Richard Laymon Books in Order

Donna and her daughter flee an abusive man who has just left prison. Their escape brings them near Beast House, a tourist attraction with a history of violence and a hidden danger beneath its rooms.

Fifteen-year-old Janice receives anonymous letters while trying to understand her feelings for a boy at school. Another student's increasingly aggressive attention leaves her unsure whether her secret admirer is a harmless crush or someone she should fear.

Travelers in California are seized and taken into the woods, where captives are chained to a group of dead trees. What begins as an ordinary journey becomes a fight to escape the people waiting in the darkness.

A series of horror films impresses audiences with its rough camera work and convincing violence. As the scenes grow more disturbing, the question of whether the deaths are acted or real turns entertainment into something far more dangerous.

Teenagers exploring an island uncover a human skeleton, only to find that it disappears after they report it. Their discovery draws them into a mystery with a supernatural threat they don't yet understand.

Teenage mystery writer Joyce Walther expects a quiet Sunday after publishing her first story. Armed intruders instead take her family hostage as part of a plan to rob her father's jewelry shop, putting her imagination to a practical test.

Tony Matheson makes his living stealing purses and running away before anyone can stop him. His routine depends on choosing victims he can outwit, but one purse threatens to bring consequences he hasn't prepared for.

Tony Johnson once locked Linda Allison in a haunted house as a cruel prank. Now he is pursuing horror movies in Hollywood, unaware that Linda remembers what happened and intends to make him pay for it.

An armed woman arrives at Joe's diner seeking revenge against its owner. A man caught in her path must try to manage the confrontation, turning a familiar gathering place in Windville into a dangerous standoff.

A teenager finds an old diary linking her town's notorious Beast House to a disturbing history. Bringing it to a writer's attention draws new visitors toward a place whose legends may conceal something still alive.

The Sherwood house has remained empty since a family's murder shocked Ashburg. Mysterious invitations promise a Halloween party there, drawing people toward a building where the memory of past violence may be more than a warning.

Reporter Lacey Allen investigates strange attacks at a supermarket in the town of Oasis. As mutilated bodies and seemingly impossible events accumulate, she faces a threat that can't be understood as an ordinary intruder.

Cora is unpacking in her new apartment when a stranger calls her newly installed phone. He insists he wants to know her, and the repeated calls turn a fresh start into an unsettling invasion of her privacy.

Nora develops two flat tires while driving late at night and turns to a nearby cabin for help. Seeking shelter and assistance brings her into contact with strangers whose hospitality may conceal a threat.

At the Santa Monica pier, Ron takes an interest in lonely Doreen and tries to cheer her up. She warns that people who get close to her die, leaving him to decide whether her fear should be taken seriously.

Experienced marathon runner Rod Claymore wants another victory, but a confident younger competitor named Tex has the same goal. Their rivalry tests physical endurance and determination as the race demands more than either man's confidence.

Janice accepts a bet that she can spend a night alone in an abandoned house with a history of murder. Expecting a prank from Lyle, she must decide how seriously to take the dangers she encounters.

Phil Archer meets Wendy while waiting for a bus at night. Their journey takes an unsettling turn when the driver's behavior makes a routine ride feel increasingly unsafe, leaving the passengers uncertain what will happen next.

Intelligence agents stage an elaborate operation to deceive Lana Jeffers and infiltrate a terrorist organization. Doubts about the plan surface just as the agents must begin playing their assigned roles, with little room to turn back.

On his first night working for private investigators, Tom Harris helps McCoy repossess a hearse. The colleague previously sent on the job has disappeared, making this supposedly routine assignment a troubling test of Tom's nerve.

Joyce Walther is celebrating her second published mystery when a man claiming to be a police officer reports a break-in at her car. His story doesn't add up, forcing her to question the help he offers.

A Halloween scavenger hunt sends friends toward a cemetery, a funeral parlor, and a house with a disturbing history. The search for a winning find becomes dangerous as festive dares lead them into unfamiliar territory.

Psychic Theresa, tough police officer Clint, and supernatural expert Malcolm form the Strange Occurrence Squad to pursue a vampire. Their different abilities must work together as an unusual investigation brings them up against a dangerous creature.

Sandy turns to the Strange Occurrence Squad when her dead boyfriend returns and begins terrorizing her. The group must confront an apparently impossible threat as a relationship from her past becomes a frightening danger in the present.

Two families head into the California mountains for a peaceful camping holiday. Their campsite at Mesquite Lake brings them near a woman with dangerous powers and her violent son, turning their wilderness escape into a struggle to survive.

A strange creature arrives in a town and hunts for human hosts it can invade. Its victims become dangerous to others, leaving the community facing violence that spreads through people who once seemed ordinary.

Dennis and Peggy go for a picnic on a hill, where Peggy suddenly vanishes while looking at a butterfly. Dennis seeks police help, beginning an investigation into a disappearance that seems to defy any ordinary explanation.

Tour guide Darcy Raines must help a group trapped deep inside Mordock's Cavern. Attempting to break through a sealed barrier offers a possible escape, but the cavern's hidden history makes that route a dangerous choice.

Vicki returns to her hometown still disturbed by a former classmate's attempt to revive a corpse. Melvin's obsession with resurrection and his fixation on her make their renewed acquaintance far more dangerous than she expects.

Disappearances and attacks trouble the resort town of Boleta Bay, where teenagers decide to fight the people they blame. Their campaign leads toward an abandoned funhouse, and the apparent culprits may conceal a different danger.

A German immigrant's life unfolds as Cincinnati develops from the 1830s toward the Civil War. Personal ambitions and family conflicts intersect with a city whose future is increasingly divided by the question of slavery.

A warm black rain falls on Bixby and transforms ordinary residents into violent attackers. People who avoid its effects must survive a night in which neighbors, spouses, and strangers suddenly become threats to everyone around them.

Horror writer Larry Durban and his friends discover a woman's corpse with a stake driven through it. Investigating her identity offers material for a book, but the question of whether to remove the stake carries a dangerous uncertainty.

Six college students use a Ouija board and receive a spirit's promise of treasure hidden in the mountains. Ignoring their professor's warnings, they set off toward Calamity Peak, where the promised reward draws them into danger.

Rupert Conway and his fellow passengers become stranded on an island after their yacht explodes. Food and water offer hope of survival, but a killer on the island forces them to confront a threat beyond waiting for rescue.

This collection brings together twenty stories ranging from serial killers to supernatural creatures, mysteries, and black comedy. Ordinary encounters and private obsessions become sources of danger, offering several different forms of Laymon's short horror fiction.

Violinist Melanie Conway has disturbing visions while her sister Penelope receives strange calls. After their father is struck in a hit-and-run accident, Melanie's boyfriend Bodie tries to help and becomes entangled in the family's growing danger.

Five friends reunite for their annual holiday at an abandoned lodge with a history of violence. Their chosen adventure turns into a search for safety when they discover that the resort may not be deserted.

Sixteen-year-old Jody escapes a massacre at her friend's home with twelve-year-old Andy. As the surviving witnesses, they become targets for Simon Quirt, one of the killers, who is determined to prevent either of them from speaking.

Fifteen-year-old Trevor Bentley witnesses Jack the Ripper's final known murder while hiding beneath a bed. His pursuit of the killer takes him from Whitechapel to America, turning a frightened boy's escape into a quest for vengeance.

Librarian Jane Kerry finds money and a clue from someone calling himself the Master of Games. Following his instructions brings larger rewards, but the challenges become dangerous and criminal, and the mysterious organizer refuses to let her quit.

An earthquake traps Sheila in her ruined home while her husband and daughter are stranded across the city. With emergency services overwhelmed, a predatory neighbor sees an opportunity, turning the wait for rescue into a fight for survival.

Sam's former girlfriend Cat returns with an extraordinary request: help her trap a vampire. With Cat acting as bait and Sam hiding nearby with a wooden stake, their reunion pulls him into a dangerous encounter he never expected.

After rescuing a woman from an attacker, Neal receives a bracelet that lets him experience life inside other people's bodies. But the man he shot has survived and wants revenge, placing Neal and the woman in renewed danger.

This horror collection opens with a novella about Marty, who spots the man who assaulted her years earlier sitting behind her at the movies. His release from prison brings a renewed threat, alongside further stories of disturbing encounters.

Laymon recounts his development as a writer, tracing early publications, individual books and experiences in the publishing industry. This autobiographical account combines career reflections with practical advice, personal favorites and examples of his early short fiction.

Alice enjoys house-sitting for a friend until a stranger emerges from the woods and enters the swimming pool after midnight. Reaching for a cavalry saber, she responds to the intrusion as her quiet evening takes a dangerous turn.

The notorious Beast House has become a tourist attraction, offering a special midnight tour for thirteen visitors willing to hear its uncensored history. Venturing beyond the daytime presentation brings the guests closer to dangers the museum's stories cannot contain.

Dumped by his girlfriend, Ned Champion takes their planned backpacking trip alone and records his experiences in a journal. The freedom of the wilderness offers escape from scrutiny, but also gives his darker impulses room to emerge.

A young couple discovers a woman's decapitated body near a California river, drawing Sheriff Rusty Hodges and Deputy Mary Hodges into a murder investigation. Suspicious witnesses and complicated private relationships make identifying the killer increasingly difficult.

Duane leaves Sherry to make a quick late-night trip to a convenience store, but he fails to return. As the minutes pass and a possible gunshot sounds down the street, their romantic evening turns into a dangerous mystery.

Albert Prince's obsession is cutting people, and strangers' homes offer places to indulge it. Now traveling across the country while on the run, he continues seeking victims, turning his journey into a spreading trail of violent danger.

This collection gathers short horror stories involving killers, vampires and people whose appetites lead them into danger. Among its unsettling situations, drinkers at a disreputable bar attempt to retrieve a diamond ring from a severed head.

Laura and Shannon prepare for a Halloween party in a house with a violent history. When a terrified teenager begs them for shelter from pursuing attackers, handing out candy becomes the beginning of a night of escalating danger.

In the summer of 1963, three teenage friends become fascinated by a traveling show advertising a captive vampire. Their attempt to investigate the attraction leads through a day of troubling encounters toward an evening they cannot easily anticipate.

A teenager's chance to date Alison comes with an unusual condition: spend a night together inside the legendary Beast House. Hoping to impress her, he enters the macabre museum, where romantic anticipation competes with fears about its terrible reputation.

Abandoned by his girlfriend, college student Ed Logan starts wandering the town at night instead of sleeping. His lonely walks expose a hidden world of strange encounters, violent threats and unsettling people beneath the ordinary streets he thought he knew.

Rick reluctantly joins his girlfriend Bert on a wilderness vacation near Fern Lake. Meanwhile, Gillian's habit of occupying strangers' empty houses leads her into a serial killer's home, connecting separate adventures through dangers lurking beyond ordinary safeguards.

Timothy Maywood Usher Mouse lives in a library and longs for the adventures he finds in books. Venturing outside on Halloween brings encounters with trick-or-treaters and hungry predators, testing his courage in an unfamiliar, festive world.

An ancient Egyptian princess's mummy disappears from its museum coffin, leaving signs of violence that suggest more than theft. Freed after thousands of years, Amara carries a deadly hunger into a modern world unprepared for her return.

This collection gathers twenty stories from across Laymon's magazine and anthology career, including his first published story, Desert Pickup. The title tale involves a babysitter terrorizing children, while other pieces explore threatening encounters and ordinary lives disturbed by violence.

Leigh's youthful search for excitement at a lake leaves a troubling past she keeps from her daughter Deana. Eighteen years later, dangers in Deana's own life draw mother and daughter into the long shadow of that earlier summer.

Pamela is abducted by a killer, while Norman is pulled into a criminal journey by unwelcome companions. A mysterious bus appears to offer escape, but its passengers head toward the Mojave Desert and an uncertain welcome rather than assured safety.

This collection brings together Laymon's short fiction originally published in mystery and men's magazines during the 1970s and 1980s. Stories including Desert Pickup, Paying Joe Back and The Champion trace the early magazine work behind his later horror career.