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The Woods Are Dark
Résumé
A group of deformed, cannibalistic, humanoid creatures live in the woods…as some unlucky travelers are about to find out.
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Avis
I'd only previously read the cut version and this fully restored and uncut version is better. It now rates as one of Laymon's best I think. Makes me want to go back and read all of his other books. He was a genius at writing horror and is sadly missed.
"The woods are dark" and bears shit in them. That was my first thought when I read the title to this book. I picked this up mostly to look at different styles of horror writing. Several things struck me about this story. The ending was very poor. It gave the impression of being a book that is sold in airports, where the author has three hours to tell you a story then has to end mid-sentence because the plane is landing in Hawaii.
Ignoring the ending for a moment, the first thing I noticed was that all the women in this book were fondled, raped or generally eye candy thrown in for glamour value. I don't mind reading about all that in context, but it did strike me as a strange approach to take. The language itself - which is mostly what I was looking at - was pretty good. There were concise descriptions and parts where I said to myself "Yes, I need to learn how to do that." and there were places where I thought "Has an editor actually read this bit?" In general the language and style wandered from excellent to corny and back again. One of the first scenes is a good example of this, it starts out really well, and frightened the hell out of me, then a moment later it became ridiculous and I laughed out loud. It wasn't supposed to be funny.
The story itself flew along at a good pace. It was entertaining in a rapid-fire, air-flight-entertainment, type of way. The start of the book was frightening, then afterwards it wasn't anymore. It's still a good book but it lacks the finesse of Dean Koontz's flowing prose and seems a bit random at times.
Ignoring the ending for a moment, the first thing I noticed was that all the women in this book were fondled, raped or generally eye candy thrown in for glamour value. I don't mind reading about all that in context, but it did strike me as a strange approach to take. The language itself - which is mostly what I was looking at - was pretty good. There were concise descriptions and parts where I said to myself "Yes, I need to learn how to do that." and there were places where I thought "Has an editor actually read this bit?" In general the language and style wandered from excellent to corny and back again. One of the first scenes is a good example of this, it starts out really well, and frightened the hell out of me, then a moment later it became ridiculous and I laughed out loud. It wasn't supposed to be funny.
The story itself flew along at a good pace. It was entertaining in a rapid-fire, air-flight-entertainment, type of way. The start of the book was frightening, then afterwards it wasn't anymore. It's still a good book but it lacks the finesse of Dean Koontz's flowing prose and seems a bit random at times.
The Krull's have been in America for a very long time. They were not fans of rules and societal norms, so they took to the woods where they could inbreed and feed on the flesh of other humans. In order to appease this backwoods group of monsters, residents of the nearby town provide monthly offerings in hopes of sparing their own lives. This gruesome tale could only come from the imagination of Richard Laymon.The taboo trifecta of incest, rape and cannibalism are painted throughout this book and I would only recommend this story to fans of extreme horror. All others, walk on by and head to a lighter spot in the woods.
Rating: 3 of 5Status updates:9/16/2012, page 34, This is my first Laymon book. And whoa does he believe in starting IN the action or what?! Definitely feels more like a movie than a book so far, though.9/17/2012, page 215, For what it's meant to be, The Woods Are Dark succeeded. I've watched way too many "cannibals in the woods" movies to be completely satisfied with this book, though. Several of those movies offered more character development and plausibility; in other words, the movies were meatier (ha ha ha).
Jesus, I remeber the original and thought that one ws creepy enough! This one had me jum[ping at shadows. Lander Dil is someone to haunt your nightmares and his fall is stunning in it's ferosity. This was the only Laymon I had read for a long time, but now, I can't get enough of him.
I read "The Woods Are Dark" sometime back in the '90s and vividly remember how intense and visceral the book was. It was my first foray into the world of Richard Laymon and lead me down a path of spending many hours reading the novels of this horror master over the past two decades. I haven't been disappointed by many of Laymon's books and that is particularly true with this novel. This copy of the novel, by the way, is the unedited version of the book written prior to its original 1981 publishing."The Woods Are Dark" grabs the reader from the first page as Laymon plunges his characters into an unknown world inhabited by inbreeds known as the Krulls. You see, the good people of the nearby town of Barlow understand that in order for the cannibalistic Krulls to leave them alone, they must supply the creatures with a steady supply of unsuspecting travelers. It a murderous symbiotic relationship.Laymon's story revolves around the kidnapping of two different groups of travelers who are subsequently offered to the Krulls. Once dropped into the woods, each group is able to fend off the Krulls in various ways and then spend the bulk of the book fighting for their lives. Laymon's standard formula of copious amounts of gore, sexual encounters, and interesting characters is present in spades, in this, one of his first novels. Laymon fans more than likely have read "The Woods Are Dark" early in their encounters with his work, but for those new to Laymon's style of horror, this book is a definite read.
Ordentlich und kurzweilig geschrieben aber sehr „strange“. Die Charaktere sind nicht unbedingt nachzuvollziehen und bleiben recht farblos. Beispielhaft wäre hier der ehemalige Pazifist zu nennen, der innerhalb kürzester Zeit zum immergeilen Rambo mutiert.
Mit viel wohlwollen könnte man die Entwicklung des Menschen anhand seiner Situation und entsprechend das Einstellungsvermögen der inneren Haltung im Sinne des Darwinismusses interpretieren. Nicht unbedingt der Stärkere sondern der Anpassungsfähigere überlebt.
Auch könnte man das Buche als Spiegel auf die Entwicklung von Parallelgesellschaften sehen, die sich trotz sämtlicher kultureller Eigenheiten (in diesem Fall Kannibalismus) in Struktur und Habitus und dem folgenden modus operandi immer der ursprünglichen Form angleichen.
Aber ob dies alles die Intention des Autors war, möchte ich bezweifeln.
Zusammengefasst: kurzer Splatter Horror in Form einer wilden Verfolgungsjagd inmitten eines Waldes im Nirgendwo der auch in der süddeutschen Provinz sein könnte.
Mit viel wohlwollen könnte man die Entwicklung des Menschen anhand seiner Situation und entsprechend das Einstellungsvermögen der inneren Haltung im Sinne des Darwinismusses interpretieren. Nicht unbedingt der Stärkere sondern der Anpassungsfähigere überlebt.
Auch könnte man das Buche als Spiegel auf die Entwicklung von Parallelgesellschaften sehen, die sich trotz sämtlicher kultureller Eigenheiten (in diesem Fall Kannibalismus) in Struktur und Habitus und dem folgenden modus operandi immer der ursprünglichen Form angleichen.
Aber ob dies alles die Intention des Autors war, möchte ich bezweifeln.
Zusammengefasst: kurzer Splatter Horror in Form einer wilden Verfolgungsjagd inmitten eines Waldes im Nirgendwo der auch in der süddeutschen Provinz sein könnte.
I'm really digging Richard Laymon. His stuff is fast paced, horroriffic and pervy. The Woods Are Dark is all that stuff and more! This is the 2nd Laymon book I've read, Traveling Vampire Show being the first. I'm definitely going to read more.
Ugh, why did I even bother with this atrocity? It starts off well enough and there's an attempt to have a plot, but it's just overshadowed by all the gratuitous raping and attempted raping that seems to dominate everything I've read by Laymon. If I hadn't gotten this book for free I'd be pissed off.The characters are a little one-dimensional, minus perhaps the father, who descends into craziness like its second nature for him. Nothing engaging, nothing life changing, just pure slasher exploitation. Worst book I've read all year.
Another campy horror that would have made a great 80's B rate movie. A group of travelers are kidnapped and left as human sacrifices for a tribe of canibalistic lunatics. Lots of gore and blood with tons of gratuitous sex thrown in. Classic Laymon.
Good, quick read. A little disappointed with the ending. Laymon is a master of classic horror.
While not as complex as some of his latter books, THE WOODS ARE DARK is still an extremely strong novel with a rawness to it that makes for excellent reading. I found out afterwards that the edition I read was actually a reissue of Laymon's second horror novel. The only difference that makes is the previously mentioned rawness that permeates the novel.The action starts from the first page and comes at you fast and heavy. Three groups of people are attacked by the cannibalistic forest-dwelling family called the Krulls. For centuries, the local town has provided them waylaid travelers as food and breeding mates. The three groups (hikers, a vacationing family and a local) deal with the attacks differently and try to survive as best they can.This is where Laymon is his best. His characters are reduced to their base core, surviving on instincts and reverting to carnal and violent desires. The book is savage and violent and not something that portrays humans in their best light. But hey, maybe this is the best when you find yourself attacked by cannibalistic humanoid forest dwellers.
Krull eat people. Krull bad. Book bad. Krull say, no read bad horror book. Ugh.
Reminiscent of a B movie, if it were one i'd watch it. Liked it enough to continue with the book, but at times it seemed like a weird attempt at horror story porn.
Blutig, grauenvoll und unterhaltsam!