History Literature / TheBeastHouse

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Unlike the other two books and horror books in general, the ending of ''The Beast House'' is relatively upbeat. Not only all beasts and three villains get killed in the climax with ''every'' good guy surviving, but epilogue set a year or two later shows them still doing well: Tyler and Abe have a kid, Nora and Jake are still together and considering the same, Janice has become a millionaire and slowly recovers from her experience and Captain Frank has turned from the 'local crazie' to a national celebrity. Donna and [[SomeoneToRememberHimBy her son by Jud]] are freed and Donna [[TheDogBitesBack even gets a payback at Maggie]]. What keeps it from becoming an outright HappyEnding is the fact that[[KarmaHoudini Sandy and Agnes are still at large]] and [[SequelHook Sandy is pregnant]] [[OhCrap with another beast]]...]]

* PoliceAreUselss: ''The Midnight Tour'' is a justified case, as [[spoiler:the policewoman is the mother to the beast attacking everyone and is reluctant to kill him.]]

This series provides examples of:

* CuriosityKilledtheCast: Played straight in ''The Cellar''

* DontGointheWoods: Averted. The woods are much safer than the Beast House, though lingering in the woods just outside is tempting fate.

* EverybodyHasLotsofSex

* {{Gross-UpClose-Up}}: Sex with a beast. They prefer doggy-style, though.

* HotSkittyonWailordAction

* OnceisNotEnough: Even after being disembowelled, Eric still has enough fight in him [[spoiler: to abduct Dana and rape her into submission.]]
* OutwithaBang: The final chapter of ''The Midnight Tour''.

* SomeonetoRememberHimBy: Donna's pregnancy is revealed to be [[spoiler: Jud's son]] Sandy's is revealed to be [[spoiler: one last beast]].

* SemperFi: Jack and Abe, two of ''The Beast House'''s protagonists, are retired Marines, who fought in the VietnamWar. They both prove to be real badasses [[spoiler: and survive]]. The Marine Corps' badass reputation is also noted in the previous book ''The Cellar'', when Roy decides against attacking a passing driver, noticing a Marine tattoo on the guy's hand.

* BlackIsBiggerinBed: Inverted. The beasts are alabaster.

* ChildbyRape: Eric, the last of the beasts (presumably).

* DamselinDistress: Janice in the first two books

* GladtoBeAliveSex: Donna and Judge. Tyler and Abe. Dana and Warren.

* SomeonetoRememberHimBy: Donna's pregnancy is revealed to be [[spoiler: Roy's son]] Sandy's is revealed to be [[one last beast]].

A series of four books (a trilogy and a side-story novella) by the late Richard Laymon, they are his most well-known series, as well as one of his most controversial works. Set in the fictional California town of Malcasa Point, each volume mostly focuses on a different cast of characters coming into contact with the legendary Beast House, a house of horrors populated by vicious, man-eating monsters who kill any man who enters the house. The men are the lucky ones... The series is notorious for its graphic scenes of gore and sexual violence, a trio of the most despicable villains in horror, and helping to pioneer the "extreme horror" movement.

* BadAss: Judge Rucker in ''The Cellar''
** Jack and Abe in ''The Beast House''
** Sandy when she grows up and joins the police force.

* ReferencedBy: At least three other Laymon titles:
** ''Funland'': A stuffed animal that's described as being a pale, hairless humanoid.
** ''In The Dark'': The protagonist muses over reading about the Beast House while exploring an abandoned house.
** ''Amara'': A subplot involves random people being kidnapped and kept as sex slaves. One of the prisoners refers to their prison as the "Beast House".

* Sex Slave: Donna and Sandy by the end of ''The Cellar''

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Unlike the other two books and horror books in general, the ending of ''The Beast House'' is relatively upbeat. Not only all beasts and three villains get killed in the climax with ''every'' good guy surviving, but epilogue set a year or two later shows them still doing well: Tyler and Abe have a kid, Nora and Jake are still together and considering the same, Janice has become a millionaire and slowly recovers from her experience and Captain Frank has turned from the 'local crazie' to a national celebrity. Donna and [[SomeoneToRememberHimBy her son by Jud]] are freed and Donna [[TheDogBitesBack even gets a payback at Maggie]]. What keeps it from becoming an outright HappyEnding is the fact that
[[KarmaHoudini Sandy and Agnes are still at large]] and [[SequelHook Sandy is pregnant]] [[OhCrap with another beast]]...]]

* ItCanThink: In ''The Beast House'', the beasts are implied to be malevolent who do horrible things not because it's in their nature, but for their own sick pleasure

** Only You Can Repopulate My Race: The beasts apparently only have male offspring, so taking human women is a survival tactic.

* FreudWasRight: And how![[spoiler: Eric rapes his own mother]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Unlike the other two books and horror books in general, the ending of ''The Beast House'' is relatively upbeat. Not only all beasts and three villains get killed in the climax with ''every'' good guy surviving, but epilogue set a year or two later shows them still doing well: Tyler and Abe have a kid, Nora and Jake are still together and considering the same, Janice has become a millionaire and slowly recovers from her experience and Captain Frank has turned from the 'local crazie' to a national celebrity. Donna and [[SomeoneToRememberHimBy her son by Jud]] are freed and Donna [[TheDogBitesBack even gets a payback at Maggie]]. What keeps it from becoming an outright HappyEnding is the fact that [[KarmaHoudini Sandy and Agnes are still at large]] and [[SequelHook Sandy is pregnant]] [[OhCrap with another beast]]...]]

* MaritalRapeLicense: Donna's relationship with Roy was implied to be this.

* DontGointheWood}: Averted. The woods are much safer than the Beast House, though lingering in the woods just outside is tempting fate.

* Badass: Judge Rucker in ''The Cellar''

* Big Bad: Maggie Kutch. She let the beasts kill her original family because the sex was good and then decided to capitalise on the fates of anyone who set foot in the Beast House by turning it into a tourist attraction. Her human lover, their son and daughter all follow her lead and Sandy eventually joins them.

* {{CampUnsafeIsn'tSafeAnymore}}: A town named "Malcasa Point" (Latin for Bad House) turns out to be home to monsters and psychos. [[SarcasmMode What a shock]].

* {{Don'tGointheWoods}}: Averted. The woods are much safer than the Beast House, though lingering in the woods just outside is tempting fate.

* CampUnsafeIsn'tSafeAnymore: A town named "Malcasa Point" (Latin for Bad House) turns out to be home to monsters and psychos. [[SarcasmMode What a shock]].

* Don'tGointheWoods: Averted. The woods are much safer than the Beast House, though lingering in the woods just outside is tempting fate.

* Gross-UpClose-Up: Sex with a beast. They prefer doggy-style, though.
* HauntedHouseHistorian: Maggie Kutch.

** ''The Midnight Tour'' ends with [[spoiler:Dana being abducted and raped by the beast Eric, and the book's final line implies that she is also beginning to enjoy it. Owen possibly gets one too, as he unexpectedly encounters his psychopathic ex-girlfriend, who stabbed him last time they saw each other...]] Even worse is that, with [[AuthorExistenceFailure Laymon's death]], it's unlikely a sequel will ever come along and resolve this.

* VillainProtagonist: Each book uses an EnsembleCast that includes a villain. [[CompleteMonster Roy]] in ''The Cellar'', [[FatBastard Gorman Hardy]] in ''The Beast House'' and [[EvilMatriarch Sandy]] in ''The Midnight Tour''.

* SemperFi: Jack and Abe, two of ''The Beast House'''s protagonists, are retired Marines, who fought in the VietnamWar. They both prove to be real badasses [[spoiler: and survive]]. The Marine Corps' badass reputation is also noted in the previous book ''The Cellar'', when Roy decides against attacking a passing driver, when he notices a Marine tattoo on the guy's hand.

* AttemptedRape: Near the end of ''The Beast House'' [[spoiler: Tyler gets assaulted by the last remaining beast and barely manages to keep it from shoving its dick into her. Fortunately Captain Frank turns out to be NotQuiteDead [[BigDamnHeroes and kills the beast]].]] Considering how often rapists succeed in this series, she can consider herself lucky.

** ''The Midnight Tour'' ends with [[spoiler:Dana being abducted and raped by the beast Eric, and the book's final line implies that she is also beginning to enjoy it. Owen possibly gets one too, as he unexpectedly encounters his psychotic ex-girlfriend, who stabbed him last time they saw each other...]]
* {{Gorn}}: Aplenty. The blood flows freely in this series, especially towards the endings.