dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
fast-paced
dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Not for the faint-hearted, these stories are seriously twisted 
fast-paced

I enjoyed this short story series! They were surprisingly diverse for something written in the 80s. My favourite was about a demon pestering an oblivious man. The shifting perspectives in each story are fun.


So many creepy and fascinating stories. If you like to be creeped out than Clive Barker is your man. Highly recommend.

final ranking:

1 the skins of the fathers
2 in the hills, the cities
3 rawhead rex
4 dread
5 human remains
6 book of blood
7 sex death and starshine
8 the midnight meat train
9 jacqueline ess: her last will and testament
10 pig blood blues
11 son of celluloid
12 scape-goats
13 the yattering and jack
14 new murders in the rue morgue
15 confessions of a pornographer's shroud
16 hell's event

loved all of them in their own way. have never read a horror anthology with this much variety and this much creativity. the stories range from blood curdling to delightful and they all go places I wasn't expecting and carved out dark spaces in my mind. Clive barker makes gore sexy. this is a book to savor, like a tasty carcass.
dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

The first book I read by Clive Barker, great short stories
challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated