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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The way that Barker can write with such beauty and lush descriptive tone about the the most depraved and violent situations is truly incredible. This book definitely isn’t for everyone, but if you know Barker’s work and are into the dark worlds he creates, then this is a solid read. Like all short story anthologies some are better than others, a few of my favs that stood out:
• Book of Blood - loved how this opened the book and set up all the other stories.
• Midnight Meat Train - read this while riding the NYC subway, so fun 😈
• The Yattering & Jack
• Jaqueline Ess: Her Will & Testament
• Human Remains
• Book of Blood - loved how this opened the book and set up all the other stories.
• Midnight Meat Train - read this while riding the NYC subway, so fun 😈
• The Yattering & Jack
• Jaqueline Ess: Her Will & Testament
• Human Remains
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
NOBODY DOES IT LIKE BARKER. THE BOOKS OF BLOOD ANTHOLOGY IS A WHILRWIND OF VIOLENCE, DISRUPTION, CAREFUL VIVISECTIONS OF THE DEPRAVITY OF HUMANITY. BEAUTIFUL WORK
The quote on the cover of this book from Stephen King pretty much sums it up, something along the lines of Clive Barker "making the rest of us look like we've been sleeping". This collection of incredible shorts has nary a dud among them, with some 6 films being made to date from them. My favourite was 'In The Hills, The Cities' which I'll probably have nightmares about for the rest of my days. Comparatively, the shorts from King now seem to be a safety blanket with mostly wholesome resolutions. Not so much in the world of Barker, where everything truly is out to unsettle you, like all good horror should. In short, you can't do much better than this collection for short bursts of cold horror.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Favorites Ranked:
1. Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament
2. The Midnight Meat Train
3. Dread
4. The Books of Blood
5. Hell’s Event
5. The Skins of the Fathers
6. The Yattering and Jack
1. Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament
2. The Midnight Meat Train
3. Dread
4. The Books of Blood
5. Hell’s Event
5. The Skins of the Fathers
6. The Yattering and Jack
This edition includes volumes one through three of the 'Books of Blood', a collection of stories ranging from the overtly grotesque to the liminally disturbing but always maintaining Barker's distinctively pulpy, visceral style. For brevity, I will only highlight several of my favourites from the set.
'Yattering and Jack' concerns a demon tasked with driving to insanity a man seemingly too inane to affect. The characterisation of the demon inspires sympathy and the whole story is a delectably strange sort of comedy.
'In the Hills, The Cities' ... I can't even. Even amongst the rest of these stories of incredible oddity it stands out as memorable, with provincial townships whose occupants rituistically lash themselves together to form giants to do battle. Beyond that, it's the moments of insight into the cities as an organism that are truly striking.
'Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testement' is, in its own strange way, a story of female empowerment. Aside from the typically gorey and sexualised violence, it's the way that Jacqueline's power grows to affect her while she sleeps that was most unsettling.
'The Skins of the Fathers' concerns a small desert town and the demon creatures that harangue its citizens every dozen or so years. It's the stark contrast with which the human storie occur amongst this madness that make it memorable.
'Rawhead Rex' is FANTASTIC. More even than the destruction wrought by the titular titan, I loved the Lovecraftian way that its very form inspires awe and madness in almost equal parts among those who encounter it - and who survive long enough to react at all.
'The Body Politic' is brilliantly farsical. It depicts the most troublesome of rebellions; that of ones own body parts. The resolution of the main plot is a little bit disappointing, but the final scene of the story compensates nicely.
Quite unlike most others in the collection, 'The Last Illusion' is more adventure than horror. It concerns a mad dash to have the remains of a famous magician cremated before his body and soul can be claimed by the infernal beings with whom he made the deal to gain his powers.
If there was a 'Best of the Books of Blood', consisting of these and a few other particularly good stories, it would be easy to recommend. As it stands, the collection is closer to 1/3 great, 1/3 merely good, and 1/3 sadly average. As such, I would not recommend the collection in its entirity but to an established Barker fan.
'Yattering and Jack' concerns a demon tasked with driving to insanity a man seemingly too inane to affect. The characterisation of the demon inspires sympathy and the whole story is a delectably strange sort of comedy.
'In the Hills, The Cities' ... I can't even. Even amongst the rest of these stories of incredible oddity it stands out as memorable, with provincial townships whose occupants rituistically lash themselves together to form giants to do battle. Beyond that, it's the moments of insight into the cities as an organism that are truly striking.
'Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testement' is, in its own strange way, a story of female empowerment. Aside from the typically gorey and sexualised violence, it's the way that Jacqueline's power grows to affect her while she sleeps that was most unsettling.
'The Skins of the Fathers' concerns a small desert town and the demon creatures that harangue its citizens every dozen or so years. It's the stark contrast with which the human storie occur amongst this madness that make it memorable.
'Rawhead Rex' is FANTASTIC. More even than the destruction wrought by the titular titan, I loved the Lovecraftian way that its very form inspires awe and madness in almost equal parts among those who encounter it - and who survive long enough to react at all.
'The Body Politic' is brilliantly farsical. It depicts the most troublesome of rebellions; that of ones own body parts. The resolution of the main plot is a little bit disappointing, but the final scene of the story compensates nicely.
Quite unlike most others in the collection, 'The Last Illusion' is more adventure than horror. It concerns a mad dash to have the remains of a famous magician cremated before his body and soul can be claimed by the infernal beings with whom he made the deal to gain his powers.
If there was a 'Best of the Books of Blood', consisting of these and a few other particularly good stories, it would be easy to recommend. As it stands, the collection is closer to 1/3 great, 1/3 merely good, and 1/3 sadly average. As such, I would not recommend the collection in its entirity but to an established Barker fan.
would give this 5 but the stories got less intense and interesting as they went along
Amazing short horror stories
Favs:
- The Book of Blood
- The Midnight Meat Train
- Dread
- Jacqueline Ess: Her Will And Testament
- Son of Celluloid
- Rawhead Rex
- Confession of a (Pornographer’s) Shroud
- Scape-Goats
- Human Remains
Favs:
- The Book of Blood
- The Midnight Meat Train
- Dread
- Jacqueline Ess: Her Will And Testament
- Son of Celluloid
- Rawhead Rex
- Confession of a (Pornographer’s) Shroud
- Scape-Goats
- Human Remains