First published back in 2000, Richard Laymon’s chapbook ‘In The Attic’ was released by Camelot Books as part of their exclusive limited edition chapbook line.
Between the years of 1999 and 2004, in an effort to increase interest in Camelot Books (and of course to increase sales) the publisher produced eight limited edition standalone chapbooks. The staple bound softcovers were given way with the sale of books which had been purchased directly from the publisher, whilst hardbound, traycased, lettered copies (of which there were generally seven copies for each title) were produced and sold to cover the cost of each project.
Only 600 softcover copies of this chapbook were published, each of which were hand numbered on the last page and signed by the author.
Karen woke in the middle of the night to the sound of movement in the attic space directly above them. She reached out to Al, stirring him away so he could reassuringly assess the situation.
Barley awake, Al had other ideas. The last thing he wanted to be doing at two-forty in the morning was clambering around the attic space to investigate a supposed noise. After all, it was probably just the sound of the house settling.
At least that was what he hoped it was. What he didn’t want to admit was that last creak of a floorboard, sounded just like a footstep. But surely no one was up there?
Unfortunately for Al, there was only one way to find out…
Damn this is a good short story. It starts off with a classic Laymon scenario. Someone waking to a decidedly worrying sound…here the sound of movement in the attic above this sleeping couple. What follows is a classic nightmare scenario. The sort of horrifying sequence that when we were young, would consume our overactive imaginations as we lay in bed at night. The sound of movement in the attic above our head. The thought of someone being up there. Moving around. Able to come down at any moment.
This is the set up that Laymon’s based his entire short story on. There’s really nothing much more in it other than the realisation of a horrific fear made flesh. Taking it from the realms of a nightmare, where imagination runs wild, to that of a horrifying reality.
There’s no sudden twist or clever surprise waiting for us. Just the delivery of a straight up slasher horror that doesn’t hold back. Pure and simple. And for the sheer unadulterated bold simplicity of the plot, it’s scary as hell. After all, this shit can happen.
Such an entertaining short story that packaged well within this chapbook format.
The chapbook runs for a total of 10 pages.
© DLS Reviews
