suscetible to some issues I made references in the review.
I read the restored and uncut version of the book. Most Landers chapters are missing from the previous edition and I can see why. They are disturbing as hell. Beware. You have been warned.
This book is relatively small, with only 215 pages and right from the first chapter you are inside the rollercoast that finish in the last page.
You've got two separated sets of characters that are captured and left as food to some strange human beings, probably the result of inbreeding. After leaving them there, one of the captors, turns back because he wants to save one of the girls he just left. This result in the bloody chaos this book is all about.
My opinion on issues inside this book...
There are some issues here as I said before that can shock some people. Cannibalism, necrophilia, pervated sex or rape are the "usually" issues in other gore books/films. But pedophilia, if you can call it that is not a situtation most writers are willing to write since it can really hurt an author images It's a sensative issue. (In no way I am saying that it's okay. Don't get me wrong. It exists in our society, therefore people should write an talk about it). Killing a person is wrong, right? As wrong as pedophila? Less or More? - But writers write about it and we accept the acts in the book... as fiction. When I read this book, everything is/was fiction right? So what's the problem? This is the same thing as racism, necrophilia and other sad things humankind is capable of doing. I don't condemn a writer who writes a racist character, and neither I will condemn a character that commits an arson, kills, pedophile and so on... because this is FICTION. I don't believe the writer himself wants to eat or fornicate a dead person, is a pedophilie or wants to mutilate someone. If that would be, most horror/thriller/fantasy/sf writers would be mass murderers, crazies, madmen that should be lock up in a sanitarium. If it was possible to remove all sensitive issues of our fiction -we should have only a handful of boring books avaiable to read. I think most people are too sensitive to read about racism or pedophilia, because, unfortunally, it exits in our society and shames us, but we "accept" more easily a murder. But in my book, each one is wrong.
Sorry for my ramblings... What I was trying to say is... It's fiction. Read as fiction, but beware of issues that upset you. You have been warned.
Some spoilers ahead:
There are some things in this novel I didn't enjoy. First of all, the ending, who was that old man? A bit deus-ex-machina in my book. The love between the captor and the victim, a bit over-do? Stockholm syndrome? I think that sex scene was a bit too much unreal.
The characters are almost blank with the exception of Sherri who comes out of the closet, Cordelia who must do anything to survive and his Landers who became a bit insane, quoting Shakespeare with a perverse attitute of killing, fvcking and some pedophilie urges.
I can see why Warner remove all Landers chapters.
Page 73/74
"At this very moment, someone could be raping Ruth. I could the same to these, he thought. I could kill the grubby one. I could rape the pretty one, then kill her. It would serve them right. An eye for an eye. A rape for a rape." - "The tight hole that gripped his cock as he pushed roughly into her. God, it would be magnificient! Such stuff as dreams are made of. And he could do it, he really could." "God, to be able to take her in his arms, push his throbbing cock into her, watch the agony of pleasure twist her face!"
Page 127
"She was young. Thirteen or fourteen. Her tanned shoulders were bared."I'm Lilly""
Page 214/215
"What do they call you? he asked. "Lilly" - He touched her small breasts. "Buds and petals. Sweet nectar. Shall I spare you? Shall I take you to my palace?" Her hand slipped through the hanging hair, and touched him. "Perchance I shall." He put the hatchet away and lifted her. He kissed her breast.
END OF SPOILER
Conclusion
I think this book is quite good. A good gore novel that should be made into a movie. I advice to anyone who has read Laymon before. I won't advice to the fainthearted or people who are more suscetible to some issues I made references in the review.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It. Is. Awful. Read it because everyone swore it was amazing, I couldn't get to chapter 3. Unnecessary sexual commentary (ffs the author sexualises a girl stretching after a car journey, and had a dad 'visualise his daughter naked and moaning' under her boyfriend, and in chapter 3, I stopped reading when a girl for assaulted for a 'plot point' that could've been made in a different way). Its awful. Poorly written fetish material, nothing more.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content
Ah, inbred cannibals hiding in the woods: that horror cliché we all know and love.
I think that there's some subtext regarding the savage in all of us and the thin veneer of civility, etc. but to be honest that's probably giving it too much credit. If it were a short story I'd probably think better of it; as it is there are several elements which should have been expounded on further and give the book an unfinished, ill thought out feel.
I think that there's some subtext regarding the savage in all of us and the thin veneer of civility, etc. but to be honest that's probably giving it too much credit. If it were a short story I'd probably think better of it; as it is there are several elements which should have been expounded on further and give the book an unfinished, ill thought out feel.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Richard Laymon is not one of the best writers out there, but his books are reliably entertaining, and this one, while a little clunky, was no exception.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Trigger warnings: rape, blood, gore, torture, cannibalism, and the list goes on
I first discovered Richard Laymon at the pure age of 13, looking around the library horror section. I discovered [b:Friday Night in Beast House|768924|Friday Night in Beast House|Richard Laymon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1321692772s/768924.jpg|754984] and saw it was a short read, so I grabbed it without a second thought. After devouring it twice in an hour, I realised I had a deep love for splatter punk, specifically, Laymon's works. Unfortunately, my dad found out what I was reading and I was banned from the horror section. Wonderful. Recently, I found a lot of Laymon's books on the Kindle Store for merely 99 pence, and just had to dive back into him.
Finally, I got some time to settle down and read The Woods are Dark and it is the best damn decision I have ever made.
The Woods are Dark is a fast paced, gore fest, and right up my alley. There were hardly any breaks, and although usually, this leaves the reader almost breathless, Laymon does it perfectly. It's not a rush, it's fast paced in a gripping way that really makes you crave more, and I found this so impossible to put down, I passed out when reading it at night because I was so tired.
The next day, I gladly binge read this to completion, and I have never wanted to immediately turn a book back to the first page and start reading it all over again. This reignited my love for splatter punk and I cannot wait to dive into the rest of Laymon's works; probably starting with [b:The Complete Beast House Chronicles|18883841|The Complete Beast House Chronicles|Richard Laymon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389206649s/18883841.jpg|26886844] considering that was the first series I fell in love with him for.
I'd definitely recommend this to horror lovers who love their gore content, and I would say this is probably not the best book to start out with if you're just getting into splatter punk; there's a lot to take in on the "darker side" of fiction. On the other hand, this is probably one of the better books you can read, with good content, a fast but not too fast pace, and damn good writing.
A brilliant 5/5 book, and I'm definitely back in love with Laymon. A pure masterpiece, and a genius of the genre.
I first discovered Richard Laymon at the pure age of 13, looking around the library horror section. I discovered [b:Friday Night in Beast House|768924|Friday Night in Beast House|Richard Laymon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1321692772s/768924.jpg|754984] and saw it was a short read, so I grabbed it without a second thought. After devouring it twice in an hour, I realised I had a deep love for splatter punk, specifically, Laymon's works. Unfortunately, my dad found out what I was reading and I was banned from the horror section. Wonderful. Recently, I found a lot of Laymon's books on the Kindle Store for merely 99 pence, and just had to dive back into him.
Finally, I got some time to settle down and read The Woods are Dark and it is the best damn decision I have ever made.
The Woods are Dark is a fast paced, gore fest, and right up my alley. There were hardly any breaks, and although usually, this leaves the reader almost breathless, Laymon does it perfectly. It's not a rush, it's fast paced in a gripping way that really makes you crave more, and I found this so impossible to put down, I passed out when reading it at night because I was so tired.
The next day, I gladly binge read this to completion, and I have never wanted to immediately turn a book back to the first page and start reading it all over again. This reignited my love for splatter punk and I cannot wait to dive into the rest of Laymon's works; probably starting with [b:The Complete Beast House Chronicles|18883841|The Complete Beast House Chronicles|Richard Laymon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389206649s/18883841.jpg|26886844] considering that was the first series I fell in love with him for.
I'd definitely recommend this to horror lovers who love their gore content, and I would say this is probably not the best book to start out with if you're just getting into splatter punk; there's a lot to take in on the "darker side" of fiction. On the other hand, this is probably one of the better books you can read, with good content, a fast but not too fast pace, and damn good writing.
A brilliant 5/5 book, and I'm definitely back in love with Laymon. A pure masterpiece, and a genius of the genre.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced