Reviews

Rating the stories of this lovely collection

I: THE BOOK OF BLOOD - 3/5
II: THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN - 4/5
III: THE YATTERING AND JACK - 4.5/5
IV: PIG BLOOD BLUES - 3.5/5
V: SEX, DEATH AND STARSHINE - 3.5/5
VI: IN THE HILLS, THE CITIES - 5/5

nathan01's review against another edition

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4.0

Barker joins the likes of King and Matheson in completely redefining my expectations of the horror genre, effectively shattering my prejudices against it. This is an insanely well written collection. Every story is great, packed with meaning and metaphor. Often all it takes is the failure to acknowledge a single sentence for the entire story to go over the reader's head. And this doesn't take away from the fact that these are just entertaining stories to read in general.

vatsal_was_here's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

mikel_pfeiffer's review against another edition

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5.0

This year I came up with the idea to read short stories during the month of February. Short stories for a short month. I was going to just read random stories from various collections but decided to start with The Books of Blood vol.1. I devoured Clive Barker books many years ago and most of his short stories I remember liking. I'm sure BoBv1 is a re-read for me but the tales are still as fresh and startling as ever. I really enjoyed all of them with my favorite being Pig Blood Blues. Barker's got a way with vivid descriptions for grotesque horror that few others can match.

blarp's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? No

4.0

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