Mark Justice



NEVER MET DICK LAYMON.

I did interview him twice for my radio show. The first coincided with the Leisure release of Bite.

The first Laymon I read had been The Stake, which I found in the Greenup (KY) County Public Library, in hardcover. I read the book in a few hours, certain that I’d found a new favorite author.

From this point, the story will be familiar to Laymon fans in the United States. No new books. No old books to be found at the flea markets and secondhand stores. No Internet access to find out more about this mystery author and where he disappeared.

Flash-forward about five years. I’m on the ’net. I’m frequenting the horror chat rooms. And I start to hear about this Laymon guy. Something about his books being huge in England, yet he can’t get arrested over here. I find a U.K. bookseller and order The Cellar and The Beast House. I discovered that The Stake wasn’t a fluke. This guy was great.

I ran up my Visa bill ordering Laymon books. Then came the Leisure news. And my opportunity to talk to The Man.

During the course of my broadcasting career, I’ve interviewed a lot of celebrities. I’ve never gotten nervous. Until I talked to Dick Laymon. Over the course of a couple of years, this guy had become a hero of mine. What if he’s a jerk? That was my fear.

He turned out to be one of the kindest people I’ve ever interviewed.

A few days after the interview I received a package with Laymon’s return address on it. Inside was an autographed copy of the U.K. edition of One Rainy Night, his next release from Leisure.

During my second interview with him, a few months later, I commented that reading a Laymon book brought back the thrill I got from seeing those great B-movies at the drive-in as a kid. I immediately regretted the words, afraid that he would take it as an insult.

Before I could apologize, he chuckled and said, “Great! That’s exactly the mood I’m going for.”

That’s the same mood I’ve attempted with “The Red Kingdom”. I hope Dick Laymon would have approved.

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