I agree with Steve King, "if you missed Laymon you missed a treat." IMO, Laymon is the #1 top schlock writer of all time. He has been called "King without a conscience" and as others mentioned, his books are typically told in a straightforward fashion and rarely become philosophic in an expositional way. He is also one of the most offensive, goriest, pornographic mass market paperback writers to ever amass such a widespread international following! He died too young but still left a gigantic body of work, almost all of it top rate if you are into this kind of thing. Many Laymon readers find that when they discover Laymon, they immediately attempt to read everything he ever wrote, no easy task as much of it is rare (most of it never having been published originally in the USA due to a kind of blacklist). Indeed myself, I have purposely set aside a few Laymon books to read later in life, since he ain't writing any more.

But meanwhile, here are some recs:

THE BEAST HOUSE series of books is my favorite monster story set in Northern Carlifornia this side of John Carpenter's THE FOG. It comprises THE CELLAR, BEAST HOUSE, MIDNIGHT TOUR, FRIDAY NIGHT IN BEAST HOUSE, and another book called IN THE DARK. This represents Laymon at his finest, IMO, especially "In The Dark" which is not ostensibly part of the series but which if you are a careful reader, you will find actually it is a key part of the series and a hidden gem written by Laymon expressly as a wink to his truest fans

Laymon was also a writer's writer who tried damn near every genre trick in the book at one time or another, e.g.:
ENDLESS NIGHT - the first 70+ pages of this book are one long unbroken scene of horror the likes of which I have never seen in another book or on film
SAVAGE - a historical novel in old time flavor based on Jack the Ripper coming to America
ISLAND - written entirely as the journal of a shipwrecked man
BEWARE - as close to breakneck paced 70s grindhouse exploitation madness as you are likely to find in print
FLESH - progenitor of flicks like Night Of The Creeps and Slither
FUNLAND - taking care of the homeless problem in Santa Cruz
QUAKE - psychopath makes the best of the big one
RESURECTION DREAMS - Laymon's modern take on Frankenstein

Laymon has written several vampire novels, and astoundingly each of them remains a unique take on the tired genre: THE STAKE, BITE, and TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW

He also has repeatedly visited themes of homeless maniacs, people who have secret criminal vices pursued for kicks, and plotlines that include one ludicrous unforseeable turn after the next. Some of those faves include NO SANCTUARY and NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER

Laymons is also great in short form and has dozens of short stories, many collected in sets like FIENDS, DREADFUL TALES, and MADMAN STAN

He even wrote a terrifying and probably grossly inapporpriate kids book called THE HALLOWEEN MOUSE

Laymon is a rabbit hole and IMO he is in a league apart from other notable schlockers like Ed Lee, Jack Ketchum, Brian Keene, Bentley Little,

I wish someboyd like John Carpenter or Tarantino would adapt some Laymon to film but frankly, his books are so ****ed up that I suppose that is the main reason there has never been a Laymon movie