The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker

(hb; 2015)

From the inside flap:

"Long-beleaguered detective Harry D'Amour ("The Last Illusion,"* Everville), investigator of all things supernatural, magical and malevolent, has been battling his own personal demons for years. When he happens upon a Lament Configuration -- a deeply intricate puzzle box that is rumored to open a doorway to Hell itself -- his own demons are replaced by the real thing as he finds himself caught in a terrifying game of cat and mouse that is bloody, disturbing and brilliantly complex."

(*Published in Barker's 1988 story anthology Cabal.)


Review:

Scarlet is a sexually explicit, ultra-gory, sometimes funny and over-the-top journeys-through-variable-Hells read that quickly susses out squeamish readers, making more room for gut-true horror fans. It harkens back to the sometimes-shocking (even within Barker's fictive-collective milieus) savagery of his early work, particularly his story collections (The Books of Blood, volumes One through Three; In the Flesh), which are now set in the crossover universe of The Hellbound Heart and Harry D'Amour-inclusive works (the stories "The Last Illusion" and "Lost Souls"; the novels The Great and Secret Show and Everville).

Some readers, used to Barker's epic-scale, ambitious works (the aforementioned The Great and Secret Show, Everville as well as Imajica), might be put off Scarlet's straightforward plot. In order to fully enjoy this book, it is best to appreciate it for what it is: one of the best horror writers of his generation having well-written, blunt fun with a mixed mythos (and their characters) he created over a thirty-year period.

Excellent read, this -- a great, unrepentant-in-its-harshness capper to the Engineer/Hell Priest/Pinhead and Harry D'Amour storylines. Like many of Barker's works, Scarlet is worth owning.

Everville by Clive Barker

 

(hb; 1994: second Book of the Art; sequel to The Great and Secret Show)

From the inside flap:

"On a mountain peak, high above the city of Everville, a door stands open: a door that lets onto the shores of the dream-sea Quiddity. And there's not a soul below who'll not be changed by the fact. . .

"Phoebe Cobb, once a doctor's receptionist, is about to forget her old life and go looking for her lost lover, Joe Flicker, in the world on the other side of that door, a strange sensual wonderland. . .

"Tesla Bombeck, who knows what horrors lurk on the far side of Quiddity, must solve the mysteries of the city's past if she is to keep those horrors from crossing the threshold.

"Harry D'Amour, who has tracked the ultimate evil across America, will find it conjuring atrocities in the sunlit streets of Everville. . ."


Review:

Everville is an excellent follow-up to The Great and Secret Show, progressing Great's character- and theme-focused epicity (love; the Art; cyclic creation, evolution and destruction) while deepening -- in cinematic-fantastic fashion -- the mythology of the first novel's Cosm- and Metacosm-based horrors and beauty.

This sequel's strong connection to Great is further maintained by many of its key characters, returning from the first book: Tesla Bombeck and Raul, the latter a dramatically evolved monkey, who share Tesla's headspace; Harry D'Amour, the supernatural detective, whose world-weary Christian understanding of the Cosm is continually being challenged; Jo-Beth McGuire and Howie Katz, whose war-resistant love has resulted in a daughter, Amy; Tommy "Death-Boy" McGuire, Jo-Beth's psychotic and incestuous brother, who still desires his sibling; Kissoon, whose sick and violent childhood may dramatically alter this second attempt at Iad Uroborous-aided apocalypse; and Grillo, whose database of weirdness, the Reef, may provide some of the previous characters understandings they might not have otherwise had.

Like Great, Everville is a novel waiting to be made into a cable miniseries, and a work worth owning.

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In Everville, extensive mention is made about a painting, created by a friend of D'Amour's (Ted Dusseldorf), called D'Amour in Wyckoff Street. Readers curious about the events that inspired this work of art -- as well as the multipersonalitied hellspawn (Lazy Susan/The Nomad/etc.) stalking D'Amour -- should read Barker's story "Lost Souls," which has been extensively published. (It was originally published in Time Out magazine in December 1985. It most recently was republished in the story anthology Mammoth Book of Angels and Demons, edited by Paula Guran.)

The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker

(hb; 1993: first Book of the Art; prequel to Everville)

From the inside flap:

"Memory, prophecy and fantasy -- the past, the present, the future, and the dreaming moment between -- are all one country, living one immortal day. To know that is Wisdom. To use it is the Art. . .

"Armageddon begins with a murder in the Dead Letter Office in Omaha, Nebraska.

"A lake that has never existed falls from the clouds over Palomo Grove, California.

"Young passion blossoms, as the world withers with war.

"The Great and Secret Show has begun on the stage of the world.

"And soon, the final curtain must fall."


Review:

This excellent novel is epic in tone, with all its distinctly human perversities, beauty and everything in between shown in full cinematic, metaphysical and myth-constructive glory. Its wide array of characters, from enemy entities Fletcher and the Jaff, to Kissoon (the perverse shaman in the mystical, time-ticking Loop) to paranormal investigator Harry D'Amour (also seen in the stories "The Last Illusion," in Barker's Cabal anthology, and "Lost Souls," in various publications) embody that range of humanity -- though some of that humanity has transcended what was previous perceived and realized, with sometimes catastrophic results. Its locales range from America to various mystical realms (Quiddity, a dream sea; the Ephemeris, islands in the Quiddity; the dark Metacosm where a cold and merciless foe waits to cross Quiddity and devour our collective consciousness, as well as our world, also called the Cosm).

Great is one of the best realized and ambitious-in-its-mythmaking works I've read. It is vivid, disturbing, uplifting and everything else that a novel with this scope needs to be, with its humanity and inhumanity driving its fast-moving and character-variable storyline. Worth owning, this.

Followed by Everville.

Splatterpunks II: Over the Edge edited by Paul M. Sammon

(pb; 1995: horror anthology)


Overall review:

Excellent, gory horror anthology. Of course, in a work featuring twenty-eight stories, there are bound to be a few stories I don't care for, but that is due to personal preferences regarding writing tenses, overwriting and other (relatively minor) issues. If you're a horror/gore fan, get this collection.


Standout stories:

1.)  "Accident d'Amour" - Wildy Petoud: Excellent, witty, cut-to-it tale about a woman's literally sick vengeance against an ex-lover. Memorable, vivid.



2.)  "Impermanent Mercies" - Kathe Koja:  A callous photographer (Ellis) witnesses an accident involving a little boy (Andy) and his unlucky dog (True). Bizarre, disturbing (for animal lovers) and excellent work.



3.)  "One Flesh: A Cautionary Tale" - Robert Devereaux:  Multi-layered, horrific and laugh-out-loud clever story about the conjoined reincarnation of a son and father and all the tragedies that stem from it. Great work, with a chuckle-worthy finish.



4.)  "Rant" - Nancy A. Collins:  A divine white supremacist being with conspiratorial leanings tells the tale of his undoing. Darkly hilarious and chilling (his rhetoric is disturbingly media realistic) piece.



5.)  "Heels" - Lucy Taylor:  A shoe fetishist-turned-serial killer (Theo) meets a woman (Jules) whose sexual predilections impact his own. Blunt read with concise and masterful explanations for why Theo and Jules are the way they are.

The resulting film short was released stateside on August 2, 2014. Jeremy Jantz scripted and directed it. Brian Adrian Koch played Theo. Julia Angelo played Felicia.



6.)  "Scape-Goats" - Clive Barker:  Two couples on an island-crashed sailboat quickly recognize that there's something wrong about the rocky mass their boat is abutting.

Atmospheric, solid read with an interesting island backstory.

"Scape-Goats" also appeared in the single-author anthology Clive Barker's Books of Blood, Volume Three.



7.)  "Cannibal Cats Come Out At Night" - Nancy Holder:  Two cannibals (Dwight and Angelo) who are also best friends approach a crossroads event which may undo their bond of amity. While the event itself isn't surprising, there is a well-foreshadowed twist to it, making this exemplary, fast-moving story even better.



8.)  "Embers" - Brian Hodge:  Entertaining, good read about an arsonist-for-hire (Mykel) whose reaction to a shocking, personal tragedy drives him to revenge.



9.)  "Xenophobia" - Poppy Z. Brite: Two Goths roaming through Chinatown find themselves working an unexpected, morbid job. Brite's deft writing keeps this dark-hued morality tale humorous and fresh.



10.)  "Calling Dr. Satan: An Interview with Anton Szandor LaVey"  - Jim Goad: Interesting, philosophical and provocative (in a productive way) conversation between Anton and Bianca LaVey and the author.



11.)  "Within You, Without You" - Paul M. Sammon:  A post-gig campfire hang-out with her favorite industrial-noise band (Detour) leads Reba down heady and dangerous by-ways.

The direction and ending of the story aren't surprising (nor are they meant to be). Sammon's worthwhile writing - with its theme-appropriate media-savvy references - renders the destination less important. This one is about experience.

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Please note that there are authors whose names are labelled at the bottom of this post but they are not actually mentioned in the review. This is because they have work published in this anthology but their work (in this instance), for one reason or another, didn't stand out for me. (This is not necessarily a criticism of their works.)

Cabal, by Clive Barker

(hb; 1985, 1988: horror anthology)

From the inside flap:

"Cabal. . . is the story of a young woman willing to cross the borders of the human to be with the man she loves.

"That man is [Aaron] Boone, a beautiful, tortured soul who believes himself responsible for atrocious crimes.  He has taken refuge in a necropolis situated in the wilds of Canada, beneath which all the last great monsters of the world - the nightbreed - are in hiding.  They are possessed of extraordinary powers; so is Boone.  And in the hunt for Boone, they, too, will be hunted.  Can they survive when the colder, deadlier monsters of the twentieth century are on their heels?  And can Lori's love withstand the extraordinary truth of Boone's soul?"



Overall review:

Above-average novella/story anthology that showcases Barker's trademark, sometimes eloquent, sometimes gory meld of the beauty and darkness.

Worth owning, this.



Novella/stories:

1.)  "Cabal": See "inside flap" description.  Good, entertaining read.

The resulting film, retitled Nightbreed, was released stateside on February 16, 1990.

Clive Barker directed the film from his screenplay.

Craig Sheffer played Aaron Boone/Cabal.  Anne Bobby played Lori.  David Cronenberg played Dr. Phillip K. Decker.  Debora Weston played Sheryl.  Charles Haid played Captain Eigerman. 

Hugh Ross played Narcisse.  Doug Bradley played Dirk Lylesberg.  Catherine Chevalier played Rachel.    Kim Robertson played Babette.  Malcolm Smith played Ashberry.  Bob Sessions played Pettine.  Oliver Parker played Peloquin. 

John Agar played "Decker's Victim".


2.)  "The Life of Death":  A woman's brush with mortality during surgery portends her further, more complex association with that irrevocable element. 

Excellent, gripping story, with a stunning and darkly hilarious finish.


3.)   "How Spoilers Bleed":  Three European imperalist men, in contentious negotiations with an Indian tribe over land rights, find themselves on the business end of a terrifying and relentless curse.

Good, moralistic tale.


4.)  "Twilight at the Towers":   The possible defection of a high-ranking KGB agent (Mironenko) sparks a cycle of deceit, bloodshed and revelations.

Good, twist-pretzeled story that melds the milieus of John le Carré's spy world and grisly violence.


5.)  "The Last Illusion":  A private detective (Harry D'Amour) discovers that his gig babysitting a famous magician's corpse is more difficult and hellish than he thought it would be.

Entertaining, distinctive mix of noir, humor and the supernatural.

The film version, retitled Lord of Illusions, was released stateside on August 25, 1995.

Clive Barker directed the film from his screenplay.

Scott Bakula played Harry D'Amour.  Kevin J. O'Connor played Philip Swann.  Famke Janssen played Dorothea Swann.  Barry Del Sherman played Butterfield. 

Daniel von Bargen played Nix.  Vincent Shiavelli played Vinovich.  Wayne Grace played Loomis. 

The Gore by Joseph A. Citro

(pb; 1990, 2000: originally published under the title The Unseen)


From the back cover:

"Ex-newspaperman Roger Newton's adventure begins when Claude Lavigne, a power company employee, sees something in the forests of 'the gore' - a tiny swatch of unclaimed land created by a surveyor's mistake. His sense of reality, unhinged, Lavigne commits suicide. When Lavigne's son, best friend, and an old black man risk an expedition into the gore, Newton, attempting to sto them, upsets a fragile balance and looses an ancient, nameless fear among the people of Vermont."


Review:

Excellent suspense novel with horroresque tones, effective twists and unexpected humaneness. This isn't your typical 'horror in the hills' read.

Fans of Jack Ketchum's earlier work (e.g., Off Season) or Clive Barker's Cabal (the source of the 1990 film Nightbreed) may enjoy this relatively gentle - compared to the savagery of Off Season - if occasionally gory and violent read.

The Gore is worth owning, for its quiet, masterful take on a familiar genre staple.

#

(Big thanks to Rick Hautala, for recommending this author.)

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.

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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.

The Hellbound Heart, by Clive Barker

(pb; 1986: novella)

From the back cover:

"Frank Cotton's insatiable appetite for the dark pleasures of pain led him to the puzzle of Lemarchand's box, and from there, to a death only a sick-minded soul could invent. But his brother's love-crazed wife, Julia, has discovered a way to bring Frank back - though the price will be bloody and terrible. . . and there will certainly be hell to pay."

Review:

The Hellbound Heart is an intense, excellent, horrific (in a good way) blast of a read. The story in this 164-page novella is notably different than that of the 1987 film (retitled Hellraiser) - e.g., in the book, The Engineer is the head Cenobite in the "Order of the Gash"; Pinhead doesn't exist. In the film, The Engineer was replaced by the physically dissimilar Pinhead. That said, both versions work.

Worth owning, this.

#

The resulting film, Hellraiser, was released stateside September 18, 1987.

Andrew Robinson played Larry Cotton ("Rory Cotton" in the novella). Claire Higgins played Julia Cotton. Ashley Laurence played Kirsty Cotton. Sean Chapman played Frank Cotton. Robert Hines played Steve. Oliver Smith played "Frank the Monster".

Doug Bradley played Pinhead/Captain Elliot Spenser. Nicholas Vince played "Chattering Cenobite". Simon Bamford played "Butterball Cenobite". Grace Kirby played "Female Cenobite".

Novella author Clive Barker directed and wrote the screenplay for the movie.

#

A theatrical remake has been greenlit, with Barker's vocal support, but filming hasn't begun on it.

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Eight sequels, many of them direct-to-video, have followed the original film. The latest, Hellraiser: Revelations, is supposed to be coming out sometime this year. This ninth Hellraiser film, a DVD/Blu Ray release, will be the first where Doug Bradley doesn't play Pinhead. (This does not bode well for the film.)

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In 1989, Epic Comics published an anthology comic book, Hellraiser, with various authors and illustrators - including Bernie Wrightson, John Bolton and Ted McKeever - creating their own short stories about the Cenobites, their victims and their universe(s). I don't know how long this series was published, but I know it ran for at least eighteen issues. (The first comic book image seen below is the cover of issue #1).



In 2011, Boom! Studios revived the series, with the same name (Hellraiser) with new Cenobite stories, written by different writers and artists - Clive Barker has been co-writing the series' ongoing storyline.

Seen below is one of the three alternate covers of issue #1, illustrated by Tim Bradstreet. Leonardo Manco provided the interior art.

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

(hb; 1984: story anthology)

Overall review:

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


Review, story by story:


1.) "Son of Celluloid" - Restless, collective ghosts in an old movie theater literally turn cancerous when the theater is reopened after a few decades.

Imaginative, focused and truly horrific, in a sick, film iconic way.

In 1991, Eclipse Books published a graphic novel version of this story. Steve Niles adapted Barker's story to comic book form, while Les Edwards illustrated it (the front cover is below).




2.) "Rawhead Rex" - An ancient earthbound monster, accidentally freed from its centuries-long prison, vents its divine, slaughteramic outrage on the modern day villagers of Zeal.

Grisly, nobody-is-spared, gripping piece.

The film version debuted in Italy in October 1986. It was released in the United States on April 17, 1987.

Donal McCann played Tom Garron. Kelly Piper played Elaine Hallenbeck. David Dukes played Howard Hallenbeck. Niall Toibin played Reverend Coot. Ronan Wilmot played Declan O'Brien. Niall O'Brien played Det. Insp. Isaac Gissing. Hugh O'Conor played Robbie Hallenbeck. Eleanor Feely played Jenny Nicholson. A costumed Heinrich von Schellendorf played Rawhead Rex.

George Pavlou directed the film, from a screenplay by story author Clive Barker. (Barker was reportedly unhappy with how the film turned out.)


3.) "Confessions of a (Pornographer's) Shroud" - A murdered man, now a vengeful spirit, hunts and kills those who wronged him.

Clever, quirky, imaginative, entertaining tale.


4.) "Scape-goats" - Two couples on an island-crashed sailboat quickly cognize that there's something wrong about the rocky mass their boat is abutting.

Atmospheric, solid read with an interesting island backstory.


5.) "Human Remains" - An apathetic gigolo (Gavin) rediscovers his humanity, via violence and physical detachment, when a trick goes weird.

One of the most original, genre-transcendant and unpredictable stories I've read in a long while, and perhaps the best story in this collection.

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

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

Coldheart Canyon, by Clive Barker

(hb; 2001)

From the inside flap:

"Hollywood has made a star of Todd Pickett. But time is catching up with him. He doesn't have the perfect looks he had last year. After plastic surgery goes awry, Todd needs somewhere to hide away for a few months while his scars heal.

"As Todd settles into a mansion in Coldheart Canyon - a corner of the city so secret it doesn't even appear on any map - Tammy Lauper, the president of his fan club, comes to the City of Angels determined to solve the mystery of Todd's disappearance. Her journey will not be an easy one. The closer she gets to Todd the more of Coldheart Canyon's secrets she uncovers: the ghosts of the A-list stars who came to the Canyon for wild parties; Katya Lupi, the cold-hearted, now-forgotten star for whom the Canyon was named, who is alive and exquisite after a hundred years; and, finally, the door in the bowels of Katya's dream palace that reputedly open up to another world, the Devil's Country. No one who has ever ventured to this dark, barbaric corner of hell has returned without their souls shadowed by what they'd seen and done. . ."

Review:

Coldheart Canyon isn't one of Barker's better works - it's overly long by at least a hundred and fifty pages and its characters suffer from Plot Convenient Stupid Moments (PCSM) from time to time - but it's still a worthwhile read, because few writers can create such grand, century-spanning epics like this. Barker's multilayered story telling is penned in an appropriately lush Hollywood film style, with its beyond-the-norm audacious horrors equally potent.

Even with its flaws, this is a fascinating book that is worth the journey, with its mostly interesting characters, insider's dark take on the Dream Factory and its sometimes transcendant grotesqueries and graces.

I'm glad I read this - once. It's not worth owning, as is most of Barker's other works, but it is worth checking out, if you can tolerate bloat with your read spectacles: to Barker's credit, and to provide a point of comparison, Coldheart Canyon is nowhere near as bloated as Stephen King's post-mid Eighties writing (e.g., any fiction King has published since It).

If you've never read Clive Barker, and are interested in doing so, read one of his other books first, like his three-volume Books of Blood anthologies, or Imajica, one of his many novels.

The Safety of Unknown Cities, by Lucy Taylor

(pb; 1995, 1999)

Review:

Val Petrillo, a jet-set serial fornicatress, seeks "the City," a legendary, mystical location where all forms of carnality and perversions are indulged in. Unbeknownst to her, she's being pursued by a suitor she abandoned - Arthur Quentin Breen, who "alternate[s] back and forth between convivial killer and misanthropic recluse."

When Val meets Majeed, a hermaphroditic (primarily male) prostitute, and becomes his lover, she figures she's found a way into the City. But Majeed is reluctant to take her to the City - not only because of what he says he experienced and saw there, but because he's being stalked by Dominick Filakis, aka the Turk, to whom Majeed owes a nebulous, potentially flesh-riving debt.

As dangerous and perverse as Val, Arthur and Majeed are, they've got nothing on the City-linked Turk, whose powers seem limitless.

Safety is a sexually and horrifically subversive novel that recalls the horror works of Clive Barker, Poppy Z. Brite and Lucifer Fulci, rammed home with over-the-top Dario Argento-esque/snuff splatter scenes.


Check it out, if you've got a strong constitution and a love for true horror.

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.

Behind the Mask of the Horror Actor, by Doug Bradley

(pb; 1996, 2004: cinema/biography)

From the back cover:

"Doug Bradley -- the actor who portrays the terrifying Pinhead in Clive Barker's Hellraiser film series -- provides his own unique and personal perspective on cinema monsters and the men who play them. He also briefly examines the cultural and dramatic history of the mask, from cave art through Greek theater to trick-or-treat.

"In addition to the classic horror actors Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff, Bradley covers such unforgettable characters as The Wolf Man, The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame in detail. He also discusses the European tradition, such as Jean Marais' Beast in La Belle et la Béte, the work of Vincent Price and the Hammer films of the fifties and sixties.

"Bringing the subject up to date is the resurgence of interest in modern-day movie monsters, which has spawned recent horror hits Halloween: Resurrection, Freddy Vs Jason and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, among others. With commentary from the actors behind The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Leatherface, Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Jason from Friday the 13th and Michael from Halloween, along with his own experience of the creation of Pinhead, Bradley creates a vivid picture of exactly how it feels to be the man behind the mask."

Review:

With warmth, dry wit and knowledge born of long experience, Bradley charms as he writes about how the job of acting came to be, and how it changed as it went from shamanistic showmanship to plays to Christianized rites, then back to plays, to movies (which have visually and stylistically evolved with CGI and other technologies).

His first few chapters, about cave art, the all-important development and meanings of masks, and the evolution of plays are well-written and informed. Bradley regularly cites his information sources and goes out of his way to state that he isn't an expert on these things. What he knows is acting, and the long hours masked horror actors, as well as make-up and special effects artists, put into creating the molded illusions known as cinematic monsters.

Following chapters about workaholics Lon Chaney and Jean Marais, alcoholic Lon Chaney Jr. (sometimes billed as Lon Chaney), "easy-going and patient to a fault" Boris Karloff, and patron-of-the-arts Vincent Price are entertaining, with fun anecdotes thrown into the informative recollections.

Interview bits in following chapters are made up of: Gunnar Hansen (actor who played Leatherface in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre); stuntman Kane Hodder (who played Jason Voorhees in several Friday the 13th films, Parts VII: The New Blood through Jason X); Robert Englund (who played Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street films. . . quick side-note: Englund and Doug Bradley co-starred in Killer Tongue).

These interviews, coupled with Bradley's kind, practical and clever observations (one chapter is titled "Finding Pinhead Or. . .With Nails and I"), makes this an utter joy to read. I plan to own this, soon.

Clive Barker's short introduction is as warm and smart as Bradley's book. (Barker and Bradley have been friends with, and worked with, each other since they went to High School together, so Barker, like Bradley, should know what he's writing about.)

Check this out!

Let Me In, by John Ajvide Lindqvist

(hb; 2004, 2007: translated by Ebba Segerberg)

From the inside flap:

"It is autumn 1981 when the inconceivable comes to Blackberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last -- revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.

"But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door -- a girl who has never seen a Rubik's Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . ."

Review:

Excellent, landmark vampire-horror novel, with sympathetic characters (even Håkan Bengtsson, Eli's aging pedophilic human keeper, initially comes off a somewhat relatable creation) and an impressive narrative scope: it reads like something Stephen King might've written in his prime -- i.e., most of his published work prior to It.

Lindqvist has conceived and delivered a warm, original work that should appeal to fans of King, Clive Barker and Anne Rice. (I realize I'm actually echoing one of the blurbs that graced the cover of the book, but its story, tones and characters constantly reminded me of these writers when I read this fast-paced, character-rich story.)

If you're into vampire fiction, you should read this.

This novel was originally published under the title Let the Right One In (its title references a line from a Morrissey song, "Let The Right One Slip In").

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As of October 1, 2010, two film versions will have resulted from this novel.

The first film version was released in Sweden on January 26, 2008. The film graced stateside screens on October 24, 2008.

Kåre Hedebrant played Oskar. Lina Leandersson played Eli. Per Ragnar played Håkan. Henrik Dahl played Erik. Karin Bergquist played Yvonne. Peter Carlberg played Lacke. Ika Nord played Virginia. Mikael Rahm played Jocke. Karl-Robert Lindgren played Gösta.

An uncredited Lena Nilsson, who also appeared in Murder at the Savoy and Roseanna, played a "Nurse" (or: "Håkans sjuksköterska").

Tomas Alfredson directed the film, from a script by the book's author, John Ajvide Lindqvist.

•

An American remake, retitled Let Me In, is scheduled for stateside release on October 1, 2010.

Kodi Smit-McPhee played Owen (the Americanized equivalent of Oskar). Chloë Grace Moretz played Abby (the Americanized equivalent of Eli). Richard Jenkins played The Father. Elias Koteas played The Policeman. Cara Buono played Owen's Mother.

Matt Reeves directed and scripted the film.

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.

20th Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill

(hb; 2005, 2007: story anthology)

Overall review:

This is one of the best short story anthologies I've read in a long while. It's up there, excellence-wise, with Clive Barker's three-volume Books of Blood, Richard Christian Matheson's Dystopia: Collected Stories, Stephen King's Night Shift and Ray Bradbury's The October Country -- favorites of mine.

Hill is a master storyteller, with a flair for clever sublime end-lines (reminiscent of another writer I admire, Robert Bloch). If you love short stories, you should be reading this sixteen-story anthology. Not a literary stinker in this bunch.

Review, story by story:

"Best New Horror" - A falling-apart-at-the-seams horror editor (Eddie Carroll) is turned on to an exciting, elusive writer whose disturbing stories drive Carroll to seek him out, with a result both expected and terrifingly wrong. Hill's able writing and effective foreshadowing makes this tale work -- in lesser hands, it wouldn't have.

"20th Century Ghost" - Gentle, sweet-natured tale about a woman (Imogen Gilchrist) whose of love of cinema defies Death. Memorable, classic piece.

"Pop Art" - Cleverly titled first-person account of an asocial boy who befriends an inflatable sixth-grade classmate, Arthur Roth. Funny, original, melancholic and ultimately inspiring. One of my favorite stories in this collection.

"You Will Hear the Locusts Sing" - An adolescent boy wakes up transformed into a locust -- and is delighted. Excellent thematic flip-flop of Kafka's "Metamorphosis".

"Abraham's Boys" - The Van Helsing brothers, sons of the famous vampire-executioner, discover their legacy. Well-written, ironic.

"Better Than Home" - An anxiety-ridden boy (and son of a Major League baseball player) talks about his boyhood, even as it happens. Pleasant, solid.

"The Black Phone" - Stunning, clever piece about a kidnapped boy (John) who's thrown into a basement with a supposedly-disconnected phone. One of my favorite entries in this anthology.

"In the Rundown" - A socially-inept store clerk encounters a roadside murder scene. Solid, this.

"The Cape" - A resentful ne'er-do-well accidentally finds a childhood blanket-turned-cape that allows him to fly. Excellent, with a sneaks-up-on-the-reader denouement.

"Last Breath" - Delightfully Bradbury-esque macabre tale about a retired doctor whose "museum of silence" contains the final exhalations of the now-dead. One of my favorite stories in this collection.

"Dead-Wood" - Trees with the ability to haunt: this uber-short piece is an interesting, confident and effective contrast to the other pieces in this anthology.

"The Widow's Breakfast" - Warm, sad tale about a rail-jumper who gets fed by a widow. Spine-freezing, sad end-line to this one.

"Bobby Conroy Comes Back From the Dead" - 1978. During the shooting of Dawn of the Dead, a made-up zombified extra (Conroy) runs into an old high school sweetheart -- who's married, with a six-year old kid. Bittersweet, nostalgic - on multiple levels. One of my favorite stories here.

"My Father's Mask" - Unsettling, at-times surrealistic take on the family-on-the-lam story, as told by a pubescent boy. Strange, solid work.

"Voluntary Committal" - Twilight Zone-esque entry about a schizophrenic, maze-building boy who sets out to save his brother. Melancholic, effective, runs a bit long.

"Scheherazade's Typewriter" - "Hidden" charming story in the author's Acknowledgements section, about a haunted Selectric typewriter. One of my favorite stories in this collection.

Mister B. Gone, by Clive Barker

(hb; 2007)

From the inside flap:

"This bone-chilling novel, in which a medieval devil speaks directly to his reader -- his tone murderous one moment, seductive the next -- is a never-before-published memoir allegedly penned in the year 1438. The demon has embedded himself in the very words of this tale of terror, turning the book itself into a dangerous object, laced with menace only too ready to break free and exert its power..."

Review:

C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters plus Voltaire's Candide equals Mister B. Gone.

The story: a minor demon, Jakabok Botch, born in a Ninth Circle ghetto, is fished blindly out of Hell by human demon hunters. Botch (aka, Mister B.) is rescued from them by Quitoon Pathea (aka, Mister Q) , a high-born and gentlemanly (by infernal standards) demon, who becomes Botch's traveling companion for many years.

Pathea's strange obsession with new human inventions becomes understandable when, arriving in the town of Mainz, he and Botch interrupt a divine bloodbath, and an equally divine conspiracy...

Readers seeking the gore-iffic brilliance of Barker's early works or the dark beauty of his later works should skip this one. It's a lightweight YA-level read, with fleeting mentions of torture (this is set during Medieval times), and (intentionally) half-hearted threats from a demon-book who can't make deliver on them, given his circumstances.

That's not to say this isn't a good read; it is. It's simply not one of Barker's better novels. While it's certainly adroit, humorous and moves along at a clipped pace, it has no real twist to speak of -- something that might've made this as landmark as Lewis's The Screwtape Letters.

Worth your time, if you don't expect much. Better Barker thrills: his three-volume anthology Books of Blood, The Great and Secret Show, The Hellbound Heart (this novella is the basis for the Hellraiser films), Sacrament, Galilee, and, what I consider his masterwork, Imajica.

Sacrament, by Clive Barker

(hb; 1996)

From the inside flap:

“... Will Rabjohns, perhaps the most famous wildlife photographer in the world, has made his reputation chronicling the fates of endangered species. Including his own. For even as Will rises to the pinnacle of his career, he is witnessing his own world – the close-knit San Francisco community that has nurtured and liberated him – ravaged by AIDS.

“Then an almost mystical encounter with a bear in the Artic leaves Will all but dead. In the depths of his coma, he revisits the wilderness of his youth in England and relives the terrifying encounter that created him, both as an artist and a man.

“Befriended by a mysterious couple, Rosa McGee and Jacob Steep, the young Will is granted the love he has been denied by his own family. But with that love comes a grim education. For while Rosa shows him the cruelties of passion, Jacob teaches him the purities of death – seducing him with the possibility that he might one day slaughter the last of a species and thus change the world forever.

“When Will stirs from his long sleep, he realizes that this dark dream, which he thought he had put behind him, is still very much a part of who he is. Haunted by its echoes and driven by the certainty that he must face Rosa and Jacob one final time, he sets out on a journey of self-discovery – a journey that will lead him from the familiar streets of San Francisco, back from the Yorkshire moors, and on to the stark beauty of Scotland's Western Isles. There he will penetrate the ultimate mystery – The Domus Mundi – and finally discover the secret that links his destiny to that of the innumerable creatures with whom we share our planet.”

Review:

An elegiac tone suffuses Sacrament, a gentler offering than Barker's earlier, bloodier writings (The Books of Blood; The Hellbound Heart – which later became the first Hellraiser film; The Damnation Game, etc.). Like those earlier works, though, Barker has sacrificed none of the poetic sublimity that graced them.

The theme of nature conservation also predominates (appropriate, given our global dilemmas), as well as beauty – some of the most beautiful scenes in this book are also the most basic: lovers, exchanging knowing heart-wise glances; a wintry field, stark beneath sudden sunlight, and deep quiet. Sensuality, humor and gore is very much present, often fused with spiritual and mortal moods.

One of Barker's best works, up there with Imajica and Galilee.