Reviews with content warning for Body horror - The Hellbound Heart

You know the story. A selfish hedonist opens a puzzle box on the promise of unspeakable pleasures. Then he finds out the hard way that he really didn't understand what that truly meant.

I can't decide if I enjoy the film or the novella more. The two have a lot in common. All of the story beats are the same: even some of the dialogue is identical. Barker created both, so that isn't surprising although he did make some interesting changes in adaptation.

Kirsty's role in the first half of the novella didn't feel very organic as 'just a friend'. This improves as everything kicks into gear, but it was the right call to make her Rory's daughter for the film.

On the other hand, Hellbound Heart is stronger for both ditching Kirsty's boyfriend (who added nothing) and preserving mystique around the cenobites. There's no giant monsters chasing people down tunnels in the book. I liked that the Engineer was something much more esoteric.

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saborders's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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ameliastebbing's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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marigoldgem's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved the hellraiser movies and I was very excited to finally read the book it was based on. I really love the details on the cenobites and kirsty’s character, she’s such a bad ass in the book compared to the movie. I also found the differences the movie made to the story interesting though they aren’t very big. Definitely recommend.

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kyra_joy's review

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was just meh, wasn’t bad in a way and I’ll probably read the second but I didn’t find it particularly spectacular either. A good read if you’re into body horror but wasn’t particularly scary. Also a good read I think if you have watched or plan to watch the movies as it could be fun to compare the two.

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jblago's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Very engaging for how short it is and dripping in macabre style. The creativity on display is also compelling and commendable even through the sort of morbid parts, of which there are plenty.
The plot does feel somewhat predictable even if you haven’t seen the film adaptation but admittedly the general premise is just… cool. The sort of subtle suggestion that there is a larger “lore” is also very tantalizing. The writing is detailed enough and focuses on what I would consider the more interesting parts of a gruesome and uncomfortable story.
Although, as not a big fan of sort of “erotic horror”, and the many possibilities that sub genre can lead to, there were some parts I liked less than other.

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theevictor13's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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