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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
Awesome collection of short stories that launched the career of Barker. Creepy as hell, each tale is pretty well thought out and touches a nerve deep inside. Entertaining and recommended.
4.5 stars
I absolutely love short stories in general. And those here are one of the best I read in my whole life. With vast imagination, great characters and different angles to what is scary it all makes up to a really great read. I might not enjoyed all the stories the same way, but even those less interesting were still very good.
My favorite ones were those starting perfectly normal. People going around with their life, working, socializing, making mistakes. And all of the sudden that derails - strange, evil things starting to happen out of thin air. I really appreciated that throwing me into a mess without any warning.
One other thing I found particularly appealing in this book was the sense of humor. It really shows how good a writer Clive Barker really is. No wonder that this has brought him to be recognized worldwide.
I absolutely love short stories in general. And those here are one of the best I read in my whole life. With vast imagination, great characters and different angles to what is scary it all makes up to a really great read. I might not enjoyed all the stories the same way, but even those less interesting were still very good.
My favorite ones were those starting perfectly normal. People going around with their life, working, socializing, making mistakes. And all of the sudden that derails - strange, evil things starting to happen out of thin air. I really appreciated that throwing me into a mess without any warning.
One other thing I found particularly appealing in this book was the sense of humor. It really shows how good a writer Clive Barker really is. No wonder that this has brought him to be recognized worldwide.
I'm upset with this short story collection because I loved the first part but the second and third ones were a bit of a letdown...
I thought they would be much more terrifying than that, in the same style as "The Hellbound Heart".
But the writing was beautiful and overall the plots were really different from each other. I also liked that we could experience several genres such as comedy, erotic thriller, paranormal etc.
Overall I really loved 9 short stories out of 16 and my favorites were the following: Pig Blood Blues / In the Hills, The City / Dread / Hell's Event / Jacqueline Ess / Humain Remains.
3,5/5
I thought they would be much more terrifying than that, in the same style as "The Hellbound Heart".
But the writing was beautiful and overall the plots were really different from each other. I also liked that we could experience several genres such as comedy, erotic thriller, paranormal etc.
Overall I really loved 9 short stories out of 16 and my favorites were the following: Pig Blood Blues / In the Hills, The City / Dread / Hell's Event / Jacqueline Ess / Humain Remains.
3,5/5
Clive Barker has a damn fine writer voice. Really beautiful prose for such horrific things. Perfect short stories for Halloween.
These are some of the best horror short stories I've ever read. Not every story us 5 stars but every one if them has kept me engaged and interested. I did not think I was going to enjoy this so much. I've been listening to the audio and they are well narrated...but this is one I will read again physically for sure.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I find it difficult to rate short story collections, since the quality of writing can often vary throughout. So for this collection, I'll just list some highlights.
STORIES I LOVED:
- The Yattering and Jack
- Pig Blood Blues
- Hell's Event
- Son of Celluloid
- Confessions of a (Pornographer's) Shroud
STORIES I HATED:
- Rawhead Rex
- Scape-Goats
STORIES I'M NOT TOO SURE HOW TO FEEL ABOUT BUT DEFINATELY LEFT AN IMPACT:
- In the Hills, the Cities
- Jacqueline Ess: Her Will And Testament
- Human Remains
STORIES I LOVED:
- The Yattering and Jack
- Pig Blood Blues
- Hell's Event
- Son of Celluloid
- Confessions of a (Pornographer's) Shroud
STORIES I HATED:
- Rawhead Rex
- Scape-Goats
STORIES I'M NOT TOO SURE HOW TO FEEL ABOUT BUT DEFINATELY LEFT AN IMPACT:
- In the Hills, the Cities
- Jacqueline Ess: Her Will And Testament
- Human Remains
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced