Night in the Lonesome October / In the Dark

Night in the Lonesome October, by Richard Laymon, CD Publications, 2001, $40.

In the Dark, by Richard Laymon, Leisure, 2001, $5.99.

Back in the late eighties, I wrote a column called "Behind the Darkness" for Horrorstruck magazine. The columns were profiles of writers working in the field, combined with a look at their books, so to prepare for each interview, I'd read the author's entire body of work that was available at the time. The third column was devoted to the late Richard Laymon, an incredibly cheerful and kind-hearted man who seemed entirely at odds with the grim books that appeared under his byline.

I was saddened to hear of his death in 2001. I also realized that it had been some time since I'd read any of his work. So when a number of his more recent books showed up in my P.O. box later in the year (my thanks to Bill Schafer and this magazine's editor, Gordon, for those), I plunged back into Laymon's shadowy...