Customer Reviews

The Midnight Tour

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Richard Laymon is easily one of the most prolific authors in horror fiction with over 50 titles published under his name. It's a bit surprising then that he has only written one series, the 3-volume Beast House chronicles, and given how good these beast house books are I certainly wish he had written other series. But hey, at least we have Beast House. This is the series that kicked off with 1980's cult classic "The Cellar", which also happens to be Richard's first-ever novel. He followed up that classic with 1985's "The Beast House" an atmospheric but ultimately rather disappointing sequel. The third novel, "The Midnight Tour" undoes the wrongs of the second novel to give us a vastly superior sequel. It's also the biggest beast house book, clocking in at over 530 pages in length which is roughly the size of the two previous installments combined. Despite the length, I can guarantee you that the pages will fly by to no end should you give this one a try.

"The Midnight Tour" takes place in 1997, roughly twenty years after the events in "The Cellar". By now, the beast house is a national attraction, drawing in tourists from all over the united states. Novels have been written about beast house, a string of cheesy horror films have been made based loosely on Beast House. And the Beast House has changed a lot from its humble beginnings as a tacky tourist trap. It's still tacky of course but now on a much bigger scale. You can visit the Beast House museum, buy Beast House t-shirts or savour some Bacon Beastburgers or Red-Hot Beastie Weenies at the Beast House snack stand. The day tours have also become more sophisticated, as you can now get an audio guided tour on earphones. But there is one Beast House tour to end all Beast House tours: The Midnight Tour. Once a week on Saturdays. Totally uncensored, no-holds-barred, no stops pulled meant for only the most hardcore of Beast House fans. You'll be lucky to get out alive...

Similar to novel #2 "The Beast House", The Midnight Tour is a little bit tame in the horror department. A great deal of time is spent developing characters and speculating about horrific happenings but not a lot of shocking things happen, unlike in Laymon's sickening debut "The Cellar". But that doesn't mean this entry isn't good, in fact it's outstanding and rights the wrongs of the second book if you ask me. Whereas the second book spent an inordinate amount of time focusing on the love lives of four tourists, this third book places the spotlight squarely back on the beast house instead. We get a full host of new characters, and interesting ones at that. I particularly liked Owen, the super Beast House fan, on a trip to Malcasa Point with his wench of a girlfriend Monica. Anyone who has ever spent anytime traveling with a nagging, domineering girlfriend will probably feel very sympathetic to his cause.

Also of particular interest are flashback chapters that recount the last 17 years of Sandy's life. Her life story peppered with incest, rape and bestiality is very shocking to read especially when told through the lens of Laymon, a master at describing perversity. It's a brilliant touch to have Sandy turn out to be the true star of the series, something unexpected when only having read The Cellar, where Sandy is but a hapless and victimized toddler. In Sandy Hayes, Laymon has created one of his most memorable characters ever. Although "The Cellar" is the only entry that on a stand-alone basis can be considered a top-ten Laymon classic, the other two entries complement the original admirably to form a truly memorable series. If you're a Laymon fan you MUST read the Beast House chronicles.

In the small California town of Malcasa Point lies an old Victorian style house that is known as The Beast House and It has a dark and murderous history. For over ninety years people who have dared enter inside its walls at night have usually been found horribly mutilated the next day. The locals say that they met their gruesome end at the hands of the Beast and on certain nights they say your can hear its evil laugh coming from the house.

Tourists have flocked to Beast House for years. They take an audio tour of the house going from room to room looking at grotesque wax figures of the victims the Beast claimed. There is also another tour that happens every Saturday night. It is called the Midnight Tour, and those who take it gets the no hold barred information about the Beast. They get to go to the parts of the house were the most gruesome events took place. Some say that the Beast still roams the house at night, and for one unlucky Midnight Tour group they will find out first hand that the Beast is more than just a legend.

The Midnight Tour is the final installment of the Beast House Chronicles and after reading it I can say that is my favorite. I loved the first two books but this is by far the best of the bunch. It drew me in on the first page and kept me hooked the whole ride. Richard Laymon has become one of my favorite Horror writers because of books like Midnight Tour. I devoured this book within three nights consumed in the dark and twisted world Mr. Laymon created. Midnight Tour is loaded with sex, gore, and nonstop action. I especially enjoyed the characters in Midnight Tour. Mr. Laymon introduces you to a bunch of new characters, but he also brings back a few from the previous installments. Midnight Tours takes place many years after Beast House but you will find out what the old characters did with their life in the years leading up to Midnight Tour. I especially enjoyed following Sandy through the years. She as been one my favorite characters throughout the Beast House Chronicles and you will find out how she spent her life from story to story.

Midnight Tour is Laymons masterpiece in my opinion. I have read most of his work but Midnight Tour is a cut above his other work. Mr. Laymon is a master of the Horror genre and I highly recommend Midnight Tour to all Horror fiction lovers. It is guaranteed to satisfy even the most jaded of fans.

Continuing the Beast House series started by the Cellar, continuing with The Beast House and ending up here Laymon continues to write with the eloquence and sheer shock that we have come to expect.

This novel lets us greet old friends, Sandy Hayes and Janice Crogan - albeit retrospectively as Janice is vacationing with her new husband - and introduces us to a whole host of new and intriguing characters. But the big question is does the beast still exist in Malcasa Point? Is Agnes Kutch harbouring beasts in the strange house across the street even now?

The Midnight Tour is just that, an unexpurgated tour of the Beast House for 13 adults at midnight every Saturday. Such a wonderfully simplistic idea but one which you just wish you could go on. Laymon makes not only his characters come alive in this book but also the town of Malcasa Point.

You care about Eve, Tuck, Warren, Dana and Owen............heck even Dark and Vein have their good points. But when he writes nasty characters he does so with abandon and Clyde and Monica illustrate this admirably being thoroughly nasty pieces of work and you can't help but smile as they "get theirs".

Be prepared for a couple of sleepless nights as you find yourself unable to put this book down.

I think this is the best book in the Beast House series and one of Laymon's best overall.

This is the third book in the series. It's the last in the trilogy. ("Friday Night in Beast House" is a spin-off book.)

"The Cellar" and "The Beast House" are the two prequels.

You can read the books out of order.

"The Cellar" is open-ended and sort of a letdown. Don't finish it before you get one of the other two books.

Richard Laymon went all out for this one, issuing forth a 600 page story for the Beast House series. We get a couple different storylines going on. 1) Owen's long awaited trip to visit Beat House, 2) Dana's arrival at Beast House where she will be working as a guide, and 3) the past 17 year backstory on what Sandy has been doing between 1980, the end of The Beast House, and the present of 1997.

It's an awkward journey through the characters and the slow attempts to make the reader care about them but really the whole characterizations are lost and meaningless. Owen first shows up with his girlfriend Monica. You instantly dislike Monica and feel sorry for Owen. Then you like Owen for ditching Monica and returning to Beast House where he is fascinated by Dana's beauty. Then he hooks up with money-grubbing John and gets taken advantage of again in hopes of getting dirty pictures of Dana so now Owen is a bit of a sleaze. Owen then has to deal with Monica's sudden return and now he becomes da playa when Goth chicks Vein and Darke tag team him. It made little sense.

Dana isn't much better but you like her throughout the book despite the ever-reccuring 'love at first sight' crap seen throughout many of the characters presented. Sandy really deserved her own book for this but her attitude about the beasts are changed through instant decisions and it seems that Laymon had forgotten how much Sandy was into the beasts 17 years prior. The willful ravaging from the beasts seem to have left few marks on the 'gorgeous' model-like Sandy but more or less mutilates everyone else in the past. Consistency was lacking on Sandy's part. The whole Eve story was plain dumb. And after the tragic events that happened to her, why would Janice have anything to do with Beast House outside of writing a few books? Money isn't a justifiable argument after being part of such horror.

I was hoping to maybe see a return of Captain Frank or a little more backstory on the beasts themselves. However, with Laymon's passing we won't ever get that from his point of view but we can still partially include Brian Keene's ode in Castaways. A Laymon book as a prequal of the discovery of the beasts on 'Bobo Island' would have been great.

Overall, it's 600 pages that the first 300 should have been highly condensed. Readable but a weak entry for the otherwise hectic series. There's a lot of filler and pointless conversations that served no purpose being there and the last 200 pages were worth reading.

With the final completed book in the Beast House series--unless you count Friday Night at the Beast House(released in the U.K.) as a true entry, this series has been good. The final book which is by far the longest and for me the least satisfying of the series. There seems to be way too much filler and I think some editing could have sped things up nicely. If you are reading this book, then you really don't need to have the house and monsters history again. The story itself is getting a little tired. With most of the monsters killed save for one at the end of the second book, the creatures really take a back seat in this story for the most part. You have the usual Laymon group of characters that come together at the end for the climax. The ending didn't seem satisfying enough for me. After 500 pages of reading, I really felt like something was missing. This was a good series, but this was certainly the weakest entry.

One of the best aspects of The Midnight Hour is that it gets more interesting the farther into it you get.

While some horror novels start strong and then quickly become devoid of interesting story, The Midnight Tour does the opposite.

The first act is by far the weakest and, despite the fact that the ending unravels a little bit - I won't reveal anything - The Midnight Hour is a surprisingly good read.

The one thing that Laymon does with his characters that is annoying is that he over-characterizes them, leaving little to the imagination. While subtlety is not rampant in pop horror, this novel would have benefited from more mystery.

I do think it is worth the time to read, however, and I recommend it to anyone whose Stephen King collection is almost worn out.

Other reviews have already told the plot of this book and the fact that it belongs in a series of books, so I won't rehash that. I will say that I did enjoy the book, but then I usually do enjoy Laymon's brand of horror. I have only read The Cellar, from the series and I did enjoy that one as well. Both are left a little open but you still get enough of an idea of the conclusion to be satisfied. As usual Laymon's books are violent, gory and fast paced, but these are the good qualities. I have read about 30 of his books and I try to get my hands on anything else I can of his. The only fault I have with his books is that I find his female characters (although strong and capable which is nice because they aren't the typical damsels in distress) to be a tad unrealistic. I don't know exactly what it is but usually the actions and reactions of the women always confuse me and I feel they aren't plausible. Other than that I love his writing, it's very thrilling and it never takes long for the story to get going and never stop. I liked Midnight Tour very much and anyone can read this book even if you're unfamiliar with the Beast House series. The book gives you all the required information so you can read it alone or out of order with the other books.

Another supberb book from Laymon's pen. although I have only read the second and third book of the Beast Trilogy I still found this book more than enjoyable. Its been a while since i have read the cellar so i had forgotten some of the characters.
Laymon never ceases to deliver, Let him rest in peace.

I have just finished this book after borrowing it from the local library and I have to say that if you love Laymon then this is definately worth trying to find a copy. Combine the Beast House with a Midnight Tour and you have a great read.