Product Description

Visitors flock to see the Beast House with its blood-soaked corridors and creaky doors. Armed with video camcorders, these poor sould enter the forbidden house, never to return. The deeper they go into the house, the darker their nightmares become. Don't even think about going into the cellar.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142938 in Books
• Published on: 1990-03-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Richard Layman was born in Chicago in 1947. He grew up in California and has a BA in English Literature from Willamette University, Oregon, and an MA from Loyola University, Los Angeles. He has worked as a schoolteacher, a librarian, a mystery magazine editor and a report writer for a law firm. He now works full-time as a writer. His novel FLESH was shortlisted for the prestigious Bram Stoker Award, as were FUNLAND and his short story collection, A GOOD, SECRET PLACE. Richard Layman is the author of many acclaimed works of horror and suspense, including THE STAKE, SAVAGE, AFTER MIDNIGHT and the three novels in the Beast House Chronicles: THE CELLAR, THE BEAST HOUSE and THE MIDNIGHT TOUR. He lives in California with his wife and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Don't go into the cellar
Richard Laymon has the knack of turning what should be abhorrent into an entertaining literary feast and this is the case with The Cellar. The journey takes us through bestiality, paedophilia, torture and some of the most finely crafted suspense horror in a long, long time.

The Cellar is located in the only attraction in Malcasa Point, the infamous Beast House with its blood steeped history and the even stranger Kutch House with no windows and only one door. Running from her deranged husband who has recently been released from gaol Donna Hayes finds herself stranded in Malcasa Point after a car accident in the fog. At her daughter's insistence she takes the Beast House Tour and meets Jud Rucker who changes her life around, albeit temporarily.

What happens from here on in is bloodsoaked but so gripping you don't want to put the book down. Does the beast exist or is it one of the Kutch family playing dress-up? Will they all escape alive? Will they escape the clutches of the Beast House at all?

If you like your horror novels with gore dripping from the page onto your lap as you read this is definitely the book for you.

brilliant
if you find detailed accounts of sex disturbing then i would probably say that this book is not for you!! besides all the sex i would have to say that i became extreamly involved with the characters (yet again) and even found myself feeling upset and worried about some of the characters!! very well written!!!

An enjoyable and well written tale from a bizarre but brilliant mind
First published back in 1980, "The Cellar" introduced the world to the horror author Richard Laymon and formed the first instalment of the four part `Beast House' series.

The tale sets out in a typical clique manner, introducing the reader to what appears to be a somewhat standard `horror novel' style opening. The novel's title and subject matter don't help to dissuade the reader from the feeling that the novel is likely to turn out to be yet another attempt at a basic book to simply slide into this genre, involving a big beast and a tonne of splatter thrown in for good measure.

However, this is not the case, as any avid reader of Laymon's work would know. The storyline quickly breaks away from this mundane and predictable route and instead weaves a tale of bizarre almost comic book like tongue-in-cheek horror.

Laymon's style of writing is a pleasure in itself to read, which draws the reader into this thoroughly enjoyable read. Characterization is nicely developed, but not overly so, as is the way with the majority of Laymon's novels.

Alongside the main plot line, another equally involved subplot is spun, involving a sociopathic killer ex-husband who rapes, murders and steals his way through the tale until the two plot lines come to their eventual meeting.

The novel contains some strong moments such as the recurring rape of children by the ex-husband.

As the tale progresses, the storyline reveals further depths to this bizarre premise, until the reader reaches the final somewhat twisted ending.

The end result is a tale that sets out with the standard `beast on the loose' premise, but quickly becomes a much more elaborate and well contrived story that delivers repeatedly strong moments and leaves plenty of room for the next `Beast House' novel.

The book runs for a total of 254 pages.