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lmt01 's review for:
Books of Blood, Volumes 1-3
by Clive Barker
The dead have highways.
They run, unerring lines of ghost-trains, of dream-carriages, across the wasteland behind our lives, bearing an endless traffic of departed souls. Their thrum and throb can be heard in the broken places of the world, through cracks made by acts of cruelty, violence and depravity. Their freight, the wandering dead, can be glimpsed when the heat is close to bursting, and sights that should be hidden come plainly into view.
The career of master author Clive Barker was kickstarted by the first three volumes of a series of short story collections, the Books of Blood. While the series wasn’t finished until 1985, the final three instalments being released after Barker’s first full-length novel, THE DAMNATION GAME, the first Books of Blood trilogy launched him into the mainstream of horror literature in ’84 despite these being the first ever publications from Barker. This kind of popularity at a debut can be compared to that of Stephen King’s CARRIE, the first trilogy boasting Barker’s potential for scaring the shit out of his readers.
If I’m being honest, I prefer dark-fantasy Barker to horror Barker, as the former incarnation of one of the greatest author’s ever showcases the brilliance of his unorthodox imagination. However, that’s not to say that he isn’t a good horror author—far from it, in fact. Barker’s first trilogy in the Books of Blood presents blood-soaked stories that never let gore override a good scare; sure, while there’s a loooooot of violence, there are also genuine frights to be found within these bloody pages. While some of the scares come from the monsters or macabre acts undergone by people, the other batch of chills is provided by the realistic portrayal of the worst kinds of humans. While you still feel afraid for the characters here, only one or two of them can be called pure-blood “good guys”. Almost every one of Barker’s victims falls into that grey area that separates good from evil—and some of them waver towards the dark side. While a fair few of the stories in OMNIBUS ONE deal with supernatural threats, others offer psychologically disturbing tales of suffering caused by humans. The best example of this is Volume II’s opening story, “Dread”, in which a disturbed man tries to understand the source of fear in order to cure his own phobias. Despite not concerning demonic entities, “Dread” is still probably one of the most terrifying stories in OMNIBUS ONE, depicting the protagonist’s descent into pitch-black madness as he becomes the baddy’s next experiment. However, the supernatural stories are still pretty chilling. From Barker’s disturbing descriptions of his monsters to what the beasts do, the ghosts and demons in the Books of Blood cross the line from being “spooky” to being “terrifying”. Barker’s monsters never feel artificial or kiddish, unpredictable as to make you guess at whether they are going to commit doing horrible deeds without pausing to consider their actions or do what they perceive to be “the right thing” (which, compared to the narcissism of the people who fight agains them, it may be). When a demon arrives at the scene, you never know what they’re going to do, only that it’s going to be bad for the poor, pathetic humans.
One was perhaps eighteen or twenty feet tall. Its skin, that hung in folds on its muscle, was a sheath of spikes, its head a cone of exposed teeth, set in scarlet gums. Another was three-winged, its triple ended tail thrashing the dust with reptilian enthusiasm. A third and fourth were married together in a union of monstrosities the result of which was more disgusting that the sum of its parts. Through its length and breadth this symbiotic horror was locked in seeping marriage, its limbs thrust in and out through wounds in its partners flesh. Though the tongues of its heads were wound together it managed a cacophonous howl.
However, as skilled as Barker is, the first trilogy of the Books of Blood aren’t perfect. As mentioned earlier, I believe that he is better at writing dark fantasy than he is horror, mostly because, when writing dark fantasy, he is a good as he can possibly be, while in horror everything about him—his imagination, his style, his themes, etc.—seems dampened somehow. There were quite a few stories in OMNIBUS ONE that I could barely tolerate like “Hell’s Event”, and others like “The Yattering and Jack” that I couldn’t finish at all. While some of the stories here are some of the best short stories to be produced by the horror genre, others are…well, I think you get the idea. However, since Barker is one of my favourite authors (ever), I’ll stop focusing on the negatives of his first ever release; if you want to see how many stories I enjoyed in comparison to those I didn’t, just look at my individual ratings for the stories below. (I have to admit: for a first effort, Volume I of the Books of Blood is an outstanding work. It’s truly hard to believe that, up until its release, he hadn’t written any other professional pieces of fiction.)
Despite being a spectacular writer of dark fantasy, Clive Barker is best known for his horror works like THE HELLBOUND HEART and the Books of Blood. This first trilogy, OMNIBUS ONE, captures the bleak powers of Barker’s mind for horror in a way that would be perfect if not for the stories that feel like, to be blunt, excess fat that drags the collection down.
Volume I
“The Book of Blood”: 4 Stars
“The Midnight Meat Train”: 4.5 Stars
“The Yattering and Jack”: 2 Stars
“Pig Blood Blues”: 3.5 Stars
“Sex, Death and Starshine”: 2 Stars
“In the Hills, the Cities”: 5 Stars
Final Score: 3.5 Stars
Volume II
“Dread”: 4 Stars
“Hell’s Event”: 3 Stars
“Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testiment”: 2 Stars
“The Skins of the Fathers”: 3 Stars
“New Murders in the Rue Morgue”: 3.5 Stars
Final Score: 3 Stars
Volume III
“Son of Celluloid”: 2 Stars
“Rawhead Rex”: 3.5 Stars
“Confessions of a (Pornographer’s) Shroud”: 3 Stars
“Scape-Goats”: 4 Stars
“Human Remains”: 3 Stars
Final Score: 3 Stars
They run, unerring lines of ghost-trains, of dream-carriages, across the wasteland behind our lives, bearing an endless traffic of departed souls. Their thrum and throb can be heard in the broken places of the world, through cracks made by acts of cruelty, violence and depravity. Their freight, the wandering dead, can be glimpsed when the heat is close to bursting, and sights that should be hidden come plainly into view.
The career of master author Clive Barker was kickstarted by the first three volumes of a series of short story collections, the Books of Blood. While the series wasn’t finished until 1985, the final three instalments being released after Barker’s first full-length novel, THE DAMNATION GAME, the first Books of Blood trilogy launched him into the mainstream of horror literature in ’84 despite these being the first ever publications from Barker. This kind of popularity at a debut can be compared to that of Stephen King’s CARRIE, the first trilogy boasting Barker’s potential for scaring the shit out of his readers.
If I’m being honest, I prefer dark-fantasy Barker to horror Barker, as the former incarnation of one of the greatest author’s ever showcases the brilliance of his unorthodox imagination. However, that’s not to say that he isn’t a good horror author—far from it, in fact. Barker’s first trilogy in the Books of Blood presents blood-soaked stories that never let gore override a good scare; sure, while there’s a loooooot of violence, there are also genuine frights to be found within these bloody pages. While some of the scares come from the monsters or macabre acts undergone by people, the other batch of chills is provided by the realistic portrayal of the worst kinds of humans. While you still feel afraid for the characters here, only one or two of them can be called pure-blood “good guys”. Almost every one of Barker’s victims falls into that grey area that separates good from evil—and some of them waver towards the dark side. While a fair few of the stories in OMNIBUS ONE deal with supernatural threats, others offer psychologically disturbing tales of suffering caused by humans. The best example of this is Volume II’s opening story, “Dread”, in which a disturbed man tries to understand the source of fear in order to cure his own phobias. Despite not concerning demonic entities, “Dread” is still probably one of the most terrifying stories in OMNIBUS ONE, depicting the protagonist’s descent into pitch-black madness as he becomes the baddy’s next experiment. However, the supernatural stories are still pretty chilling. From Barker’s disturbing descriptions of his monsters to what the beasts do, the ghosts and demons in the Books of Blood cross the line from being “spooky” to being “terrifying”. Barker’s monsters never feel artificial or kiddish, unpredictable as to make you guess at whether they are going to commit doing horrible deeds without pausing to consider their actions or do what they perceive to be “the right thing” (which, compared to the narcissism of the people who fight agains them, it may be). When a demon arrives at the scene, you never know what they’re going to do, only that it’s going to be bad for the poor, pathetic humans.
One was perhaps eighteen or twenty feet tall. Its skin, that hung in folds on its muscle, was a sheath of spikes, its head a cone of exposed teeth, set in scarlet gums. Another was three-winged, its triple ended tail thrashing the dust with reptilian enthusiasm. A third and fourth were married together in a union of monstrosities the result of which was more disgusting that the sum of its parts. Through its length and breadth this symbiotic horror was locked in seeping marriage, its limbs thrust in and out through wounds in its partners flesh. Though the tongues of its heads were wound together it managed a cacophonous howl.
However, as skilled as Barker is, the first trilogy of the Books of Blood aren’t perfect. As mentioned earlier, I believe that he is better at writing dark fantasy than he is horror, mostly because, when writing dark fantasy, he is a good as he can possibly be, while in horror everything about him—his imagination, his style, his themes, etc.—seems dampened somehow. There were quite a few stories in OMNIBUS ONE that I could barely tolerate like “Hell’s Event”, and others like “The Yattering and Jack” that I couldn’t finish at all. While some of the stories here are some of the best short stories to be produced by the horror genre, others are…well, I think you get the idea. However, since Barker is one of my favourite authors (ever), I’ll stop focusing on the negatives of his first ever release; if you want to see how many stories I enjoyed in comparison to those I didn’t, just look at my individual ratings for the stories below. (I have to admit: for a first effort, Volume I of the Books of Blood is an outstanding work. It’s truly hard to believe that, up until its release, he hadn’t written any other professional pieces of fiction.)
Despite being a spectacular writer of dark fantasy, Clive Barker is best known for his horror works like THE HELLBOUND HEART and the Books of Blood. This first trilogy, OMNIBUS ONE, captures the bleak powers of Barker’s mind for horror in a way that would be perfect if not for the stories that feel like, to be blunt, excess fat that drags the collection down.
Volume I
“The Book of Blood”: 4 Stars
“The Midnight Meat Train”: 4.5 Stars
“The Yattering and Jack”: 2 Stars
“Pig Blood Blues”: 3.5 Stars
“Sex, Death and Starshine”: 2 Stars
“In the Hills, the Cities”: 5 Stars
Final Score: 3.5 Stars
Volume II
“Dread”: 4 Stars
“Hell’s Event”: 3 Stars
“Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testiment”: 2 Stars
“The Skins of the Fathers”: 3 Stars
“New Murders in the Rue Morgue”: 3.5 Stars
Final Score: 3 Stars
Volume III
“Son of Celluloid”: 2 Stars
“Rawhead Rex”: 3.5 Stars
“Confessions of a (Pornographer’s) Shroud”: 3 Stars
“Scape-Goats”: 4 Stars
“Human Remains”: 3 Stars
Final Score: 3 Stars