After hearing about it for years, I was finally able to get my meat hooks on a copy of Richard Laymon's The Woods Are Dark . It was suppose to be the book that explains why Laymon had success during his life over in England, but failed to achieve the same status in his home country. The book was heavily altered in America, which was said to make it unreadable. I'm now interested in the U.S. release because the restored version is such an atrocious piece of trash. The book details a group of individuals who attempt to survive after being kidnapped by the locals of a small town. They are dropped in the woods and offered as a sacrifice to the feral tribe that inhabit the surrounding area. Some are murdered, others fight for their lives or succumb to becoming human monsters themselves. Rape, dismemberment and other deplorable acts are committed throughout the novel. The reader is left sickened by the acts of the perpetrators as well as the victims. Firstly it's import...
As far back as I can remember, Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon was always present. Whenever I would go to a library with my father and drawn to the small horror section (just like our weekly trips to the video rental store) it would be there and instantly draw my attention. It's spine with a malevolent face peering out and daring me to delve into its dark contents. I was always in awe by the thick novel and knew that at some point in time, I would need to pick it up. My local used bookstore called me a year ago to tell me they had found me a copy, which they sold to me for a single dollar. Since I was about to move to China for a year, I knew it was the perfect moment to finally crack it. The story centers around various groups of people who are trying to survive in a ravaged landscape after Russia and the US have bombed each other. These characters include a massive ex wrestler, a mad ex-war hero and the boy who saved him by amputating his arm and Satan himself. The title c...