Customer Reviews

Darkness, Tell Us

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Let me qualify this review by saying that I have probably read 12-15 Richard Laymon novels so I feel fairly confident that I can give a fair and honest appraisal of his work. "Darkness, Tell Us, while not near the top of my list, is certainly not a bad book and will have many readers turning the pages rapidly. Laymon sticks to his "tried-and-true" formula of semi-believeable characters involved in unbelieveable plots with plenty of chills, thrills, and gore thrown in.

The setting is a mountainous area far away from civilization that contains a treasure that 6 college students are in search of. The quest begins after the students begin playing around with a Ouija board at the home of one of their professors during their summer break. The Ouija board begins to "speak" to the students and tells them of a great treasure hidden away that no one else knows of. Now being rather gullable college students, the intrepid adventurers set off on a treasure without telling the professor of their intentions. As soon as the professor discovers what has happened, she and her former brother-in-law (and now lover) set after the kids.

The rest of the book is spent in the mountains as the students search for the treasure. Along the way, we learn a little more about each of them as Laymon develops their characters. It's these characters that generate the bulk of my criticism for the novel. There are very few likeable or redeeming qualities present in any of them. The reader is supposed to feel sympathy for a few of them, I suppose (including the overweight and bitter, Doris, and the sexually-abused heroine, Angela), but this reviewer couldn't muster up much empathy for this group. The three males are especially lame and uninteresting. How did this group link up with the extremely unlikeable Keith, and why didn't they knock him off and bury him in the mountains while they had the chance?

This criticism of Laymon is unusual because he normally creates a "hero" that readers can support. The hero in this book, Howie, is an oversexed, hypocritcal milktoast who can't decide his feelings about his new love, Angela. One minute he's enthralled and the next he's imagining another girl (Lana) and the professor naked. Laymon dropped the ball on the characterization of these six which is so unusual because character development is a strength of his writing.

Also included in the novel are the ever-present creeps and ghoulish characters. Both of them in this book are memorable.

If you're a Laymon fan and haven't read "Darkness, Tell Us" yet, them I would certainly recommend that you do so. It is not a BAD book it's just a little below par for Laymon. If you're new to Richard Laymon, then I would suggest that you skip this book and look for some of his earlier works. My recommendations would be:

Beware - 4 stars
The Stake - 4 stars
Bite - 4 stars
Night Show - 4 stars
Island - 4 stars
The Traveling Vampire Show - 5 stars
The Beast Houst series - 5 stars
The Woods Are Dark - 5 stars
Midnight's Lair - 5 stars
Funland (and my personal fav.) - 5 stars

And that's just to name a few. Good luck however, because the older books are becoming increasing more difficult to find as collectors are snatching them up.

Okay: you've heard of an Ouija board, haven't you? That's the thing you use to communicate with dead spirits. Anyway, six college students come across one, and say, what the hell, let's try it out. So when they do, they come into contact with a spirit named Butler, who promises a fortune somewhere in the moutnains. His messages are cryptic, but the students figure again, what the hell, they'll go looking for the gold.

Their professor is against it, of course, and so is her lover, but hey, the students are young and rebellious. So they go into the mountains. Now there're a few complications in their search: one of the students has a past that literally comes back to haunt them; the professor, guilt-driven, heads into the mountains to find them; and oh, yes, there's a maniac with a really big knife.

Okay, so it's not too realistic; not that any horror novel ever is. However, Laymon usually manages to convince us that yes, indeed, those vampires are out there. This novel lacks that power to convince, but hey, it IS suspensful, and it is a gory ride. Richard Laymon always thrills; "Darkness, Tell Us," is no exception. Dig in; you might find the treasure...or you might find a maniac with a knife.

I'm not a rabid Laymon fan, but his books are usually a good bet for a fun spooky read. Still, a couple of his novel's have muddled endings. Laymon claimed to write without an outline, and sometimes it showed.
But not this one.
DARKNESS, TELL US is a read that I finished in a sitting. A rollercoaster ride through a house of horrors constructed by axe murdering architects and chainsaw wielding carpenters. It gets deeper and murkier as it goes. There's a bit of the supernatural, in the form of the Ouija board and Butler. Laymon often steers away from this side of things, being kind of finicky about ghosts and the like, but this one has its share. A fun read. I passed it onto my wife, Belinda, which is always a sign of my approval. Buy it. I did, and I didn't regret it.

I read the entire book. That in itself keeps it from getting the worse review of one star, reserved for books so horrible I can't even finish but that is pretty much the only compliment I can give this book. This is the second Laymon book I have read (the first was Traveling Vampire Show) and his writing, to put it simply, just isn't that good. In the two books I have read it takes forever for anything worth while to happen and the dialouge is really bad. Also, I get this creepy oversexed old man feelings from his writing. It seems like he gets his rocks off writing ON EVERY PAGE about what sex thoughts the characters are thinking. Sex in a book is no big deal but do I need to read throughout the book that when a person moves "their skirt climbed up and I can see their skin....ohh man it's so nice and I am sooo hot".... That's basically the jist of his writing right there. None of the characters were particularly likable and I really didn't care or have any emotion invested in the ending at all, which ended pretty cheesy in my opinion. I put this guy in the same category I put Bently Little, the hack category. I am sure high school kids who haven't read much in their lives get kicks out of the 'naughty' writing and predictable events in the book but I think I'll go back to real suspense, horror and sci-fi authors like Philip Dick, Straub, F. Paul Wilson, CHUCK PALAHNIUK, BRET EASTON ELLIS, H. P. Lovecraft, Bradbury, Dan Simmons, McCammon and others rather than this junk. I advise you to do the same.

Another fine story from the mind of Richard Laymon. While spooky and unpredictable, I felt there was something missing from the characters. The story centers around a group of students who play with a Ouija board at a party. They were way too easily convinced that the Ouija board truly worked.

The entity communicating through the board convinces the group that there is "loot" hidden in a mine on a secluded mountain. The group decides to go for it and steals the board from their professor (the one hosting the party). Once the professor realizes what has happened, she sets out in pursuit as she has had bad dealings with the board.

What follows is a fun and fast-moving tale and one of a series that has me convinced that Richard Laymon does not like the woods. Many surprises and tense moments wrap the character development until the story resolves in unexpected ways.

Definitely a good book for Laymon fans although it is not his strongest. But, as with many Laymon books, we do see just how thin a line there is between civilized and horrible.

I am a big Richard Laymon fan. His writing was phenominal! I believe that there were certain manuscripts he decided not to publish because they were not up to par. Unfortunately this was one of those novels. Long and drawn out with humdrum dialog among characters that are just plain out boring. If your just getting to know some of his work, I recommend not to plunge into this until you've read all of his books that was published while he was alive.

I must swallow some pride,and humbly admit I hadn't heard of Laymon's demise until I read the editorial review for this book. Right away I state I don't believe this is his best work, but his passing in 2001 lends it an exrta eerie factor. The novel revolves around (as in most cases with Laymon's books many things) but here primarily a group of College Students, playing with a Ouija board one night, and deciding to take a trip to find the treasure it referred to in its message to them.

Laymon's character's are realistically realized, and I'm consistently amazed how well he writes young people. As I stated I would not claim this to be his best work, yet it has his trademarked bluntness (note not neccesarily gore) in describing human horrors blended with occultism and the supernatural. Laymon wrote each book I've read with the consistent unflinching manner, Darkness Tell Us is no Exception. There were parts overtly disturbing yet the reader(me in any case) is compelled to gulp fresh air and read on anxious to discover where the dark path Laymon leads us along will take us, and if there's any light at the end of the journey.
One peer/reviewer wrote He is King or Koontz without a conscience, and this novel again demonstrates how accurate that description is may he rest in more peace than some of his characters(and readers no doubt) have after finsishing a work by a genuine Horror scribe of the first order.

First off, let me say that I'm a big Laymon fan. I came across this book on a book display, and bought it with eagnerness and looking forward to enjoy a Laymon book. This isn't one of his better books, as a matter of fact, it was one of my least favorite of his.

The plot is interesting. A group of college students break out an ouija board and make contact with a ghost named Butler. This ghost promises them a great treausre if they just do what the ghost tells them to. I don't want to give much more out, but let's just say that things don't end the way the college kids think it will.

I had a few problems with this book. 1) The characters. Most of them were annoying. I honestly don't think that people would act the way the the charcaters did in the book. 2) The writing. The doalouge wasn't true to everyday people either. I just can't believe that people would talk that way. 3) The conversatations weren't true to life. I mean, there was 2 1/2 pages of charcaters talking if they should go to the bathroom. 4)The conclusion. It was a major let down.

I think Darkess, Tell Us, could have been a wodnerful book. Notice I said "could have".

If you like Laymon as much as I do, try and find the book in a used bookstore.

Richard Laymon is one of those writers that some people have a hard time admitting that they REALLY like. Having read over a dozen of his novels I have to agree with Dean Koontz that you will have a "good time with anything he writes." Although his plot lines tend to push the limits of probability, the strength of his characters add a verismilitude to his novels that have you wanting to believe this could happen. That is the basic foundation of this book which has six college students chasing after buried treasure in the wilderness after receiving some very accurate and very spooky instructions from a Ouija board. Now there are very few authors that could take such an almost lame premise like this a build a very suspenseful novel around it- but Laymon, as usual, pulls it off. If you are looking for a fast-moving, in your face, page-turning novel and are somewhat willing to suspend your beliefs for a while then you will enjoy this book. I guess reading Laymon is like riding a roller coaster, you just pay your money, hang on and enjoy the ride.

Boring. Thats the only way to discripe this awful novel. Boring. It started alright, with six kids and a teacher contacting the dead with an ouiji board. A quest for treasure, alone in the woods. Sounds creepy, right?
Wrong. I have never been so bored with a horror novel. The villans were awful, the dialog second rate, and no suspense. The usual Laymon trademarks were a little shallow.
The Travling Vampire Show was creepy and great. Island was a funny blast. In The Dark was chock full of suspense. Pass this one up.