The Hellbound Heart

The Hellbound Heart
By Clive Barker
Published 1986

Debauched Frank Cotton's search for pleasures has led him to a mysterious box which allows him to contact the Order of the Gash, the Cenobites, who offer him experiances beyond anything he can imagine. Frank accepts.

Several months later Franks brother Rory and his wife Julia move into the house where Frank was taken by the Cenobites. A chance accident offers Frank the chance to escape the torments of the Cenobites with Julia's help, but what to do with Rory and his friend Kirsty?

Clive Barker's novella is a quick excellent read into the macabre. Those Cenobites just reek evil. Not as poetic as some of his other work, still anyone looking for a quick read could do worse.

*** out of *****

Note: The Hellbound Heart was filmed by Clive Barker as the movie Hellraiser, and spawned numerouis sequals.

Ode to the Hellbound Heart

The Damnation Game

The Damnation Game
By Clive Barker
Published: 1985

Warsaw, Poland: In the Second World Wars final days a thief moves through the ruins of Warsaw. He seeks a man known as Mamoulian, The Last European. When he final finds the mysterious Mamoulian, the thief and the European prepare to play a fateful game of cards.

England 1985: Marty Strauss, gambler and convicted thief is doing time in jail for a failed robbery, something he attempted to pay off gambling debts. In prison he is visted by Bill Toy and offered a chance at parole, if he agrees to become bodyguard to pharmactical giant Joseph Whitehead. Marty agrees and moves into Sanctuary, Whiteheads English estate where he lives with few servents and his Heroin addicted daughter Carys, who soon takes an interest in Marty.

In London a child killer, Anthony Breer, commits suicide, only to find himself resurrected by a weakening but still dangerous Mamoulian. Years ago Whitehead made a bargan, and the Last European is coming to collect his payment, and Marty's gonna find out what hell is truly about...

Written by Clive Barker (one of my favorite authors), the Damnation Game is Barker's first novel, and more in the mainstream horror genra. Like everything Barker writes it's good (but certanly not his best work). However the plot rarly picks up speed, and merly chugs along at a steady pace. Also Barker writes better then one would expect for a horror story, he also has the ability to write in a manner aproaching poetry, elegant, thoughtful and beautiful then in the same story switch to a more gutteral, blunt, and brutal style of writing giving his characters a greater sense of reality. Overall, The Damnation Game isn't the best introduction to Clive Barker's work (IMHO that honor belongs to The Great and Secret Show), however it will please fans of his work, and fans of horror fiction should find it a good way to pass the time. For everyone else well not essential one could certainly find worse to read, and should keep it in mind when searching for new reading material.

*** out of ***** (Note, I've added an extra star to the rating system from now on)

Also the next couple books I'm planning on reading are also by Clive Barker.

Empire of the Sun

Empire of the Sun
By J.G. Ballard
Published: 1984

Empire of the Sun is Ballard's semi-autobiographical novel of the Second World War in China. We follow the main character, Jim a young slightly detached boy from a well to do British family in Shanghai, from the beginng of the war when he is seperated from his parents, to the Internment Camp at Lunghua, and the chaos and civil war that followed the Japanese defeat. Along the way Jim incounters brutal and helpful Japanese, a self serving American named Basie, a selfless doctor, and a viscous gang of bandits. As the world he was born to die's Jim builds a childs confused understanding of war. An interesting book, as it shows the war in China threw the eyes of a young boy. Ballard makes us question ourselves, and ask how would I reacte in this situation? Would I be selfless like the Doctor? Or would I place my own survival above all else?

*** out of ****

Sidenote, Empire of the Sun was filmed by Steven Speilberg.