In 1997, Cemetery Dance Publications printed a limited edition hardcover version of The Cellar under ISBN 1-881475-28-X. Nonetheless, the 'Beast House' series, of which The Cellar is the first, has been consistently popular with Laymon fans, and warranted reprints. In his non-fiction book about the horror genre, Danse Macabre, Stephen King shows dislike of the novel: 'There are haunted-house stories beyond numbering, most of them not very good ( The Cellar, by Richard Laymon, is one example of the less successful breed).' (However, King would go on to praise Laymon's writing, a pullquote attributed to King frequently appearing on his novels: 'If you've missed Laymon, you've missed a treat.') It has also been dismissed by some critics as poorly written. Like much of Laymon's work, The Cellar has been controversial for its extreme content, especially in regards to its depiction of sexual and sadistic violence. Over the years the Beast has been connected with various rapes and murders that have happened in the house. Judge's employer, Larry, is an elderly man who had a traumatic encounter with the Beast as a child. After a car accident leaves them stranded in the small California coastal town of Malcasa Point, Donna and Sandy cross paths with Judgement, a mercenary hired to track down and kill the murderous creature that supposedly haunts a local tourist attraction, the Beast House. Laymon is often associated with this genre.ĭonna, the book's protagonist, goes on the run with her daughter Sandy when she learns that her ex-husband, who molested Sandy for years, has been released from prison. It was Laymon's first published novel, and together with sequels The Beast House, The Midnight Tour, and the novella Friday Night in Beast House, forms the series known by fans of Laymon as 'The Beast House Chronicles.' The Cellar is an example of a splatterpunk novel, containing much extreme violence and gore, as well as adult themes including rape, incest, paedophilia, and serial murder. The Cellar is a 1980 horror novel by American author Richard Laymon.

The cellar by richard laymon