Customer Reviews

Friday Night in Beast House

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this book simply because I am a Laymon fan, I have all his books and I knew before hand that the recommendations were not good on it. But I just didn't realise how poor the book would be. No disrespect here to Richard Laymon but I wonder did he ever approve of this book being released before his death. It is as others have said a very short book, printed with very large writing to make it look more than it is. It doesn't continue on from the Beast House trilogy and has very little of a storyline at all. It is not worth the money I paid and if you do want this book I would suggest buying secondhand or waiting til such time as it is released in paperback.
I hope this book is not the shape of what is to come now Laymon is gone. As a great fan I would be severly disapointed.

Mustering up his courage he finally asks her out; she accepts on the stipulation that he spend FRIDAY NIGHT IN BEAST HOUSE after it closes. Excited he agrees to meet her stipulation hoping this is the ticket to ecstasy even though he knows the day time tourist attraction has been the sight of several ghastly homicides.

On Friday night Mark breaks into Beast House. He proceeds to hide in the Beast Hole hoping to quietly pass time and emerge as a hero in the eyes of Alison. However, Beast House earned its reputation for grisly inexplicable murders and soon Mark and Alison will learn even wet fantasies can turn nightmarish in the wrong environs.

Richard Laymon's final Beast House tale is a terrific entry in a great series that like it predecessors (see THE CELLAR, THE BEAST HOUSE and THE MIDNIGHT TOUR) hooks the audience into a complacency that slowly turns into tension and suspense wondering what will happen next to Mark. The delightful protagonist slowly realizes how much trouble he is in as he learns the truth about Beast House. Not quite at the emotional roller coaster levels of the previous three novels; this tale is a tense gripping thriller that will have readers searching for the previous books.

Harriet Klausner

I am a huge fan of Mr Laymon but I must say I found this one very dissappointing. Compared to the blood, guts, gore and excitement of his other novels this was tame. The only encounter with a beast was a rape and not a very convincing effort either. His other books on Beast house are full of excitement but this is a quiet days reading. Not one I would recommend

As the title suggests, this book is set mainly in the now familiar Beast House and tells the story of a young couple meeting for their first date in the famous landmark. Unlike the previous books in the series this is more of a novella than a novel but contains all the usual Laymon suspense and action.

By the time I finished this book (2 hours from cover to cover) I couldn't wait to leap back into the Beast House chronicles and start again with The Cellar.

If you're a Laymon fan, particularly a fan of the Beast House chronicles then you should give this book a go. If you've missed Laymon so far then I suggest you start at the beginning with The Cellar or one of his other great books.

Published soon after his unexpected death on St. Valentines Day 2001 this short novel, the fourth book in The Beast House Chronicles, once again displays Laymons talents as a master storyteller.

Set in fictional Malcasa Point, 'Friday Night in Beast House' begins with sixteen-year-old Mark sitting on the edge of his bed debating with himself whether or not to telephone Alison for a date. When he finally musters enough courage to do so she, to his surprise, acceptson one condition: Mark has to get her inside Beast House the following night, after it closes.

From there the story plows ahead--to a somewhat unexpected conclusionin a straight and narrow path, with few side trips. Laymon, no prose stylist, seems almost in a rush to tell the tale before it opens razor-toothed jaws and swallows him whole. All in all, thats not a bad thing as it allows the reader to focus his/her attention solely on the action and dialogue occurring within the pages, thus forsaking any chance of ennui setting inor even comfort.

While not a great book, I found 'Friday Night in Beast House' fun, fast-paced and perfectly suited for a little decadent, nightmarish escape after a hard days work.

Sadly, the newest US-published Laymon novel Friday Night In Beast House is a huge disappointment. For starters, it is mistakenly marketed as a novel instead of a novella; the story is 141 pages long. Leisure Fiction is attempting a marketing scheme by adding a bonus novella The Wilds! at 98 pages in order to beef up the book so they can call FNIBH a novel by comparison.

I am a huge Laymon fan, and I was really disappointed by the storyline. The novel is stretched so thin that there really isn't any room to develop more than a basic story: two teenagers make a date to sneak into the Beast House and encounter the Beast. This isn't a spoiler: the back jacket advertises exactly what's going to happen, though any Laymon fan familiar with the Beast House novels should expect this. The plot is predictable, not scary, or even suspenseful. Its sole claim to "horror" stems from its setting at the Beast House--that and a graphic rape scene that is, in fact, the sum total of the Beast's appearance.

There are only two main characters, Mark and Alison, and the story is told from Mark's first-person point-of-view. The first ¾ of the novel details Mark's actions as he sneaks into the Beast House; Alison's midnight arrival precipitates the Beast's appearance with about ten pages left before the totally unbelievable ending. The books reads exactly like a short story, without Laymon's trademark character development. Marks exhibits the classic "sex-obsessed" teen behavior that Laymon writes so well, but not nearly to the degree you might expect given the obligatory "sexy sheriff's deputy" and "Beast House tour guide" female characters. The story almost reads as if it was meant to be a longer work but was abruptly cut short and revised to "wrap things up."

To its credit, FNIBH is well-written and fast-paced, and I got through it relatively quickly hoping for another Beast House massacre, but unfortunately, this never happened. This novel has more in common with a teenage boy's sexual fantasy than horror novel, and the rape scene is explicitly offensive.

I am very sorry to have to write a bad review for a Laymon novel, especially a Beast House entry. The first Laymon novel I read was Beast House, which hooked me on his writing. I generally love his books and really hope this one proves to be an exception to the rule. I haven't read all the books published in the UK because they are too expensive to order through Amazon. Unfortunately, I will have to hope for the best with the next title they release in the US.

This story which would be the 4th in the Beast House Chronicles was published shortly after Mr. Laymon's death. I disagree with those who say it is an unfinished novel. The story has a beginning, middle and end. But this isn't a novel. At 154 pages, counting about 10-12 blanks at the end of each chapter, this isn't a long book. The type is huge, almost large print style. I think they published this in trade size because it would look ridiculous in mass market paperback. I think with regular margins and type size this is a 50-60 page short story Richard has around. Since he is no longer with us, we don't know if he intended to have this published in a magazine, a collection, or maybe one day expand upon the idea and make it part of another full Beat House novel. The story as simple as it is has two teenagers sneaking into the Beast House after closing. Most of the book has the boy just trying to get in and find a hiding spot. With about 40 pages to go the girl appears and with about 20 you get the first appearance of the beast. It is an okay quick read and a good addition for huge fans of the Beast House stories. Otherwise it is not worth picking up on its own.

I think that this book was still in the process of being written when he died. Therefore i think someone else just put a quick end to it then they released it. Because just has the book starts to get good it finishes. Its a poor book and not very big im a massive fan of Richard Laymon i own 12 books so far and im going to buy the rest.

It is still hard to believe that Laymon is not with us anymore. But this is a good finish to the Beast House Chronicles. All the Laymon elements are here. Make no mistake about it.
This is a very short novel with very little character development. But there is Beast House, there are the typical Laymon horny teenagers and there is a "Beast". This book does not really cover the events of The Midnight Tour
but Laymon pulls off this fast paced thriller and puts an end to the legacy of Beast House.

I loved Richard Laymon's Beast House novels and, since The Midnight Tour ended on a drop off, I was psyched to learn that one, last posthumous Beast House novel was being released. But, this isn't exactly the truth. Friday Night in Beast House is a novella that reads kind of like one of those old youth lit horror shorts like R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series.

It's about a high schooler hoping to impress a girl by helping her sneak into the Beast House. He does and lives to regret it.

That's about all there is to the story. I'd like to let people know that although characters from other Beast House novels are present here, this is actually a prequel to The Midnight Tour. We don't learn anything more about the series and this story focuses on relatively minor incident at the Beast House involving a couple dumb kids that should've know better. There's not much to it but it's a fast, entertaining read and worthwhile for Beast House fans, but newcomers to the series should definitely start with The Cellar.