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beanformation's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mightyjor's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5 stars
There are subtle differences here that actually make me like this quite a bit more than the movie! While Hellraiser is rightfully a horror classic, it always felt a bit long and contrived. I never understood the rules the Cenobites followed or why they didn't just kill the main character. It has some of the best practical effects and make up in all of horror, and because of this it's aged remarkably well visually, but the story and characters were pretty worthless.
I won't say that this novella solves all those problems, but it's shorter and has almost no padding. No main character boyfriend subplot to waste your time.
One thing I absolutely love about this is that the Cenobites aren't really evil...they're kind of like children almost. In the movie, they were almost trying to hunt down Kirsty along with Frank and take pleasure in scaring her. Here they just want to give "pleasure" which coincidentally to them is eternal torment and suffering. I love when Kirsty solves the puzzle box and they're like "sorry you didn't know what this was, but rules are rules, you've got to submit to the torture forever. It's happened before, nothing I can do about it" like they're just some kind of crappy customer service. They also ask Frank like 2 or 3 times if he really wants to go with them and he agrees. I mean, it seems like they would have taken him regardless, so maybe they were just collecting some data to be like "we asked you" down the road. I don't know. But point is, it worked great for me.
All the characters still kind of suck without any kind of depth, but that's not really what the book is going for. Like with the movie, the Cenobites are the stars of this. Anytime they're on screen, it's so gripping. I love how they're just waiting around in the house and how easily they fell for Frank's deception where he's just wearing Rory's face. Like, they're not really human and they don't act like it. Same way maybe a taxidermy animal looks like a real one to us but we would immediately know something was wrong with human taxidermy. Cenobites are just so cool.
There's some explicit sexual stuff that I could do without, but it's a brief enough part of the story that I just skimmed and was fine.
There are subtle differences here that actually make me like this quite a bit more than the movie! While Hellraiser is rightfully a horror classic, it always felt a bit long and contrived. I never understood the rules the Cenobites followed or why they didn't just kill the main character. It has some of the best practical effects and make up in all of horror, and because of this it's aged remarkably well visually, but the story and characters were pretty worthless.
I won't say that this novella solves all those problems, but it's shorter and has almost no padding. No main character boyfriend subplot to waste your time.
One thing I absolutely love about this is that the Cenobites aren't really evil...they're kind of like children almost. In the movie, they were almost trying to hunt down Kirsty along with Frank and take pleasure in scaring her. Here they just want to give "pleasure" which coincidentally to them is eternal torment and suffering. I love when Kirsty solves the puzzle box and they're like "sorry you didn't know what this was, but rules are rules, you've got to submit to the torture forever. It's happened before, nothing I can do about it" like they're just some kind of crappy customer service. They also ask Frank like 2 or 3 times if he really wants to go with them and he agrees. I mean, it seems like they would have taken him regardless, so maybe they were just collecting some data to be like "we asked you" down the road. I don't know. But point is, it worked great for me.
All the characters still kind of suck without any kind of depth, but that's not really what the book is going for. Like with the movie, the Cenobites are the stars of this. Anytime they're on screen, it's so gripping. I love how they're just waiting around in the house and how easily they fell for Frank's deception where he's just wearing Rory's face. Like, they're not really human and they don't act like it. Same way maybe a taxidermy animal looks like a real one to us but we would immediately know something was wrong with human taxidermy. Cenobites are just so cool.
There's some explicit sexual stuff that I could do without, but it's a brief enough part of the story that I just skimmed and was fine.
amirax's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
selenajean's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those instances of the movie being better than the book.
welovelizards's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.5
gospelflare's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Sexual violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Sexual assault and Infidelity
ritikaupadhyay's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
mattyeoman89's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25