A review by splatterjunk
Clive Barker's Books of Blood: Volume One by Clive Barker

5.0

This is, pound for pound, the best collection of short horror I have ever experienced.

Only six stories concern us here:

"The Books of Blood" - A haunting framing story that sets the tone for the rest of the tales wonderfully.

"The Midnight Meat Train" - a tense, brutal mystery with a cosmic twist that kept me sleeping with the lights on.

"The Yattering and Jack" - A demonic infestation is not all that it seems

"Pig Blood Blues" - Visceral and heartbreaking tale set in a boys home for wayward teens; some scenes here had me shedding tears and recoiling in disgust immediately after

"Sex, Death, and Starshine" - The glitz and glamour of the stage hides something darker than infidelity, and something older.

"In the Hills, the Cities" - Quite simply the best horror short story I've read in 5 years.

5/5, not a dud to be found