In Laymon's Terms

by Kelly Laymon (Editor/Contributor), Steve Gerlach, Richard Chizmar

An over-sized, huge tribute anthology for Richard Laymon -- featuring original and reprint short fiction, essays, interviews, personal remembrances, photos, etc. from dozens of the biggest names in horror! Personal, moving, and wildly entertaining -- this over-sized hardcover is a collection that Richard Laymon would be very proud of! We will post contributor and content details as it becomes available!

Table of Contents:
"Out with a Bang: Bare Feet and Bloody Gunshot Wounds" by Kelly Laymon
"The Most Important Things" by Richard Chizmar
"Dick Laymon dot com" by Steve Gerlach

Part One: Stories and Remembrances
"A Kind Word At the Right Time" by Don D'Auria
"Second Chance" by Norman Partridge
"Gotcha! Remembering Dick Laymon" by Norman Partridge
"Meeting Joanne" by Bentley Little
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Jack Ketchum
"Hotline" by Jack Ketchum
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Regina Mitchell
"The Pack" by Regina Mitchell
"Not Guilty By Reason Of Sanity" by Alan Beatts
"The Dick Would Be Pleased" by Brian Keene
"Castaways" by Brian Keene
"Meeting Richard Laymon" by Brian Freeman
"Loving Roger" by Brian Freeman
"A Tribute to Richard Laymon" by Ryan Harding
"Development" by Ryan Harding
"A Brief Memory" by John Urbancik
"Fauxville North" by John Urbancik
"Remembering Richard Laymon" by Jacqueline Mitchell
"Daddy Wound" by Jacqueline Mitchell
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Gary Brandner
"Campfire Story" by Gary Brander
"A Writer's Tale in Praise of Truth: An Appreciation of Richard Laymon" by Simon Clark
"Ham's Not There" by Simon Clark
"I Don't Know Dick" by Gina Osnovich
"Edge of Town" by Gina Osnovich
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Michael T. Huyck
"Deep Dawn's Jongleur" by Michael T. Huyck
"Secret Admirers and Pseudonyms" by Sheri White
"New York Comes to the Desert" by Tom Piccirilli
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Adam Pepper
"The Lonely Room" by Adam Pepper

Part Two: Rarities And Fan Favorites
Dick's College Poems — scanned from the original typewritten documents (1960s)
"Desert Pickup" by Richard Laymon (1970)
"Smoker's Blend" — scans of two issues written, designed, and edited by Richard Laymon (1971)
"Immediate Opening" by Richard Laymon (1979)
"Cuts!" by Richard Laymon — a novelette (1985)
"Mystery Scene Interview With Author Richard Laymon" by Ed Gorman (July/Aug 1995)
"Herman" by Richard Laymon (1996)
"Boo" by Richard Laymon (2000)
"Pick-Up on Highway One" by Richard Laymon (2001)
"On The Set of Vampire Night" by Richard Laymon (2001)
17 Page Photo Album collected by Ann Laymon from the family's personal albums

Part Three: More Stories and Remembrances
"Aaron Spelling Would Be Proud" by Matt Schwartz
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Steve Gerlach
"The Dead of Night" by Steve Gerlach
"A Laymon Remembrance" by James Futch
"Cover" by James Futch
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Mike Oliveri
"Behavior Therapy" by Mike Oliveri
"Richard Laymon, in Memoriam" by Rain Graves
"Wild Card" by Rain Graves
"A Laymon Remembrance" by John Pelan
"Another Saturday Night" by John Pelan
"Inspiration, Determination, & Mutilation by Robert Freese
"Pushing Buttons" by Donn Gash
"A Laymon Remembrance" by William D. Carl
"Dig" by William D. Carl
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Holly Newstein & Ralph Bieber II
"Prayers" by Holly Newstein & Ralph Bieber II
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Mark Justice
"The Red Kingdom" by Mark Justice
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Bryan Smith
"Pizza Face" by Bryan Smith
"Remembering Richard Laymon" by Kimberley Hill
"The Real Genius of a Sick Mind: A Richard Laymon Remembrance" by Brett McBean
"The Genius of a Sick Mind" by Brett McBean
"My Thoughts on Richard Laymon" by Sébastien Pharand
"Little Monsters" by Sébastien Pharand
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Jonathan Torres
"Bestiality" by Jonathan Torres
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Ron R. Clinton
"The Diner" by Ron R. Clinton
"Remembering Dick Laymon" by Troy Taylor
"The Keepsake" by Troy Taylor
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Brent Zirnheld
"Coastal Pickup" by Brent Zirnheld
"Gorgeous! Beguiling! Lethal!" by Nicole Cushing
"Scabby Nipples and Sharp Teeth" by Nicole Cushing
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Weston Ochse
"Crashing Down" by Weston Ochse
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Michael McCarty & Mark McLaughlin
"From the Bowels of the Earth" by Michael McCarty & Mark McLaughlin
"Still Life, With Mother" by Robert Morrish
"Laymon's Legacy" by Roger Range
"Scavengers" by Roger Range
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Patricia Lee Macomber
"Past Tense" by Patricia Lee Macomber
"My Laymon Remembrance" by Philip Robinson
"Occupied" by Philip Robinson
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Jim Hillman
"For the Light" by Jim Hillman
"Trying To Keep This Under Three-Quarters-Of-A-Million Words" by Geoff Cooper
"Strangers: Good Friends and a Bottle of Wine" by Geoff Cooper
"A Laymon Remembrance" by Edward Lee
"Chef" by Edward Lee
"A Drea...

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

616 pages, Hardcover

First published December 24, 2008

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite a reading speed measured in fighter jet terms, I took two entire months to eat my way through this mastodon of a book. And make no mistake, this sucker is a beast. The 612-page count is already impressive, but when you factor in that each page is roughly 7" wide by 10" tall, printed on high-quality stock, you're left with a tome over two inches thick weighing a shelf-groaning four pounds. It wouldn't surprise me to learn the ink used to print this monster wasn't industry-manufactured, but rather milked from several thousand squids all kept in a perpetual state of terror.

There are tribute anthologies, and then there's In Laymon's Terms.

Laymon deserves every last page of it, and then some.

It's impossible to overstate Richard Laymon's contributions, not just to the horror scene (a contribution which by itself is legendary), but to literature. Laymon presided over the Horror Writers of America with an eye towards making horror fun again. The evidence is all right here in these pages, spilled out not just in the stories which take their cues from the kind of situations and fast-moving prose Laymon used as his calling card, but also the 'before' pieces, where each writer shares memories of how they knew Dick.

These remembrances are the true soul of the book. The stories are, of course, all excellent homages to the life and career of the Splatterpunk's Splatterpunk. But the personal memories, the accounts of sometimes little more than a phone call or letter or forum post from Laymon which helped them through some difficult time, gave them encouragement to keep trying when the rejections piled up, made them laugh or cringe (sometimes both) in regards to some joke, or a smile and handshake at a horror 'Con: the portrait of the man which emerges on the other side is nothing short of extraordinary.

To read Laymon's stories is to enter a world much like our own, just a few degrees more depraved, more licentious, and more adventuresome. To read these memories, however, is to enter a world a few degrees kinder. Because for every critique of Laymon's writing, for every charge of oversexed protagonists and casual misogyny leveled at him by his fans and non-fans alike, all the slings and arrows cannot pierce the cloak of truth that Laymon was, by all accounts, one of the most genuinely caring dudes on the face of the planet. Not just to his wife and daughter, not just to close, personal friends like Dean Koontz and his family, but to pretty much everybody who encountered him.

Many of the writers featured in this anthology attribute their desire to write, especially their desire to write horror, more or less directly to Laymon. Either they read something he wrote and thought it was the coolest thing since erect nipples and wanted to get some of that action, or they got the chance to interact with him and enjoyed the benefit of his council, encouragement, and wit.

Laymon did something few other writers accomplished -- he made writing horror fun. He on-boarded dozens of new authors, mentored his peers, and in at least a few instances, directly solicited work from them for anthologies he was editing. But most of all, he delighted in the depravity in a way you simply cannot unless you're in on the joke. Laymon wasn't only in on the joke, he was perpetuating it, updating it for the times, and getting others to understand and profit from it.

He cared, genuinely cared, about not just his own career but everybody else's. I'm sure some of that stemmed from a fervent desire to see no one else treated the way Warner treated him, tanking his career in the US in the early 80's. But the other side of that was just a guy who had a blast writing, and wanted everyone else to have the same wild ride as he did.

As of next month (February, 2021), it will be two decades since Laymon's untimely death. One cannot come out on the other side of this anthology/tribute without realizing what a treasure the world lost. We're left to wonder what rumps could have swished under skirts. We're left to wonder what other monsters, human and otherwise, lay now unconjured by his fevered imagination. What plots are left unrealized in his stark, B-movie-style presentation, which rarely lets you slow down to consider just how ridiculous things are getting?

We will never know.

But if the pieces lovingly etched between the covers of In Laymon's Terms are any indication, Laymon definitely left the world a much better place for his having been in it. And maybe a little sleazier. A little weirder. A little more flush with protagonists clad in chamois shirts and sporting inappropriate hard-ons. And if I'm being honest, I took two months just to savor all that. Laymon was worth every drop of ink.

Even if it wasn't truly produced by horrified cephalopods.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a tribute to a writer who died way too young, IN LAYMON'S TERMS is pretty wonderful. However, in terms of the stories themselves, it's fairly mediocre.
For me, the best stories were generally the ones written expressly for this collection--stories that mimic Laymon's style and tone. That's what you want in a tribute. However, Laymon himself wasn't exactly the greatest of short story writers, so mimicking his style has some inherent drawbacks.
SCAVENGERS by Roger Range is the scariest of the bunch, simply because the author refuses to pull any punches. Laymon has been called "Stephen King without a conscience," and SCAVENGERS is basically CUJO without a conscience.
CASTAWAYS by Brian Keene so perfectly captures Laymon's style that I had a hard time believing it was written by someone else.
Two stories are actually set in the Laymon universe. THE DINER by Ron Clinton serves as a nice addition to the BEAST HOUSE series, while another story (one which I forgot the name and didn't care for at all) is intended as a sequel to Laymon's IN THE DARK.
Dishonorable mention goes out to Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin for their abysmal story, FROM THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH. This story is meant as pure gross-out horror comedy, and it's so awful I'm surprised Seth Rogan and Jonah Hill haven't optioned it as their next movie.
What I enjoyed most about this book were all the Laymon remembrances sprinkled throughout. It's fascinating how a guy known for penning schlocky horror novels could have such an impact on the writing community. It's also interesting to see how his real-life persona so greatly differed from what you'd expect from reading his work. Some of these remembrances are very touching, and one author even credits Laymon for keeping him from shooting his ex-wife and her new lover in a fit of rage and depression (ironically, this same author contributed a story whose subtext is about the dangers of gun control).
Laymon fans will eat this book for breakfast, but casual horror readers might not get what all the fuss is about.

[Jonathan Maas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Tribute to a Master of Horror - and an Exceptional Human Being

Great anthology - some old writings from Richard Laymon, and many works inspired by him. Look for reminiscences of how great a guy Laymon was, look for writings from Richard T. Chizmar and others - though buckle your seat belt - these tales are not for the faint of heart. Still - I recommend this!

[Phil Zimmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I took my time with this book. Read it inbetween other stories. I think I would have disliked it more if I had tried to read it in one go. This is supposed to be an ode to Richard Laymon. What it is is a collection of mostly 2nd rate stories with an amazing middle section of rarities by Laymon.

Few of these stories had anything to do with his style. My favorites were the ones that actually extended on his stories. With few other exceptions, the book was forgettable.

[Иван Величков · Rating 5 out of 5]

Задължително четиво за всеки един леймонит по света. Антологията е събрана в памет на Ричард Леймън, или както пише Едуард Лий вътре, за да бъде отпразнуван живота му. Съставител е дъщерята на Ричард – Кели Леймън и подборката на текстовете е впечатляващо добра.
Книгата е разделена на три части, като средната съдържа няколко трудни за намиране разказа от самия Дик, както и едно интервю и снимки от личната колекция на Ан Леймън. Разказите са доста добри, дори бих казал по-добри от романите му. Има и няколко веселяшки поеми и два броя фото издание на списание, което Ричард е правил сам през седемдесетте.
Другите две части съдържат над трийсет кратки разказа от различни майстори на жанра, известни и не чак толкова (поне за мен), както и също толкова спомени за виновника за антологията до 500 думи.
Разказите са чудесни десетминутни късчета кошмар и лудост, издържанив лекия и кървав стил на Леймън. Подбрани са чудесно и няма пълнеж. Бих изредил фаворити, но както ми стана ясно от другите текстове, самият Ричард никога не го е правил. Винаги се е отнасял към всички автори еднакво приятелски, независимо дали са продали стотици хиляди бройки или пет. Все пак вътре ще намерите разкази от Брайън Кийн, Брайън Смит, Ричард Чизмар, Джеф Купър, Бени Литъл, Джак Кетчъм, Едуард Лий, Х. П. Гонзалез и много, много други.
А от спомените разбрах колко точно добър човек, верен приятел, прекрасен баща и отзьивчив колега е бил Леймън и колко е направил за жанра и хората в него. Текстовете дигнаха пред мен стандарт, който не съм сигурен, че мога да достигна.

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it!
Finally!
This is a great tribute to an author and a wonderful send off by fellow authors in the genre of horror (particularly: splatterpunk). Each of the authors not only shared some memories of Richard Laymon, mostly saying what a great guy he was—but also had a story submitted in hopes of having Dick approve. Cool, huh? Every one of them were great fun to read. I think the Dick would approve...

Some of the pages toward the center are bordered in black. They contain a lot of Richard Laymon memories, photo copies, pictures. All of it is wonderful. But I print for a living and I want to know how they got the black border to look so even without any roller stripping. It came out wonderful! And it's not done with a double hit.

[Caleb Golden · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was a pretty decent tribute. This good sized collection features numerous authors who either knew Laymon personally or simply enjoyed his work. These contributors each give their personal recollections as to how Laymon impacted their lives before offering up a short story in his honor. Most of the stories are pretty good, some are just okay, and there are only two or three in the collection that I would say sucked outright. I'll admit, I got busy with life and put it down for a good while, having lost interest a couple of times, but I'm glad I came back to finish it. It was nice to see just how many people enjoyed this man's work as much as I did.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 4 star rating for the stories but a 1 star on the production of the book

A nice anthology with authors who I have never read before and will now seek out their books.

My only comment is CD took a short cut on the quality of this book.It could have been way better.The boards no matter how careful you are with them curve slightly after reading.The boards should have been way thicker considering how many pages were in this book

[Florence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Laymon is one of Horror's best authors, and this book includes almost 700 pages of fiction written in honor of Laymon. If the horror genre interests you, then this book is definitely worth a read. The work includes some pictures and interviews. It is an extended tribute to a very effective horror writer.

[Bill Borre]

"The Dead of Night" by Steve Gerlach - Andrew wants to have sex with Fiona in his car in the dark carpark but Fiona claims to see someone out there among the trees and tells Andrew she is worried it may be the Mountainside Murderer that the newspapers say killed five people. Andrew scoffs because he doesn't see anything but takes a gun from the glove compartment to go check. Fiona convinces Andrew to leave the gun with her for protection but when Andrew is slow to return she goes to look for him and hears a threatening voice promising to do her harm. When Andrew emerges from the trees she shoots him dead. Before she can recover the car keys from the corpse she is grabbed by another man from behind who claims to be the Mountainside Murderer. Fiona confuses him by saying he has killed nine victims when the papers only said five. She says the police haven't found the other four yet. He tells her to shut up as he attempts to rape her and as she is bent over she pulls a knife from her boot and shoves it in his eye while admitting that she is the Mountainside Murderer.

"Herman" by Richard Laymon - Bill and Tom want to drag thirteen year old Charlie off her bike into the woods and rape her even though she has warned them of her invisible friend Herman who will mess them up if they try anything. Unfortunately for Bill and Tom invisible Herman does turn out to be real and stabs Bill in the eye with his own knife. Charlie turns out to be the scariest character in this story as she is so desperate to see Herman as a regular person that she cuts Tom's throat with the knife to cover Herman in blood and then suggests skinning both Bill and Tom to have enough to cover Herman's body.

"Boo" by Richard Laymon - Kids are out on Halloween when they are joined by a large person wearing a mask of bandanas who identifies himself only as "Killer Joe". Donna is the oldest and reluctant to let him tag along at first but relents. As the eleven o'clock hour draws near the kids want to try one last house but the old woman who opens the door is angry at the late hour. Killer Joe interrupts her tirade by burying a hatchet in her forehead and the panicked kids disperse.

"Castaways" by Brian Keene - Eight people complete on a Castaways TV show to be the last one on a haunted island and claim one million dollars. They discover the reason for the island's haunted reputation are hostile clawed beasts that kill three contestants and the film crew. Four contestants make it to the helicopter and evacuate while Larry is approached by a female creature that copulates with him. Larry screams in madness that he's won as he is the last on the island.

"Desert Pickup" by Richard Laymon - A killer hitches a ride from a woman in the desert who tells him the shovel in the back seat is to steal a cactus. He thinks she is crazy and agrees to help her dig one up. When they find one she likes he hits her over the head with the shovel, buries her and steals her car. After some time on the road he has a flat and a police cruiser pulls up behind the car. When he opens up the trunk he is shocked to see her dead husband.

"Pizza Face" by Bryan Smith - A pizza delivery man is called to deliver a pizza during a home invasion. Angered by the leader's insult of "pizza face" he trips the leader and snatches the knife the leader's girlfriend had so that he can cut off the leader's face and drape it over the pizza in the box he brought. His savagery impresses the remaining three of the gang and they make him the new leader.

"Behavior Therapy" by Michael Oliveri - Dr. Locke prepares to administer shock therapy to a DID patient named Adam with a murderer as an alter named Jude. After being raped by another inmate Jude tells Adam to grab the letter opener off the desk and pound it through the eye into Dr. Locke's skull with his copy of the DSM IV.

"Still Life, With Mother" by Robert Morrish - Leonard kills his mother, but being a witch, she reconstitutes herself. Leonard receives a slight reprieve from his mother's torment when his grandmother deals with her but she also considers him a bad boy and locks him in the cellar with the other members of the family.

"Daddy Wound" by Jacqueline Mitchell - The narrator of this story is a little girl who's been left in a hot car by her mother. She relates several incidents of violence directed at others and when a security guard breaks the window and tries to rescue her she attempts to strangle him.

"The Diner" by Ron R. Clinton - The son of a diner owner that isn't getting much business suggests they could bring in more customers if they emulated the success of the Beast House attraction up north by placing wax figures in the diner of victims killed by sexual torture.

"Meeting Joanne" by Bentley Little - Ron meets Joanne through a personal ad and has a surreal date with her involving a hunchback, a dead dog and a bag of oranges. After thinking about how hard it is to meet people he decides to finish the date anyway.

"Campfire Story" by Gary Brandner - Neal scares his troopers in the woods with a story over the campfire about a boy killer who changes his name from Robin to Neal.

"Scavengers" by Roger Range - A snuff director films a family being devoured by a starving pack of coyotes.

[Chris S]

Really great tribute to Mr. Laymon. The short stories are fun and there's lots of interesting stuff about him and his family from other authors & colleagues too! RIP Dick ... we lost you way too early.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great celebration of the Author's life!!!

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fan Favourites And Rarities 16/02/23

This review is purely for Part 2 of In Laymon's Terms. I'll read the rest of the book once I've completed my Laymon readthrough.

***

I'd not read any of these six short stories before and for the most part really enjoyed them. There were a few issues though.

In 'Herman' I really do wish Charlie was older. Being thirteen really makes a problematic storyline pretty offensive. Maybe that's the point but I feel it would have worked better if the story took place when Charlie was in her 30's.

'Immediate Opening' was a solid idea but with Stan being vile and Cindy's actions being somewhat unbelievable, I found myself taken out of the story.

'Cut!' is a ridiculously hokey tale that I really enjoyed which is surprising considering characters act oddly, the story is patchy and makes little sense. I feel like it's heavily edited/unfinished. There are vague references to a car accident that never happened.

My favourites were...

'Boo' is a lovely nostalgia piece set on Halloween night. Of course, being Laymon things take a turn but this isn't a schlocky gorefest. It reminded me of the coming of age passages from 'The Travelling Vampire Show' to a degree.

'Pick-Up On Highway One' was a wonderful tale about hitchhiking and women drivers. Such a fun story, rediculous yet totally engaging.

'Desert Pickup' is a wicked Richard Laymon short where people may not be who you think they are. A simplistic enough tale that managed a few twists within its five slightly predictable yet satisfying pages. A classic Alfred Hitchcock Presents type of story.