When did we start solely judging our affinity for a certain author’s work by basing it on an entirely different author’s novels?

When did we begin to stop enjoying books because they didn’t measure up to what we would consider a “classic”?

How come we as readers can’t simply take pleasure in a book because we loved the plot (outrageous as it may be), appreciated the simplistic and witty character’s dialog, and found themselves becoming lost to the world as we read and enjoy the stylistic craftsmanship of the author’s story?

Laymon writes about and for “the everyman”. There are no pretensions, no moral certainties, no multilevel gleanings, and no profound revelations when you read a Laymon novel. You read them to lose yourself in someone else’s world. You read them to escape the stress, the boredom, and the headaches of everyday life.

To say that Traveling Vampire is not as insightfull as Boy’s Life is to miss the point of both novels. To say that Traveling Vampire is not a very good “coming of age” story is to be ignorant of the intent of the novel.

When I can afford it I drink a single malt scotch and when I do I know I am drinking one of the best distilled liquors that I can purchase…I savor the flavor. When I drink a mid level scotch my enjoyment of the beverage is not diminished because occasionally I drink something superb, in fact, the opposite happens, I wind up enjoying and appreciating the more expensive scotch even more whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Traveling Vampire is a novel whose sole purpose is to entertain. It’s a lot of fun with its moments of young people angst, thrilling sequences, and unexpected (and welcomed) plot twists. That’s all I expect from a Lamon novel, and if you are asking me what it has to recommend it, aside from what I just wrote, all I can add is that it just goes down easy.

Tt

By the way, my comments above were meant also as a general reply to Goathunters and Sarah's comments in another thread where they were trashing Laymon's work in total. This must be pick on Laymon week...(I'm just kidding )

Tt

Thats the way the world goes round.

To call Traveling Vamprie Show trash, though it is your opinion, I think is a bad call and misleading to those who haven't read it. To say that most new horror novels are dreck says more about you than the horror novels. I understand someone's tastes changing, but to disparege most horror novels because they are not to an individual's taste is merely self serving. To say that most horror novels released today are badly written and/or incomprehible indicates to me that your choice of horror novels to read is biased and somewhat limiting.

We like what we like. Best sellers and readers favorites may be enjoyed for different reasons, but I would wager they share a commonality, that is, that they are not incomprehensible to the reader, the writing is at least average, and they offer a reading experience that is above the level of dreck.

And J.D., as Ron Jeremy said, "different strokes for different folks". I enjoyed Traveling Vampire... a lot. I'm sorry it wasn't your cup a tea, I guess I got more ,or at least something different out of it than you did. I never once got the feeling he was trying for something else other than being entertaining. It was the second Laymon book I ever read, and what I do notice after reading many more of his novels was that his writing had matured greatly in Traveling Vampire from his earlier novels and his character development also seemed to have progressed from one dimensional sterotypes to ones that were more fleshed out. In his later novels I find myself identifing more with his people than simply waiting for the action to come around.

Tt

I don't remember which Ketchum novel I read way back when (not The Girl Next Door, which I picked up as a reissue, but couldn't get into). With Ketchum, it's more that what I read (that novel, the beginning of The Girl Next Door, and Peaceable Kingdom) just made no impression on me whatsoever (as evidenced by my inability to remember the name of the first novel I read).

With Laymon, there were specific things I didn't like. With Ketchum, there just wasn't anything I really did like.

And while we're at it, I despised Cormac McCarthy's The Road and think its success is one of the greatest publishing snow jobs in recent memory.

There are some authors people rave about whose work I've not yet tried: John R. Little, Steve Vernon, Greg Gifune....

...I agree with you about THE ROAD by McCarthy.

If it was THE LOST, I can see your point with Ketchum. Although still alright, it was the weakest novel of his that I have read. A bad novel to start off if you are starting off with Ketchum.

OFF SEASON is one hell of a novel though. The horror factor is great, and if you like suspense novels, the build up is incredible. One of the few novels that I read in one sitting. Simply amazing. It will make you a Ketchum fan right away...

Well, I can at least tell you why I liked it and why it's one of my favorite reads.

Laymon made those characters breath. I made a post not too long ago asking why horror fiction so rarely produces memorable protagonists. When I put TTVS down I felt that if I were asked to describe how each character would respond to a variety of different situations I could do so reasonably well and, best of all, it would be a different answer for each character.

It's remarkably easier to feel experience tension or dread for a character in jeopardy when you feel you know him or her almost intimately.

The story takes place during the space of a day, a time frame which for me always manages to create a small undercurrent of tension in itself.(Creepers, Desperation, Chasing the Dead.)

The story works because of this tension. There's excitement knowing that the show is coming tonight and because you know it's going to be bad. The best horror novels how create a sense of dread. It's what I most love to experience in a horror story, yet seldom do.

I understand why some people call it boring. There's not a lot of horrific incident throught. Just these sort of creepy touches all along the way which I think works well for the kind of story Laymon is telling. I mean he can't go all out with the horror because then the kids wouldn't even go to the show. They need to be able to hold out some hope that as scared of it as they may be, it's still just a show.

The writing was superb even if he doesn't make any stylistic improvement prose wise. It's the details he peppers the story with that really make it come alive for me.

I love how the boy's father, who is also the sherriff, never makes an appearance onstage, but still manages to be a looming presence over the kids throughout the day.

What may be Laymon at his most playful, the strange animal, unseen and NEVER explained, that seems to burrow little holes in the ground around the cursed festival grounds. I smile every time I imagine Laymon deciding to add that one.

How the girl changes her name depending on what she's reading.

The throw away detail towards the end that maybe the main character's best friend has an incestous relationship with his somewhat mentally addled sister; a surprise to the protagonist which he decides not to believe, but one that, even though we didn't know and may have up to that point come to like the best friend, doesn't seem like a shock either. A detail that may be a surprise, but still in keeping with the character.

I liked it the book because it reminded me of how when I read Bradbury, especially Something Wicked This Way Comes, I used to wish he would take the next step and go for the throat. Just a little darker Ray, come on!

I guess for me, The Traveling Vampire Show scratched an itch that Something Wicked This Way Comes started.

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Well, there have been a couple of flipper babies...yeah.

Nice response. I still disagree but you have almost convinced to give it another whirl.

What made Laymon a great writer was simply this. He made his protagonists human and the antagonists over the top inhuman. It was this sense of clear good versus evil that can capture and mesmerize.

As for the Travelling Vampire Show, one thing I noticed was that he wrote the book with heart and genuine feeling for his main characters. So much so, that one can sympathize or empathize with them on their journey into darkness. It made me remember the innocence of youth and what it felt like to be that age again. Heck, it got me all nostalgic. So, while not the greatest book ever written, I felt it was something special a writer comes out with maybe once in their careers....

I agree with johng and undead. Laymon transported me back, feelings and all, to those summer days of my youth where it felt like the whole world was laid out before me, even though the characters (and me for that matter) were stuck in a small town seemingly in the middle of nowhere. No, it's not the greatest book ever written, but it hit the mark for me, that's for sure.

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Reading:

The Spartacus War - Barry Strauss
Slow Death - Jim Fielder
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon