Castaway Diary of Horrors! • Island by Richard Laymon - my top summer read recommendation

[@SuperStrangSshadow]

Laymon books are always fun and exciting to read. They are perfect summer books to get through the awful summer. 💀

[@typicalbooks]

Yup! I'm not a fan of the heat and sun so it's much the same as having books on hand for a long winter!

[@Bloody-Butterfly]

Richard Laymon books are perverse and violent and I absolutely love them!

[@typicalbooks]

Same here! I thought I'd age out of them but nope, haha!

[@ReginasHauntedLibrary]

This sounds like a perfect beach read! I always enjoy your Laymon reviews.

[@typicalbooks]

Thank you! 🤍 There's definitely more Laymon to come ~ only 12 more books I think, to have a full collection of his core works... then review galore!

[@johnandhollywood]

I had this book on my TBR pile for a pretty long time and I think it's time to start reading it.

[@typicalbooks]

If it is summertime, it is Island time! Unless a beachy read works better in the winter. Hope you like it when you get to it :)

[@DaveMoth]

This book is a lot of fun. A very quick read despite being quite lengthy. Leymon was surprisingly successful here in the UK, can pick up all his books very cheap as a result. I think Island cost me about £4 delivered.

[@typicalbooks]

Agreed - it flies by - and I do love the UK versions. You are all very lucky to have had him in his true heyday! A lot of his books are cheap and plentiful here too, but usually the Leisure editions, and not so much with the Headline editions. Those covers were something else!

[@DaveMoth]

@@typicalbooks I agree with the Headline covers looking nicer. Steve Crisp was the person who did them if I'm not mistaken.

[@markgrygielewicz8047]

Love Richard Laymon, my favourites are The Woods are Dark, read it in an evening when I was thirteen years old, and Resurrection Dreams, and Funland I class Laymon's books as largely the low budget horror films of writers; a limited amount of characters, taking place in a limited amount of locations, in a short period of time. the exception would be Quake, all that destruction rendered on screen would be expensive. I participated in a film course, and one of the exercises was book to film adaptation, and I chose one of his books (The Stake) as a film, and budgeted up for as little as $1.5 million, and do it justice; good to above average genre actors, good practical effects, high end cinematography, a decent director. Laymon, Shaun Hutson, Guy N. Smith, James Herbert are my favourite authors (of course as well as H.P. Lovecraft). Island is an enjoyable read.

[@typicalbooks]

Now that's a fantastic exercise and a very interesting choice for a film plan. I wish a lot more of his work was adapted to film. It seems like a vein of horror movie gold! Quake may be easier with a massive budget and every so often a destruction film blockbuster does get made, so maybe it's day will come.

[@thedudeman1967]

I absolutely love your content found some of my favorite books through you thank you!!!!!!

[@typicalbooks]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy and find some fine books too!!

[@Jacobcherryhorror66]

Love that book! Hope you are well!

[@typicalbooks]

Very well, and I hope you are too! Yes, this is a super fun read - so glad you dig it too!

[@nicholasjones3207]

I don’t know what it says about me but laymon is the first author I’ve read that’s made me chuckle since my Ed lee phase

[@typicalbooks]

I agree and still have a good laugh between both authors :) That is, in between some brutal dark passages, but both are/were some well rounded guys I guess.

[@TheComposerNextDoor]

So glad you chose this title to return to the single book review format! Loved hearing your expanded thoughts on this. I’ve been reading my Laymon collection chronologically, but I’m considering jumping ahead to this or Endless Night sometime soon (I’m on Night Show now). I’ll be going on vacation in a couple weeks so perhaps that’ll be a good excuse to crack into Island… we’ll see!

[@TheComposerNextDoor]

And to add to your list of great marooned-on-an-island horror novels, Castaways by Brian Keene! It has a survivor-esque reality show as the setup and delivers all the splattery cannibalistic nastiness one would hope :)

[@typicalbooks]

That's one I need to read and am sure I had picked up last summer. Up next here is a Keene though, Darkness of the Edge of Town.

[@typicalbooks]

Happy vacation!! Night Show is one I need to get the paperback of so I can compare the special edition. It's hard to not skip ahead!

[@stephennorth5518]

One of his best! Enjoyed your thoughts.

[@typicalbooks]

Glad you enjoyed it :) It truly is!

[@CliffsDarkGems]

Great video! I love survivor type books so I think I will enjoy Island. I have read Funland and I found that a fast-paced, exciting read. Totally agree with the "male gaze" aspect of his writing, he does seem to have a thing about the female anatomy. Survivor Type was a awesome short story. Unfortunately I found the relentless gore and body horror in The Troop a bit repetitive.

[@typicalbooks]

I've heard many say the same about the Troop. Those scenes are what took it out of 'like Stephen King' to me but I did enjoy them too! I think those sold on the idea of a writer that is King-like found it way over the top.

[@typicalbooks]

And thank you!!

[@fiberartsyreads]

Laymon is an author I’m kinda nervous to read honestly. Just not sure I’ll jive with him but I do have a couple of his books on my shelf. I think I just need to give him a go and see how it goes.

[@typicalbooks]

Worst case scenario, you'd have just put it down. Very sleazy at worst, b-slasher fun at best. There definitely worse out there than Laymon :)

[@fattkidgames1755]

Island rules. If you are going to read Laymon, this might be the first to go to. Darkness tell us or Midnights Lair might also be good starting points. Night show, Come out Tonight, Cellar...not good to start with.

[@typicalbooks]

Agreed. I did read The Cellar very early but I knew what I was in for. Island is fantastic from start to finish.

[@fattkidgames1755]

@typicalbooks Thank you for not trashing on Laymon like alot of people on youtube do. He was really important to splatterpunk.

[@grimreads]

One book I should read soon

[@typicalbooks]

It's really one of his strongest and best written I figure. It really feels like an anomaly but then, it's been a very long time since my last read through of the rest of his work. You have a much more recent recollection I am sure!

[@grimreads]

@@typicalbooks I believe the KZbin known as Edward Lorn stated it better. He was a very technical writer unlike many of his copycats. But also he was a horror hack so he churned out genre books but also made an effort to experiment in his books

[@stevencarsley2446]

Ooo