All Hallow's Eve is an interesting novel for a variety of reasons. It's not your typical Laymon novel. By this time people knew what to expect from him so this to me felt as if he were showing the critics that he was capable of creating a novel that was void of its usual mayhem. Eve is Laymon's attempt at a straight horror novel and surprisingly it works. Laymon proves here that he is a great story teller, but there is the usual references to sex, but not as much as say Come Out Tonight. These are still Laymon characters and when I say that I don't mean that to be derogatory at all. Laymon's characters are all a little flawed and show us that everyone has a darkside. All Hallow's Eve is no exception except for the fact that the action is a bit subdued and a lot of the darker, more horrifying aspects are stripped away so you get a chance to see just how good Laymon is without the mayhem. A lot of people will tell you that this is by far the weakest Laymon novel and in some regards I disagree. To me it feels as if Laymon was once again trying to tap into mainstream success and in order to do that he had to change his style a little and there's nothing wrong with that. The novel itself is interesting and the house serves as a sort of catalyst for what's to come. There's enough there to keep you guessing and along the way we can see just how much the house actually plays into the overall plot. Laymon knows how to craft a story, and he's able to do this with a minimum amount of gore and sexual overtones. If you're just getting into Laymon though this isn't the place to start because it isn't like any of his other novels. Another thing that keeps this from being a perfect novel is the ending. You finally get to the moment and then Laymon unleashes hell. This is a classic set up but the ending is just weak. It felt as if it were an afterthought or something Laymon came up with simply because the deadline was approaching, I have no idea how or why this was able to slide past the publishers but it did. It was the only dull spot in an engaging novel. In terms of Laymon this is a decent four star effort that proves that he has enough talent to pull of a classic horror novel. The pacing is perfect and the characters are the kinds of people we expect to see in a Laymon novel. While he may have written this to silence the critics All Hallow's Eve is one of my favorite Laymon novels even if the ending was a bit weak. Once you finally get inside The Sherwood House Laymon lets loose and then we get to see what he's known for. Those last few pages are what made me a Laymon fan. He should have been huge but for some reason he never was and that is something I will never understand, He was a huge influence on my writing and All Hallow's Eve is a great novel that Laymon fans and non fans should read
This month was a weak month in terms of reading. With too much work I had little time to read.This one I had high expections since it's a Laymon book and another it was called Allhallow's Eve - so it was in the right time of the year but it sucked.First, a difference from other Laymon books it's the lack of sex scenes. In this one are only two or three scenes (including rape scenes) but nothing is described like other of his books. Second is the slower pace of the book. There is also a lack of horror scenes and too many characters.The story is straightforward. Each chapter is dedicated with one of the three characters. Sam, the Cop; Eric the son of Cynthia (Sam's love partner) and Nate a misguided troublemaker.When I say this book is not as good - look at the plot (some spoilers). So Sam is dating Cynthia and Eric is not pleased. Eric can't understand why his mother couldn't be with his father. His mother says that his father left them because he was a fruit of a one night stand but the true is that Cynthia was raped. So, Sam is dating Cynthia saying that he won't abandoned her as other guys have done in the past. But in the wake of a murder he goes to an hotel and meets a girlie which he can't stop think about. From this moment on he talks to himself that he must honour his pledge of being with Cynthia instead that one hour stand (repeat this thoughts three of four times) So the plot moves on until the night of Halloween and Eric throws a party where some people are trapped inside with a guy in a gorilla costume (spoilers ahead: Eric's Father) and he kills a bunch of people Eric don't like, rape a girl but their plans are thwarted by the unforeseeable heroes (Nate and his pal). The last page we watch a dialogue between Sam and his girlie saying that Eric dying and his mother as well (we don't get to see her being murder; she is already dead before the party and inside a costume). So... How simple is this? The author made pretty simple to him. Deus Ex Machina or what?Btw... I didn't enjoy that much the book. It was boring. Didn't had no gut feelings Laymon gave to me on previous books. It was too simple. It felt weak.
1:00tSo what to do now? Feeling kinda happy from the whiskeys. Maybe read some trash? 1:15tChose Allhallow’s Eve, not sure why. Checked out some Goodreads reviews. All bad.1:30tThis is fun. Killer on the loose, mysterious Halloween party on the horizon. FUN!1:45tTight pacing. Nice build-up. Why don’t people like this?2:00tSleazy. All the boobs! Boobs, boobs, boobs. Laymon loves that word, all the time, all over the place.2:05tMore whiskey?2:15tToo much boobs, sweet Jesus, enough already. Also, so many douchebags.2:45tKill these douchebags already! Even the teen hero is a miserable, creepy little creep.3:15tScene with writer & wife trapped in the bathroom was great. Quick-thinking writer!3:30tWhat the hell just happened? Man oh man.4:30tParty massacre was awesome, great ending! Wait, it’s 4:30 in the fucken morning?A really fucken different version of this review appears in a Richard Laymon “article” posted on Shelf Inflicted
—mark monday
This is a story about a small town and it problems. Fourteen years ago a maniac massacred the entire Sherwood family. The Sherwood house on Oakhurst Road has been abandoned since. Mysterious invitations to a Halloween party at the Sherwood house, arrive to a select few in town.. Nobody has any idea who is throwing this party. Once the party starts there is no turning back. This was not one of Laymons better works. The beginning of the story was promising but it went quickly down hill. Nothing really happens until the final few chapters.
—Peter
This book had potential. But instead it reads like a disturbed 12yr old wrote it. I went into the book thinking most of it would take place at this party in the spooky house except really the party is only the last few pages. There are a few spooky parts, but as I said, other then swearing and sexual situations the book reads like a book written by a 12yr old for a 12yr old. The rest of the book is filled with a bunch of teenage bullies, and unrealistic teachers and principals who swear and hit
—Kat
