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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really love Clive Barker. And I forget how much sometimes. These stories are part of his straight-up horror writing, which he moved away from later on. But they are worth the time.
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Stalking
Minor: Alcoholism, Religious bigotry
More of a 4.75. The only reason it doesn’t get a perfect 5 is because some of the stories lagged for me, but overall, this is a great short story collection (well, I guess technically 3 collections lol). I think it might’ve worked better if I had read it over a long period of time and hadn’t consumed it so quickly, because I found myself struggling at times, but that had nothing to do with Clive Barker and everything to do with my short attention span lol
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
overall great with just a few clunkers (11-14 below), overall ranking
1 Rawhead Rex
2 In the Hills, the Cities
3 Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament
4 The Midnight Meat Train
5 Dread
6 Confessions of a (Pornographer's) Shroud
7 The Yattering and Jack
8 Hell's Event
9 Pig Blood Blues
10 Scape-Goats
11 Human Remains
12 The Skins of the Fathers
13 Sons of Celluloid
14 Sex, Death and Starshine
15 New Murders in the Rue Morgue
1 Rawhead Rex
2 In the Hills, the Cities
3 Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament
4 The Midnight Meat Train
5 Dread
6 Confessions of a (Pornographer's) Shroud
7 The Yattering and Jack
8 Hell's Event
9 Pig Blood Blues
10 Scape-Goats
11 Human Remains
12 The Skins of the Fathers
13 Sons of Celluloid
14 Sex, Death and Starshine
15 New Murders in the Rue Morgue
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Eating disorder, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Clive Barker is brilliant. Along with Imajica I think the Books of Blood are his best work I have read up to now.
Some really enjoyable short stories. There are definitely a few that are memorable than others, but they all were at least interesting. Why can’t I do half stars on here? That’s a tab frustrating.
This would have been a classic 4.5 rating, but since we don’t have that option, I went for the full 5. As far as a collection of short stories go….it’s hard to beat this particular collection. As with every such book, a few don’t really work, particularly in Book 2. But the stories in 1 and 3 are ones that I simply adore…so 5 stars it is!