Darkness, Tell Us

Six college students attend their professor's party and experiment with a Ouija board, making contact with a mysterious entity called Butler. The spirit promises them treasure at a remote location called Calamity Peak, leading them to steal the board and embark on an ill-advised journey despite their professor's warnings. The group's mountain expedition transforms into a fight for survival as they encounter real-world threats and begin to question Butler's true intentions. Their adventure forces them to confront both supernatural possibilities and tangible dangers in an isolated setting. The narrative combines elements of traditional supernatural horror with visceral thriller components, exploring themes of youthful recklessness and the consequences of disregarding wisdom. Laymon's novel examines the line between genuine paranormal phenomena and human malevolence, while questioning the wisdom of trusting unknown entities.

Readers found this a fast-paced horror thriller with a dark tone, though many noted it's not Laymon's strongest work. The book maintains a 3.6/5 rating on Goodreads from 1,200+ ratings. Readers appreciated: - Quick pacing and building tension - The Ouija board premise - Multiple character perspectives - The isolated mountain setting Common criticisms: - Unrealistic character decisions - Gratuitous violence and sexual content - Plot holes in the final act - Underdeveloped side characters "The first half grips you but the ending falls apart," notes one Amazon reviewer. Several Goodreads reviews mention the protagonists making "frustratingly stupid choices." Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 3.6/5 (1,232 ratings) Amazon: 3.8/5 (89 reviews) LibraryThing: 3.4/5 (42 ratings) The book ranked #12 in a Reddit poll of Laymon's works, with fans placing it in the middle tier of his bibliography.

Off Season by Jack Ketchum A group of friends encounters a family of cannibals in rural Maine, leading to a brutal fight for survival reminiscent of Laymon's style of mixing teenage characters with extreme horror.

The Woods Are Dark by Richard Laymon The story of travelers being tied to trees as sacrifices for forest-dwelling creatures captures the same mix of supernatural menace and raw horror found in Darkness, Tell Us.

Summer of Night by Dan Simmons A group of young friends confronts ancient evil in their small town, combining coming-of-age elements with supernatural horror in the vein of Laymon's work.

The Traveling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon Three teenagers investigate a mysterious traveling show, delivering the same blend of youth, adventure, and horror present in Darkness, Tell Us.

Pine Deep Trilogy by Jonathan Maberry A small town faces supernatural evil while exploring dark histories and teenage relationships, matching the tone and themes of Laymon's supernatural horror works.

🔍 The Ouija board central to the plot was invented in 1890, with its name combining the French and German words for "yes" ("oui" and "ja"). 🏆 Richard Laymon won the Bram Stoker Award posthumously in 2001 for "The Traveling Vampire Show," just after his death that same year. 🗺️ While Calamity Peak in the novel is fictional, it was likely inspired by real locations in California, where Laymon lived and set many of his stories. 📚 The book was published during horror fiction's boom period of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when supernatural horror novels regularly appeared on bestseller lists. 🎭 Laymon wrote "Darkness, Tell Us" using his signature direct, unflinching style, which earned him a larger following in Europe than in his native United States during his lifetime.