The Cellar is a 1980 horror novel by American author Richard Laymon. It was Laymon's first published novel, and together with sequels The Beast House, The Midnight Tour, and the novella Friday Night in Beast House, forms the series known by fans of Laymon as "The Beast House Chronicles." The Cellar is an example of a splatterpunk novel, containing much extreme violence and gore, as well as adult themes including rape, incest, paedophilia, and serial murder. Laymon is often associated with this genre.