Customer Reviews

Allhallow's Eve

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is no U.S. edition. This is a British edition. That's why it costs more. It's not Laymon's best book, but it is way better than most of the amazon reviewers say. Laymon is one of my favorite authors.

He won an award for outstanding novel in 2001 for the "The Traveling Vampire Show". He was nominated for the novels "Flesh" and "Funland", the collection "A Good, Secret Place," and a great book about writing fiction called "A Writer's Tale".

He was born in 1947 near Chicago. He lived most of his life in California. He's very popular in England.

This book is pretty short at about 250 pages. It's lean and fast-paced.

Read this book if you're already a fan of the author. Otherwise, try one of his other books first. I suggest "Body Rides" or "Island" or "The Stake".

Be careful not to buy the Fastbacks.

Richard Laymon's novels are listed at www.rlk.cjb.net (It's a fan site run by Steve Gerlach.)

All of Laymon's novels are available in the United Kingdom. You can order them from www.amazon.co.uk / Shipping is expensive though, and the free shipping offer is not valid outside of the United Kingdom. Also, the British Pound is more valuable than the US dollar.

American editions of Laymon's novels are available from Amazon.com and some of the British editions are available from Amazon-Canada at www.amazon.ca

On amazon.co.uk this book is listed as "Allhallow's Eve". "Allhallow's" is one word there and two words here. There are other reviews for the book there.

I've been wanting to read this one for awhile. But, I couldn't track it down at any local library. So my only option was to buy it from here. And of course it was kinda expensive for a paperback. $12ish. When I got it in the mail I couldn't believe how TINY it was! I figured for $12 it would be a long book (I didn't pay attention to the page number listed before buying)

Then I read the book and was even more angered that I paid $12 for such a crappy book. I really wish I had listened to the other reviewers here.

This book felt like it was written by an 13 year old, amateur writer. One with a dirty mind. Actually, if there weren't a few sexual references I'd say that it was a book written by a kid for kids. Mainly all the characters are kids, and the adults that are in the book act like children...adults swear at children and even kick them in the balls! Totally unrealistic.

The sexual stuff in the book was kinda disturbing to read through since it involves 14-16 year olds. I didn't want to read that sort of stuff, and it was disturbing that a grown man was even writing about it. Of course if you are a Richard Laymon fan then you know he has all this weird sex stuff in just about every novel. It does get old...

The plot of the book makes it sound like the whole book is going to take place at a haunted house during a party. Nope, it doesn't play out like that. In fact the party in this "haunted" house only takes place over the last few pages of the book.

There are a few parts that were cool to visualize. But overall I was really disappointed in the book. The book could have been so so so much better.

This book is very fast-paced (I read it in one day) partially due to its short length of 246 pages and partly becauase of Laymons fluid writing style.
The storyline is that someone sends annonymous invitations to teenagers from the local high school inviting them to attend a halloween party at an abandoned house where the family who lived there were slaughtered 15 years previously.

Please do not be discouraged from this book by bad reviews, it is a fantastic novel and a great read which I recommed to all fans of Laymon. And if you have not yet read anything by Laymon (and trust me you are seriouly missing out if you havn't) this is as good a place to start as any.

It's a shame that this was the first Laymon book John K read. No, this is not very good, in fact after attempting to reread it I found the prose amateurish and uninvolving. However Laymon wrote many wonderful books that simply demand to be reread. No doubt you all have your favorites. I particularly recommend:

ONE RAINY NIGHT, RESURRECTION DREAMS (the first Laymon I ever read), COME OUT TONIGHT, DREADFUL TALES, NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER, FLESH and BODY RIDES. So John, pick up one of these books and I guarantee you will be glued to your chair. Dick was (and still is) one of the best.

This is more of a novella than a novel. It's quite short. But it's fast paced and suspenseful. The opening sequence is fantastic. Really creepy. This one never lets up for a single page. I don't want to go into the plot and give anything away, but I'll say it's got a couple nice twists, a few good scares, and like usual in Laymon's work, very twisted bad guys. It's definitely not one of his best, but worth a read. If you are a Laymon fan, or just a fan of horror or mystery/suspense thrillers, I recommend.

All Hallow's Eve is a tame horror novel whose only real value lies in its fast-paced plotline. Because it is a Laymon novel, the writing is fluid and page-turning. However, none of the characters within the story are developed enough to make them interesting. Most are unlikable, which shouldn't come as a surprise to longtime Laymon fans, but this novel makes me wonder what kind of formative impressions the author developed during childhood that predisposed him to continually write such skewed personalities.

Laymon has a gift for creating flawed anti-heroes who routinely lie, cheat on their significant others, betray their friends and associates, rob, rape, and/or kill with little or no moral compunction. Are these types of personalities surprising in a horror novel? No. But in the absence of any faithful, honest, or upright human beings to contrast them to these tired stereotypes become stale rather quickly--especially if you are new to the author and trying to catch up on his vast bibliography.

Character nit-picking aside, this novel was noticeably lacking in substance. The plot is written from shifting perspectives of the Ashburg town citizenry following the sadistic murder of the Sheriff. A Halloween party is being thrown in a spooky old home by a mysterious host--whose identity you learn about halfway through--and who has a sinister surprise in store for the partygoers. The story follows the citizens through the days leading up to the party with a slapdash ending that halts all action immediately following the gory climax. The epilogue attempts to "wrap things up" in one page--less than a full page, really--as a main character details what happened following the killing spree. It is a lean book at around 245 pages--I read it in one night--and if you want to kill insomnia then this would be a good bedside read. There is no thinking required to follow the story.

This novel is a British edition of the book--some of his more popular titles are now available in American editions, and if you are new to the author I recommend starting with one of those.

Those who have never read a Laymon novel will not get an opportunity to truly appreciate his talents in All Hallow's Eve.

I was kind of dissappointed by this novel. Like someone posted earlier, this book feels rushed and a lot of things are not explained and the end.

This isn't one of Richard Laymon's best books. The ending seemed a bit rushed and a little slapped together. However, you can't go wrong with Laymon. He always gives you a taste of the hardcore, and Allhallow's Eve is a fun, easy, bloody read.

Fans of his work will not be disappointed.

James Roy Daley, author of THE DEAD PARADE
The Dead Parade

THIS BOOK IS A NOT TO BE MISSED IT HAS LOVE AND HURT AND A SUPRISE ENDING THAT WILL LEAVE YOU BREATHLESS

This was a good book. I chose standard shipping and still received my book faster than expected.