Here is what I wrote:
We never met but spent many hours on the telephone. Talking. Laughing. Brain-storming. Dreaming. So many stories. So many plans. So many words between us.
And now I’m left in silence.
God, I miss those phone calls.
I miss his wisdom, his kindness, his easy sense of humor. I miss his childlike wonder, his laughter, his wonderful celebration of family.
Dick Laymon was a treasure. As a writer...and a man.
I was honored to call him my friend.
Dick Laymon was, indeed, a treasure. And his work still is. We’re lucky to have it. As all of the authors in this book will tell you and as they demonstrate so well with their own Laymon-inspired contributions.
It’s my hope that all of us in the scary story genre continue to learn from Dick. Not only as creators, but as fathers, husbands, and friends. Dick set a helluva example to follow.
In the meantime, enjoy the stories that follow. Cringe, cover your eyes, and giggle out loud. Dick would want that.
Steve Gerlach
T SEEMS SO long ago now, 1996.
Thirteen years ago I started my online journey, a journey that has taken countless hours of my time and effort, been full of frustration and joys, sadness and wonder. I’ve met some terrific people online, and I hold these people to be some of my closest and dearest friends.
Critics said the Internet would cause people to become more reclusive, more solitary. I disagree. The Internet has brought me in touch with some of the dearest people I know. And for that, I thank it.
Still, we’re talking about 1996 here, when this go-get-’em Aussie from Melbourne, Australia decided to buy an X-Files modem, run a phone extension cord from the lounge room, up the hall and to the study, and log in for the first time.
You know that initial “Internet fever” you get when you first log on? There’s so much to see and so many places to visit. You have no idea where to start, or where to stop, and the fever just takes hold.
But my first visit online was also tinged with some sadness. I did the usual searches for everything from JFK ASSASSINATION to KISS, JACK THE RIPPER to HORROR BOOKS, but one search that brought me no results was RICHARD LAYMON OFFICIAL SITE.
I’d been a Laymonite since at least 1988 when I bought my first Laymon, The Woods are Dark. I read it and loved it. I’d grown tired of King and Koontz, with their bloated exposition and flashbacks that took half a novel. What I wanted was lean and mean in-your-face horror, and I got it with Laymon. After The Woods are Dark, I started searching for more by this fabulous writer. Night Show was next, and then The Cellar.
The owner at my local bookstore rolled his eyes every time I came in. I’m sure he was thinking, Here’s that weird Laymon guy again. In fact, I must have been a total pain in the ass. I would visit the bookstore every few weeks, wanting to know if there was any news on the latest Laymon release—there never was—and whether any of his back-ordered titles had arrived.
I can still remember the buzz of joy I received whenever I got a phone call to tell me a new Laymon novel was in. I’d be at the bookstore in no time, picking it up and getting home as soon as possible to start another great Laymon read.
And that’s why I was disappointed when my web search returned no website for Richard Laymon. The supposed “repository of all knowledge” had no information about Richard Laymon, other than a few book reviews here and there (remember, this was before the Amazons of this world made book searching so easy!).
Well, 1996 was during my “black stage” and, so, I had a suitably black answer to this lack of information:
“Well, fuck that!”
And so, my plan was hatched. If there wasn’t a site out there that could tell me all about Richard Laymon, then I’d have to produce one.
And, as they say in the classics, the rest is history.
When I look back on it, I must have had a whole lot of time on my hands. I was just married, with a very understanding wife, but no kids to take up my time. I was working for Australia’s largest daily newspaper, the Herald Sun, as a researcher, and that allowed me time to do a bit of research on my own. It also gave me access to all the phone numbers, fax numbers and addresses I needed.
Let’s face it, if you work the graveyard shift on a week when there’s no big news stories breaking, there’s not a whole lot to do.
So, I started.
And RICHARD LAYMON KILLS! was born.
The site was a simple one to begin with. I took the html code from a friend’s website and adjusted it to what I wanted. At that stage I had very few html code skills, but that was soon to change. In only a week or so, I had scanned the covers of every Laymon work I owned, typed in the back cover blurbs, created a biography of the world’s best horror author, and produced a Latest News page which, quite frankly, had no news in it.
And then, in December 1996, RLK! went live to the world!
Step one was complete.
After the Christmas and New Year festivities, I started 1997 with a promotional campaign. I produced media releases announcing the creation of RLK! and faxed them to various media outlets in Australia. Also included in that contact list was Dick’s publisher, Hodder Headline in Australia and the UK. I also faxed Bob Tanner, Dick’s agent, but I have no idea where I found his address. Damn, I must have been a sharp researcher back then.
I sat back and waited for the response. Almost all sections of the media ignored the release, except, of course, the Herald Sun, which reviewed the website and gave it five stars out of the possible 6. (Proving once again that, in the media, it’s who you know that counts...)
But the faxing wasn’t in vain. Because Hodder Headline quickly contacted me, and Bob Tanner sent a nice note thanking me for taking the time to do the site.
I was over the moon that Hodder Headline both in Australia and the UK welcomed me into the fold with open arms. I couldn’t believe my luck. Suddenly all the news on Richard Laymon was being sent directly to me by his publisher! Release dates, latest news, cover art and blurbs—you name it, I got it. It was a long, long time before I realized what they were getting out of it too: free publicity, and a one-stop email address they could hand out to all those pesky Laymonites just like myself.
RLK! continued to grow quickly. Review pages were added, as were SAME VEIN reviews of other books and authors in the horror field. The RLK! counter began to tick over quicker than ever.
June 1997.
I’ll never forget it.
That was the first time Richard Laymon contacted me. I remember seeing the email from “Larry Dunbar” in my inbox and, for a few seconds at least, it didn’t click as to who Larry Dunbar really was.
I just wish I had that email to reproduce here for you now. Unfortunately, due to a faulty hard drive, that email has long since been wiped. I kick myself each day for not printing it out when I first received it.
Still, I’ll recreate it here for you. It went along the lines of, “Hey Steve, this is Dick Laymon. Just dropping by to say I love the site and thanks for all your work on it. Oh, and by the way, in case you don’t think it’s the real Richard Laymon, I got a copy of your flier from Bob Tanner, my agent. Best, Dick.”
Well, I was stunned. I remember jumping around the room and yelling for my wife to comeherequicklgotanemailfromLaymon! Naturally, I fired back an email straightaway, confident that it was, in fact, the Richard Laymon as he had the inside scoop about the fliers I had faxed.