In the Flesh, by Clive Barker

(pb; 1986: story anthology)

From the back cover:

"In the depths of an abandoned steam bath, strangely beautiful women seduce two businessmen into a ritual of macabre sexuality; in a Greek asylum, wise men race frogs to decide the fate of the world; a petty convict's cellmate reveals to him the gruesome birth of evil; a young woman's slum research leads her into the hook-handed grip of The Candyman, a vicious supernatural killer."


Overall review:

This is one of the few perfect anthologies I've read. Barker's writing is word-tight, character-memorable and idea-wild, its themes relevant and relatable, with many of its lines quotable.

In the Flesh is easily one of my all-time favorite anthologies, as well as one of my favorite Barker reads.

Worth owning, this.


Review, story by story:


1.) "In the Flesh" - Cleve Smith, an incarcerated felon, gets a new cellie (Billy Tait), a young man whose quiet manners conceal a harsher, gorier world.

Perfect, gripping, exemplary read that references one of Barker's other stories, "The Books of Blood" (collected in the anthology Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volume One).


2.) "The Forbidden" - A woman (Helen), writing a sociological theme paper, happens upon a shadowy urban legend that may be far more relevant than she ever imagined.

Thought-provoking, wise (in its roots-of-fear way), exciting and unique - not to mention (again), perfect.

Two directly-linked films resulted from this story.

The first, a 36-minute short titled after the story, was released in 1978.

Peter Atkins played Faust. Doug Bradley, Julia Blake, Phil Rimmer and Lyn Darnell also acted in the short, though their roles aren't named on imdb.com.

Clive Barker, who scripted and directed the film, also acted in it.

#

The second version, Candyman - this one a full-length work - was released stateside on October 16, 1992.

Virginia Madsen played Helen Lyle. Tony Todd played The Candyman (aka Daniel Robitaille). Xander Berkeley played Trevor Lyle. Kasi Lemmons played Bernadette 'Bernie' Walsh. Vanessa Williams played Anne-Marie McCoy. Ted Raimi played Billy. Rusty Schwimmer played "Policewoman".

Bernard Rose scripted and directed the film.

Two sequels, both of them starring Tony Todd, followed: Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) and the direct-to-video Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999).


3.) "The Madonna" - An abandoned bathhouse is the site of damnation or salvation for two men, a wealthy thug (Ezra Garvey) and his business partner (Jerry Coloqhoun).

Gripping, distinctive and science fiction-wild take on the themes of masculinity/femininity, religion and motherhood, with a story finish that is reader-resonant.

In 1989, Eclipse Books published a comic book mini-series, Tapping The Vein, that is based on Barker's writings.

Fred Burke adapted, and Stan Woch, Fred Von Tobel and Mark Farmer illustrated "The Madonna" in issue #4 (its front cover is seen below). This same issue contains an adaptation of one of Barker's other stories, "Hell's Event" (published in Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volume Two).




4.) "Babel's Children" - Vanessa Jape, an insatiably curious, roadtripping woman, stumbles upon a long-held, world- and life-changing secret on a backroad.

Fun, relatively light work, that's as fascinating and relatably weird as the other stories in this anthology.

Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volume Two, by Clive Barker

(hb; 1984: story anthology)

Overall review:


Stunning, classic anthology, this -- wow-worthy as Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volume One. Worth owning, and re-reading a few years after your initial perusal of it.


Review, story by story:

1.) "Dread": Solid, semi-predictable story about a philosophical professor (Quaid) whose terror experiments go too far.

The film version debuted at the Fantasia Film Festival in Canada on July 14, 2009. The film is scheduled for stateside DVD release sometime next March.

Jackson Rathbone played Stephen Grace. Shaun Evans played Quaid. Hanne Steen played Cheryl Fromme. Laura Donnelly played Abby. Jonathan Readwin played Joshua Shaw. Vivian Gray played Tabitha Swann. Carl McCrystal played Axe Man.

The film was scripted and directed by Anthony DiBlasi.



2.) "Hell's Event": A charity run becomes so much more when infernal principalities and interests become entwined in it. Clever, visceral, memorable, excellent, this.

In 1989, Eclipse Books published a comic book mini-series, Tapping The Vein, that is based on Barker's writings.

Fred Burke adapted, and Steven E. Johnson, Alan Okamoto and Jim Pearson illustrated "Hell's Event" in issue #4 (its front cover is seen below). This issue also contains an adaptation of one of Barker's other stories, "The Madonna" (published in In the Flesh).




3.) "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament": A bitter, suicidal woman discovers she has transformative, death-dealing powers -- powers that radically change her life. Another visceral, excellent piece.


4.) "The Skins of the Fathers": The gun-toting hick denizens of a desert town (called Welcome) battle a surreal race of "monsters". Cinematic, ironic, epic -- one of my all-time favorite stories from Barker.

Barker would later expand on this ironic human-monster dynamic in his novel, Cabal.

Chuck Wagner and Fred Burke adapted, and Klaus Janson illustrated the re-titled "Skins of the Fathers" in issue #2 of Tapping The Vein (its front cover is seen below). This issue also contains an adaptation of one of Barker's other stories, "In the Hills, the Cities" (published in Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volume One).




5.) "New Murders in the Rue Morgue": Edgar Allan Poe's famous tale gets a romantic, psychologically-complex update. An old painter (Lewis Fox) returns to Paris, France, after forty years to help clear the name of a friend who's been accused of murder -- a murder which has a literary, too-familiar M.O..

Memorable, classic, charming story.


This anthology is followed by Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volume Three.

Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volume One, by Clive Barker

(hb; 1984: story anthology)

Overall review:

Excellent horror anthology, the first of three volumes: easily one of the best anthologies I've read from a still-breathing writer. All the stories are above-average word fare, engaging, sometimes gory, and always fascinating. By all, means check this anthology out.

Review, story by story:

1.) "The Book of Blood" - A psychic researcher (Mary Florescu), her assistant (Reg Fuller), and a con-artist medium (Simon McNeal) move into a haunted house (Number 65, Tollington Place) in order to study it. The more they observe/tap into the energies of this metaphysical crossroads, or susurrating "highway of the dead," however, the more they risk ticking off the spirits they're studying. Fresh, Bradybury-esque take on the haunted house theme.

This story became a film in 2008. Currently in post-production, the film uses another Barker story, "On Jerusalem Street," as a co-basis for the film. Jonas Armstrong played Simon McNeal. Sophie Ward played Mary Florescu. Paul Blair played Reg Fuller. Doug Bradley, Barker's real-life friend and an actor who often appears in Barker's film projects, played Tollington. Directed and co-scripted by John Harrison; co-scripted by Darin Silverman.


2.) "The Midnight Meat Train" - An accountant (Kaufman) and a "divinely-inspired" serial killer (Mahogany, aka "The Butcher") cross paths on the Avenues of the Americas line. Classic work, touching on the themes of disillusionment, faith and (possibly) destiny. One of my favorite stories in this collection.

This story became a film in 2008. Set to be released Stateside on August 1, 2008, it was scripted by Jeff Buhler. Ryuhei Kitamura directed. Bradley Cooper played Leon Kaufman. Vinnie Jones played Mahogany. Leslie Bibb played Maya, a character absent from the source story. Brook Shields played Susan Hoff, another character absent from the source story.


3.) "The Yattering and Jack" - A low-echelon demon (The Yattering) is assigned to torment a quiet human nobody (Jack Polo), who seems not to notice the Yattering's sometimes-grisly poltergeist-like activities. Light (when compared to other stories in this collection), spirited Christmastime romp, this. An instant classic.

This story became the basis for an episode of the 1984 television show, Tales From the Darkside. It aired on November 8, 1987, the seventh episode of Tale's fourth season. Danielle Brisebois played Amanda. Anthony Carbone played Jack Polo - Carbone is listed in the credits as "Tony Carbone". Phil Fondacaro played The Yattering. Thomas Newman played Beezlebub. Barbara Shapiro played Caroler.


4.) "Pig Blood Blues" - An ex-cop-turned-woodshop-teacher (Neil Redman) discovers mysterious going-ons at Remand Centre for Adolescent Offenders, a reform school for teenage boys. Its story arc makes its end-twist predictable, but Barker made this reader care about the lead characters (Redman, Lacey), while ramping up the story's progressive tension. Well-written, at times ironic; not the best story in the bunch.

This is scheduled to be released as a film in the near future. I have no further details about the film at this point.

In 1989, Eclipse Books published a comic book mini-series, Tapping The Vein, that is based on Barker's writings.

Chuck Wagner adapted, and Scott Hampton illustrated "Pig Blood Blues" in issue #1 (its front cover is seen below). This issue also contains an adaptation of one of Barker's other stories, "Human Remains" (published in Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volume Three).




5.) "Sex, Death and Starshine" - A troubled stage production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, led by a talentless crowd-popular actress (Diane Duvall) and directed by a jaded Terry Calloway, gets new life breathed into it with the unexpected appearance of a charming theatre-savvy stranger, Richard Walden Lichfield, and his actress lover, Constantia. Aptly-titled, clever, personable tale, and memorable.


6.) "In the Hills, the Cities" - Two Eastern bloc towns, Popolac and Podujevo, wage a bizarre contest-battle, utilizing the entirety of their citizenry. Caught between the town-giants are two warring lovers, a Right-leaning pundit (Judd) and an art aficionado (Mick). Strange, visually stunning tale, with an equally stunning end-line. Unforgettable, this.

"In the Hills, the Cities" also appeared in issue #2 of the comic book mini-series, Tapping The Vein.

Chuck Wagner and Fred Burke adapted, and John Bolton illustrated the story. This issue, its cover seen below, also contains an adaptation of one of Barker's other (re-titled) stories, "Skins of the Fathers" (published in Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volume Two).




This anthology is followed by Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volume Two.