Richard Laymon

Fiction Writer

• Born: January 14, 1947
• Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
• Died: February 14, 2001
• Place of death: Los Angeles, California

Biography

Richard Laymon was born on January 14, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois, to Hugh Kelly Laymon, who worked for a publishing company, and Wanda Kathleen Hall Laymon. Laymon, his older brother, and parents lived in Skokie, Lincolnwood, and then Northbrook, Illinois. He participated in Boy Scouts, enjoyed camping and reading, and wrote a youth column for the Northbrook Methodist Church newsletter. At Glenbrook High School, Laymon submitted poetry and stories to the school’s literary magazine. In June, 1963, Laymon moved to Tiburon, California, with his family. He enrolled in creative writing classes at Redwood High School, graduating in 1965.

Laymon majored in English at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. He won a prize for a short story published in the campus literary magazine. Laymon enrolled in summer school sessions, including creative writing and literature classes at the University of Iowa in 1967, and completed his bachelor’s of arts degree at Willamette early in 1968. He then took classes in the M.F.A. program at the University of Arizona through 1969.

In 1970, Laymon moved to Los Angeles and taught high school English for one year. He studied literature at Loyola University in Los Angeles, earning a M.A. in 1972. Laymon worked in the Mount St. Mary’s College library and took library science courses at the University of Southern California. By 1974, Laymon had become editor of The Executioner Mystery Magazine and The 87th Precinct Mystery Magazine. He married Ann Marie Marshall in August, 1976, at Lake Tahoe, California; they had one daughter.

Laymon served as regional director of the Los Angeles chapter of Mystery Writers of America from 1977 to 1979. He resigned from his library employment in February, 1980, to concentrate on writing, working temporary jobs from September, 1983, until August, 1988, as needed, to supplement royalties. Beginning in 2000, Laymon served as president of the Horror Writers of America and established a Los Angeles chapter of that organization. Laymon died on February 14, 2001, in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack.

In 1970, Laymon attracted national recognition for his writing when his short story, “Desert Pickup,” was printed in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. His publications appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mystery Scene, and Cemetery Dance. His first horror novel, The Cellar, was published in 1980. Laymon also wrote young adult, Western, and romance books. Editors chose Laymon’s short stories for anthologies and invited him to write introductions.

Although many reviewers liked Laymon’s writing, most U.S. publishers declined to publish his books, claiming his content was too violent and his sales too low. Laymon secured an agent and publishers in the United Kingdom and gained international fan support. American specialty presses issued several of Laymon’s books. Science Fiction Chronicle designated Laymon’s novel Flesh as the best horror novel in 1988. Laymon received Bram Stoker Award nominations for his novels Flesh in 1988, Funland in 1990, and Writer’s Tale in 1998, and for his short story, “A Good, Secret Place,” in 1993. His novel The Traveling Vampire Show won the Bram Stoker Award in 2000.