''The Cellar'' is a 1980

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

novel by American author

Richard Laymon Richard Carl Laymon (January 14, 1947 – February 14, 2001) was an American author of suspense and horror fiction, particularly within the splatterpunk subgenre. Life and career Laymon was born and raised outside of Chicago, Illinois, then l ...

. It was Laymon's first published novel, and together with sequels '' The Beast House'', '' The Midnight Tour'', and the novella ''Friday Night in Beast House'', forms the series known by fans of Laymon as "The Beast House Chronicles." ''The Cellar'' is an example of a

splatterpunk Splatterpunk is a movement within horror fiction originating in the 1980s, distinguished by its graphic, often gory, depiction of violence, countercultural alignment and "hyperintensive horror with no limits.""Schow, David J." by Gary Westfahl in ...

novel, containing much extreme violence and gore, as well as adult themes including

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

incest Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...

paedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

, and

serial murder A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

. Laymon is often associated with this genre.

Synopsis

Donna, the book's protagonist, goes on the run with her daughter Sandy when she learns that her ex-husband has been released from prison after serving a sentence for sexually abusing Sandy. After a car accident leaves them stranded in the small

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

coastal town of Malcasa Point, Donna and Sandy cross paths with Judgement Rucker, a mercenary hired to track down and kill the murderous creature that supposedly haunts a local tourist attraction, the Beast House. Judge's employer, Larry, is an elderly man who had a traumatic encounter with the Beast as a child. Over the years the Beast has been connected with various rapes and murders that have happened in the house. Meanwhile, Donna's ex-husband is set on revenge and stalks her.

Reception

Like much of Laymon's work, ''The Cellar'' has been controversial for its extreme content, especially in regards to its depiction of sexual and sadistic violence. It has also been dismissed by some critics as poorly written. In his non-fiction book about the horror genre, ''

Danse Macabre The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning represen ...

'',

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

shows dislike of the novel: "There are haunted-house stories beyond numbering, most of them not very good (''The Cellar'', by Richard Laymon, is one example of the less successful breed)." (However, King would go on to praise Laymon's writing, a pull-quote attributed to King frequently appearing on his novels: "If you've missed Laymon, you've missed a treat.") Will Errickson, a genre enthusiast and historian who with

Grady Hendrix Grady Hendrix is an American author, journalist, public speaker, and screenwriter known for his best-selling 2014 novel '' Horrorstör''. He lives in Manhattan, and is one of the founders of the New York Asian Film Festival. Life and career Hend ...

compiled ''Paperbacks from Hell'', has been scathing of the novel (and Laymon's work in general), describing it as "easily one of the very worst books in the genre that I have ever read." Detailing what Errickson perceives as the distasteful use of sexual violence as a theme, he goes on to say that "Laymon "writes" without wit or insight and seems to be making the plot up as he types." Nonetheless, the "Beast House" series, of which ''The Cellar'' is the first, has been consistently popular with Laymon fans, and warranted reprints.

Limited Edition

In 1997,

Cemetery Dance Publications Cemetery Dance is an American company known for their specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense and their horror magazine of the same name. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. Ce ...

printed a limited edition hardcover version of ''The Cellar'' under . The new edition featured an

introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

Bentley Little Bentley Little (born 1960 in Mesa, Arizona) is an American author of horror fiction. Publishing an average of a novel a year since 1990, Little avoids publicity and rarely does promotional work or interviews for his writing. Early life Little is ...

, an

afterword An afterword is a literary device that is often found at the end of a piece of literature. It generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or of how the idea for the book was developed. An afterword may be written by someone oth ...

by Laymon himself, and new artwork by

Alan M. Clark Alan Marshall Clark (born May 10, 1957) is an American author and artist who is best known as the illustrator and book cover painter of many pieces of horror fiction. He was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel for his 2005 ...

. It also featured signatures from all three. The book was released in a Slipcased Limited Edition of 500 signed and numbered copies, and a Traycased Lettered Edition of 26 signed and lettered copies.

Links and references

Cemetery Dance official page for ''The Cellar''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cellar, The 1980 debut novels 1980 American novels 1980s horror novels American horror novels Debut fantasy novels Literature about child sexual abuse Novels about rape Novels by Richard Laymon Novels set in California Splatterpunk novels