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read_amanda_read's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
hotsake's review against another edition
3.0
3.25/5.
This was a fun, fast-paced horror/thriller that I unfairly kept comparing to Adam Cesare's 2013 Video Night. Obviously, this book came out first but the stories are very similar. The biggest flaw of the book was the fact that the transitions between POVs weren't well done with the switch happening just when things seemed to be getting interesting. It would've also been more interesting if we would've gotten more characterization from the antagonists and if Laymon's vocabulary would've been a bit more extensive, he continually uses the same phrasing, word choices, and tones so that none of the characters have distinctive voices.
This was a fun, fast-paced horror/thriller that I unfairly kept comparing to Adam Cesare's 2013 Video Night. Obviously, this book came out first but the stories are very similar. The biggest flaw of the book was the fact that the transitions between POVs weren't well done with the switch happening just when things seemed to be getting interesting. It would've also been more interesting if we would've gotten more characterization from the antagonists and if Laymon's vocabulary would've been a bit more extensive, he continually uses the same phrasing, word choices, and tones so that none of the characters have distinctive voices.
ufoparty's review
dark
tense
medium-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
3.0
just okay because it had laymon’s obsession with boobs inserted in every scene. makes stephen king look exquisitely tasteful in comparison... he would’ve made this book fun
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Fatphobia and Stalking
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
verkisto's review
2.0
In Flesh, Laymon gives us his own take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this time using a snake-like creature that lodges itself into its hosts' spines and making them kill and eat other people. He touches on issues of paranoia, but the killing and the cannibalism takes center stage in the story. It's like he could have added some good theme to the book, but decided to focus on the gruesome and the gore instead.
The book is overlong with detail, which I thought at first might add to the characterization, but turned out to be just a lot of unnecessary detail. Murders take place here (Laymon), as well as a lot of hanky panky (again, Laymon), and much attention is paid to the minutiae of it all. One character has to clean up after a murder and make sure he's left nothing behind to implicate himself, and this takes at least a dozen pages to cover it all. Were this book a police procedural, I might go for it, but in a horror novel, we don't need to know that much about the situation. Just get back to the creepy and the disturbing, please.
I also noticed that Laymon's characters fall in love with each other like there's nothing to it. In Dark Mountain, the two teenagers meet and declare love before they even kiss, the second night into their camping trip; in Flesh, the main female character and the police officer fall for each other after just one night. Love isn't declared, but this does take place after the female character breaks up with her boyfriend because she thinks he wants nothing more than sex, and all she knows about the officer is what he looks like without his shirt. It's a little sudden, and a little backward for her character.
Speaking of her breaking up with her boyfriend, and the book being overlong, there was a lengthy scene (a whole chapter, really) spent showing what led to the breakup, which was not only silly, but also way too much detail. The story wasn't about a young woman being in a relationship with an older lech, so there wasn't a need to cover that breakup so thoroughly. I don't know if Laymon was trying to add complexity to either character, but it didn't have any significance to the larger story, unless he intended that chapter to be a red herring.
There's still something compelling about Laymon's stories, even if they're somewhat thin, in characterization, theme, and depth. I can't find myself wanting to recommend his books to general readers, and what I look for in horror novels now is so different from what I'm finding in Laymon's books that I can't recommend them to readers of horror, either. There are a lot of books that I think do horror better than these do, but since I've come this far into reading his catalog, I feel like I should stick it out and finish them. At the very least, they read quickly.
The book is overlong with detail, which I thought at first might add to the characterization, but turned out to be just a lot of unnecessary detail. Murders take place here (Laymon), as well as a lot of hanky panky (again, Laymon), and much attention is paid to the minutiae of it all. One character has to clean up after a murder and make sure he's left nothing behind to implicate himself, and this takes at least a dozen pages to cover it all. Were this book a police procedural, I might go for it, but in a horror novel, we don't need to know that much about the situation. Just get back to the creepy and the disturbing, please.
I also noticed that Laymon's characters fall in love with each other like there's nothing to it. In Dark Mountain, the two teenagers meet and declare love before they even kiss, the second night into their camping trip; in Flesh, the main female character and the police officer fall for each other after just one night. Love isn't declared, but this does take place after the female character breaks up with her boyfriend because she thinks he wants nothing more than sex, and all she knows about the officer is what he looks like without his shirt. It's a little sudden, and a little backward for her character.
Speaking of her breaking up with her boyfriend, and the book being overlong, there was a lengthy scene (a whole chapter, really) spent showing what led to the breakup, which was not only silly, but also way too much detail. The story wasn't about a young woman being in a relationship with an older lech, so there wasn't a need to cover that breakup so thoroughly. I don't know if Laymon was trying to add complexity to either character, but it didn't have any significance to the larger story, unless he intended that chapter to be a red herring.
There's still something compelling about Laymon's stories, even if they're somewhat thin, in characterization, theme, and depth. I can't find myself wanting to recommend his books to general readers, and what I look for in horror novels now is so different from what I'm finding in Laymon's books that I can't recommend them to readers of horror, either. There are a lot of books that I think do horror better than these do, but since I've come this far into reading his catalog, I feel like I should stick it out and finish them. At the very least, they read quickly.
positivelyhorror's review against another edition
4.0
Once again, Laymon serves up a story that feels just like an old video nasty b-movie and it's written with such a leering male gaze that it almost feels like parody. It's trashy, tasteless and soaked with gore, and that's what makes Laymon so enjoyable. Flesh is a bit of an invasion of the body snatchers type story, with a slimy slug like creature attaching itself to human hosts in order to do some violence.
If you like your horror to have a well realised central plot, deep characters and maybe even some kind of moral then this isn't for you. If you like your horror to feel like an 80s exploitation flick then look no further!
(Also, as a sidenote I must say that Laymon loves the word rump and it appears in this story a total of 21 times! Which beats the 18 times in Midnight's Lair. So remember, if you're reading Laymon, don't forget #rumpwatch )
If you like your horror to have a well realised central plot, deep characters and maybe even some kind of moral then this isn't for you. If you like your horror to feel like an 80s exploitation flick then look no further!
(Also, as a sidenote I must say that Laymon loves the word rump and it appears in this story a total of 21 times! Which beats the 18 times in Midnight's Lair. So remember, if you're reading Laymon, don't forget #rumpwatch )
alexctelander's review against another edition
3.0
Posted with permission from the Sacramento Book Review
Welcome to an idyllic American town where life seems simple, except for those who try to make it something else. Then Eddie, driving along in his van, attempts to run down a high school girl innocently riding her bike. She throws herself off the road, saving her life, while Eddie crashes, burns and dies. Meanwhile the evil thing escapes from Eddie’s body in search of new hosts. It needs a new live body to feed and become stronger. The town will never be the same.
Laymon creates a full cast of characters, giving the town life and realism. He doesn’t hold back on graphic detail, killing off characters left and right. Hopefully the mystery will be solved and the evil stopped before the town runs of out living beings. Flesh was originally published in 1987 and at times feels a little like watching an old TV show with the dated clothing, language, and terminology. Nevertheless, for any Laymon fan or a reader looking to discover some classic horror, Flesh is a great first step.
For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.
Welcome to an idyllic American town where life seems simple, except for those who try to make it something else. Then Eddie, driving along in his van, attempts to run down a high school girl innocently riding her bike. She throws herself off the road, saving her life, while Eddie crashes, burns and dies. Meanwhile the evil thing escapes from Eddie’s body in search of new hosts. It needs a new live body to feed and become stronger. The town will never be the same.
Laymon creates a full cast of characters, giving the town life and realism. He doesn’t hold back on graphic detail, killing off characters left and right. Hopefully the mystery will be solved and the evil stopped before the town runs of out living beings. Flesh was originally published in 1987 and at times feels a little like watching an old TV show with the dated clothing, language, and terminology. Nevertheless, for any Laymon fan or a reader looking to discover some classic horror, Flesh is a great first step.
For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.
goromajima's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
Ordinarily, I'd probably say that I'm easier on books I listen to in audio form than read in text but I think it's the opposite here and I'd probably have liked it far more if I'd just read this one. This is a spectacularly badly-produced audiobook, at least one chapter cuts off at the end of a sentence, a couple really basic words are mispronounced, and the pacing is all wrong.
As for the story, it grew very tedious. I don't know if it's because what works in an hour and a half slasher movie doesn't translate as well to a thirteen hour audiobook or what. The constant sexualization of the female characters and the resulting misogyny was something I was prepared to see but it's very hard to tell whether it's knowing parody or just relishing in it, or some sloppy combination of both. The horror was few and far between, compared to having to sit through relationship troubles that I didn't come to a slasher novel to read with a supremely unlikable man and a doormat of a woman.
Regardless, with how badly produced this audiobook was, I don't think it'd be fair to toss Laymon as an author out in general after just because I didn't enjoy this. Maybe later in the year I'll do some googling and see if there's one with better story development and less breasting boobily down stairs.
As for the story, it grew very tedious. I don't know if it's because what works in an hour and a half slasher movie doesn't translate as well to a thirteen hour audiobook or what. The constant sexualization of the female characters and the resulting misogyny was something I was prepared to see but it's very hard to tell whether it's knowing parody or just relishing in it, or some sloppy combination of both. The horror was few and far between, compared to having to sit through relationship troubles that I didn't come to a slasher novel to read with a supremely unlikable man and a doormat of a woman.
Regardless, with how badly produced this audiobook was, I don't think it'd be fair to toss Laymon as an author out in general after just because I didn't enjoy this. Maybe later in the year I'll do some googling and see if there's one with better story development and less breasting boobily down stairs.
blklagoon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Physical abuse and Torture
serpabooks_0103's review
3.0
Second book from Richard Laymon which I have finished in an audiobook format. This is also my first audiobook and shall I say I have to still try some audiobooks.
The narrator tries his best to tell me a story but I don't like how the story goes because it is a B-Movie Horror with a freaking snake like which I do not know where came from. But I believe that it is being alive as it tells in the story during the Mayan Period?
Laymon puts sexuality in this book and I know that it is also in the other books that he have.
But beware of zombie with pleasure.
The narrator tries his best to tell me a story but I don't like how the story goes because it is a B-Movie Horror with a freaking snake like which I do not know where came from. But I believe that it is being alive as it tells in the story during the Mayan Period?
Laymon puts sexuality in this book and I know that it is also in the other books that he have.
But beware of zombie with pleasure.
shane's review against another edition
4.0
Just can't seem to get enough of Mr Laymon at the moment. This is a classic creature-feature type story. A sickly yellow worm burrows into people turning them into obedient, horny killers. It's like the very best of the B-movies, but in novel form. Anyone that's read any Richard Laymon at all won't be surprised at the many and varied ways he finds to divest each young lady of her clothes, and I think I've probably mentioned before the fun little game you can have looking out for 'red gym shorts girl', of which there are at least two in this novel. There's a bonus for you right there then.
I've yet to come across a Richard Laymon novel that I didn't enjoy and this was no exception. Very enjoyable.
I've yet to come across a Richard Laymon novel that I didn't enjoy and this was no exception. Very enjoyable.