First Edition Version
Special Definitive Edition
First published back in 1984, Richard Laymon’s novel ‘Night Show’ was a relatively early offering from the legendary horror author, delivering a gritty and gruesome obsessive stalker slasher horror.
In May of 2015, Dark Regions Press released a Special Definitive Edition of the novel. This was the first one of Richard Laymon’s novels to be published by Dark Regions Press in this Special Definitive Edition format – the other two titles being ‘Funland’ (1989) and ‘Midnight’s Lair’ (1988).
The Special Definitive Edition was limited to just 300 signed and numbered copies (signed by the contributors as well as Laymon’s daughter – Kelly Laymon) and released with an optional slipcase. There were also 26 lettered editions released, which were housed within a traycase.
DLS Synopsis:
Eighteen-year-old Tony Johnson loves to scare people. Seeing people jumping out of their seats, terrified by what’s before them. Horror films are also his thing. But it’s more than just a passing thrill for Tony. He has ambitions of becoming a great special FX artist. Dedicating his life to the thrill of scaring people. Problem is, Tony’s not very good at knowing when he’s gone too far. In fact, he’s not good with people at all.
Linda Allison had been walking home from the library when suddenly she’s snatched from the pavement and bundled into a car by three boys wearing stockings over their heads. Scared out of her mind, she’s driven to the old, abandoned Freeman house, where she’s tied up to the banister. However, her abductors’ intentions aren’t to hurt or rape her, but instead just to scare her. Scare here witless. But they’d taken it too far, and the whole thing had ended in a tragic accident, leaving Linda in a coma.
Knowing he’d probably pushed things too far, eighteen-year-old Tony Johnson decides now’s the time to get out of Claymore and move his ass to Hollywood where he plans to make it big in horror special FX. In fact, he’s already given himself a name – ‘The Chill Master’. He just needs someone to give him a break. To get noticed by an industry professional, after which he’s sure the offers will soon come rolling in.
Unfortunately for special FX artist Dani Larson – the woman Fangoria magazine dubbed the Queen of Horror Makeup Effects – her presence around Hollywood hasn’t gone unnoticed. Tony Johnson has managed to track her down, and now he has his eyes set on making himself known to Dani. Although stalking her in a hearse and leaving a decapitated head on her swimming pool diving board might not be the best way of getting the professional FX artist’s attention.
Tony Johnson’s fixation for scaring people and his growing obsession with Dani Larson are more than just a recipe for disaster. Tony Johnson is dangerous. Very, very dangerous…
DLS Review:
If you’re a child of the 80s with a budding passion for horror movies, then this one will hit a chord with you. Laymon’s captured the whole ‘Fangoria’ vibe of the time perfectly. The way eager young fans of the genre lapped up each issue of the magazine. How the Special FX Artists became legends in these fans’ eyes. The creativity and fun of the next big gross-out gore scene, that had everyone talking about it around the schoolyard afterwards.
Essentially, we have a sort of stalker/slasher horror that, typical for a Laymon offering, goes a tad over-the-top with the nastiness. Also typical for Laymon, we have a couple of damsels in distress, being relentlessly targeted by the villain of the piece.
Said villain, is the eighteen-year-old loner and horror obsessive – Tony Johnson. He’s the sort of oddball horror geek you’ve probably encountered a few times in your life. Scrawny, socially awkward, not exactly king-of-hygiene, and someone pushes their unwanted presence onto people. However, here add in a couple of additional traits – he’s horror obsessed and has a fucked-up fetish for scaring random people. Oh yeah, that an explosive concoction alright!
The novel starts out exactly as it’s set to continue…flinging us headfirst into the grittiness of a stalker/slasher setup. Innocent victim numero uno is popular high school heartthrob, Linda Allison, who finds herself at the mercy of Johnson and a couple of his other loser mates. It’s all dressed up as a prank to scare the bejesus out of the poor lass, although Jeez-Louise, do these idiots take it too frigging far!
Obviously, we have some incel style misogyny at the root of this supposed scare prank. Johnson’s the ringleader in this… and he’s the one who pushes it to these crazy levels.
For the most part, however, we follow the life of Special FX artist Dani Larson, and her blossoming relationship with apprentice Jack Somers, along with how Johnson tries his upmost to wrangle himself into Larson’s life.
So, we’re now out in Hollywood, with Larson creating her various horror FX props. We’re talking latex moulds of her naked bust and other such delights. Then, all of a sudden, Johnson’s making his presence known with some very stalkerish behaviour. The problem is his infatuation with Dani just keeps worsening. The guy’s a scary piece of shit alright!
There’s a few nasty and gruesome scenes in the novel, however, for the most part it’s more a simmering and tense stalker story. Johnson’s behaviour, whilst utterly over-the-top (such as with him driving around in a 1952 hearse with a coffin still in the back), still manages to be quite creepy in places. The way he’s constantly trying to manipulate situations. His aura and presence always putting everyone ill at ease. How pathetic he appears to others, which he himself knows, and clearly uses to his advantage.
If you’ve read a few of Laymon’s novels, then you’ll already know the sort of devious shit the villains so often get up to. Johnson’s one of these. A sexual predator as well as a fucking loner-loony. Dangerous and unpredictable. Classic Laymon material!
The end result is a superb and gritty obsessive-stalker-slasher novel from this veritable master of the genre.
The novel runs for a total of 207 pages (which includes five of Malcolm McClinton’s black and white illustrations).
An Introduction By Edward Lee – 3 Pages
US author Edward Lee starts off this Special Definitive Edition with a wonderfully fun introduction, telling us about Dick Laymon’s gleeful smile, his friendly and cheerful persona, and about how Lee’d met him maybe eight times, and each time Dick would just be smiling throughout.
Lee then talks about ‘Night Show’, how it’s a book that’s very much set in its time – the 1980s – when Fangoria was inspiring kids to get into gory FX. Lee talks about how the character of Tony Johnson is that kid who just loves the splatter, but he’s also fucked in the head. The end result being what Lee describes as a veritable hootenanny of hardcore, balls-to-the-wall, no-apologies horror fiction.
An Afterword By Steve Gerlach – 9 Pages
Australian author Steve Gerlach offers up an afterword gushing with love and praise for Laymon. The piece takes us through Gerlach discovering Laymon through a copy of ‘The Woods Are Dark’ (1981), then ‘Night Show’ (1984), and onto the creation of his obsessive collection of Laymon’s books, along with a couple of pieces of original art that now hang on his walls.
Honestly, it’s a superb afterword, possibly one of the most intriguing, insightful and compelling afterwords I’ve read – and trust me, I’ve read a lot! Gerlach is a true Laymon fan through and through. A Laymonnite…fuck, a Laymonficionado!
If you weren’t already aware, Gerlach is the man behind the Richard Laymon Kills! Website. It’s the original Laymon fansite that later became the official Laymon website.
Anyway, his afterword is full of such heart-warming admiration for Laymon. Their correspondence together over the last few years of Laymon’s life. The moment Gerlach found out Laymon was going to provide him with a blub for his own novel. And then, Laymon’s sad passing. If you’re a longtime fan of Laymon’s, then you’ll want to read this afterword. It takes you back to those early discovery years. Pre and early internet years. A beautiful time, when each new Laymon novel brought another round of creepy thrills and bloody kills! A time Gerlach captures perfectly.
Laymon On Laymon: Night Show – 3 Pages
Originally published in ‘A Writer’s Tale’ (1998), Laymon’s piece about ‘Night Show’ provides a huge amount of insight into the timeline of publication (both in the US and the UK), as well as aspects of its inspiration – which we learn was largely inspired from his weekly visits to the Culver Theater (since renamed the Kurk Douglas Theater) during the “slasher movie era”. It’s an intriguing and fact-heavy write-up that’s also good reading!
Timeline On Night Show – 1 Page
Here we have a one-page timeline for Night Show, taken from Laymon’s development notes which were originally published in ‘A Writer’s Tale’ (1988). The timeline takes us from December 1981, when Laymon started scribbling down notes for a novel he planned to be called ‘Chill Master’ (the title he originally intended for ‘Night Show’), all of the way to October 1986 when he saw his first copy of Tor’s ‘Night Show’ in a Culver City Crown bookstore.
Chill Master – 20 Pages
Last up, we have twenty pages of Laymon’s early handwritten drafts for ‘Night Show’. These pages have been scanned in and reproduced in full. Essentially, it’s a sample of twenty pages, written in Laymon’s flowing handwriting, on lined paper, with corrections seen all over each page. It all makes for an intriguing read, to see how the novel developed, and how Laymon started out the novel’s prologue, changing things as he went.
Including the above bonus features, the Dark Regions Press ‘Special Definitive Edition’ of the book runs for a total of 245 pages.
© DLS Reviews
