I am a man of simple tastes. When I see someone reviewing a work by Clive Barker I just give it a like. Your taste and review are spot on as always. Your channel is the best, thanks Cliff! ✌🏻
Pet Semetary is one of the greatest horror novels ever written. Most people think it’s just about reanimated pets, buts it’s really about death. Stephen King has written that when his daughters cat died he told her a comforting story of how God wanted a pet. He found her upset the next day, yelling that God should give her back her cat, and get his own cat. He then thought how a parent would react to the loss of a child. It’s a meditation on the strange and absurd horror of death, and the ways people react to it. It’s very Lovecraftian in its horror.
Yes I thought it was about grief and the lengths people will go to to try and bring back those they’ve lost (and ultimately they can’t). Fantastic novel. One of his best, I need to read it again.
Ghost Story - Peter Straub // Carrion Comfort - Dan Simmons // The Ceremonies - T.E.D. Klein // The Damnation Game - Clive Barker // Swan Song - Robert R. McCammon
I am glad to see this story being reviewed. I am only getting into the works of Clive Barker, I mam bowled over by the power of his writing style and his storytelling prowess. He is a writer that I have come to greatly admire as a writer myself and a queer writer. His ability to translate these feelings of utter terror and the tensions of these experiences is amazing! Barker is a wordsmith of the first degree, a born artist and storyteller. I have slowly been making my way through his works, but there is a very good reason why "The Hellbound Heart" and the other of the Hellraiser/Cenobite stories have been as successful as they are: they tap into the dark heart of being human, and our capacity to create suffering for each other. And the Cenobites, while not villains, are amused spectators at the suffering. And when one calls them, they better be prepared. They want pleasure, the Cenobites will deliver tenfold. They are one of the best and most memorable horror story creatures in modern horror literature and horror film history. Once you see them, you never forget them. And the most recent film of Hellraiser (2022), done by Hulu, actually brings to light the very genderless/androgynous aspect of the Cenobites. And the gender neutral actress who portrays the pinhead Cenbobite is remarkable and intimidating and terrifying. Though this would not be my go-to horror story to read for Halloween, "Dark Matter: An Arctic Ghost Story" by Michelle Paver, the collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James, "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson, and "Don't Look Now" by Daphne du Maurier are my go-to horror stories for Halloween and the season of the long nights. I hope some of these might interest you? Hope you have a lovely spooky season!!
Favorite Halloween story is either Mask of The Red Death by Poe or Rashomon by Akutagawa. The latter isn't really a Halloween story but the atmosphere of the setting, night descending on an abandoned temple filled with corpses, I think fits the vibe
I came here to say this. The first Book of Blood in particular is absolutely insane and pretty damn consistent. “The Midnight Meat Train,” “Pig Blood Blues,” and “In the Hills, the Cities” are all stellar and off-the-rails nuts.
Borges brought me to your channel and since then I have been exploring the content. I consider everything I've seen so far excellent and I hope you continue creating stuff that is as enjoyable as it is informative...congratulations! I'm taking advantage of this video to ask you if you've uploaded anything about Joe Hill (I searched the playlist and couldn't find anything). Well, that's all. Apologies for my English and a big hug from Buenos Aires.
Hello, your regular off-topicker here. I bashed one of your shirts a while ago. Have to compliment this time - you have totally upped the game. Top notch! Shirt was fun to watch, although it was clear from the beginning that this book wouldn't be for me. As a softy I can't read (or watch) horror. But I will check the Barker interview.
Can I just say I'm used to book channels having a nice library, but you sir have a great shirt and a great moustache. Oh, the book looks cool too. Almost forgot to mention the book. :3
Really loved this video. Clive Barker is my favorite author personally. And you nailed both the synopsis and just the whole vibe of the story. My top three Clive books are, The damnation game, weaveworld, imajica.
Hey by the way I noticed it’s been two years since you’ve updated your all videos in order playlist! I’d love to see it get up to date when you find some time, long playlists such as that are some of my favorite things to play while I fall asleep
The central concept of the story, beings who renounce their humanity in quest of ultimate sensation, pain and pleasure blurring into one, is brilliant.
My friend Sage Hammond (now a chef in Washington) was the first person to die in Hellraiser 3. He was flying across the country and someone he sat next to asked, would you like to be in a movie?
Just read 'the haunting of hill house', and 'war of the worlds', to get into the Halloween spirit. They were both brilliant. I've read a few other 'scary' novels (Dracula; Psycho; The shining; The tenant, and a few more King novels) but nothing that has ever had me terrified to read on. Any suggestions?
Great take as always. So glad to see someone picked up on the nuance and intricacies within Barker's writing and not just the fact it's soaked in blood and the overtly sexual. Very redolent of Bataille in its own unique way! Favourite horror/gothic book pick isn't conventionally either by definition, but I've gotta go with Les Chants de Maldoror.
I love this book and I agree that the first Hellraiser film seems to be the best! I also only watched the first two, but plan to watch two more just for the *laughs* 😂 I like that you mentioned Cronenberg, De Sade and also The history of the eye as I'm interested in all 3! I'll listen to your review about History of the eye once I read the book. I'm saving it for summer because it's a short book. I love your reviews!
Clive Barker stated in an interview that he'd modeled all Julia after all the old vindictive hags he prostituted himself to when he was hustling. And although there are several horrible people and cenobites in the book and first two movies, Julia is the primary murderer.
Our Share of Night - Mariana Enriquez, Night Shift - Stephen King, Ghost Story - Peter Straub, The Auctioneer - Joan Samson, In the Mouth of Madness - Sutter Kane.
I follow you for years, and it’s always delightful to hear you. But I must be honest, I miss the classics with you, and international literature and not so much contemporary and American.
Don’t really have a favorite Halloween book, and in fact, rereading rarely happens oddly enough in my literary existence. However. There is one that I feel may have some potential to be both my favorite Halloween book and will in fact be reread soon. Indefinitely before the month is over; Thomas Ligotti “Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe” And as I am typing this you are speaking of music and scores… so then I highly recommend if you are not familiar with… Current 93 Ligotti and 93 are hand and hand and hand…
I just want to plug an old horror movie that I rarely hear anything about, Sisters by Brian De Palma. Really cool to see something by a good reviewer about Clive Barker whom I've never read, though I've seen his visual art which I like. I don't like his films.
Hi Could you please review the book 'The collection of short stories' written by O. Subramanian. I thought it is a nice one to read. It's is entirely based on the real life experiences of an ordinary man.
The thing with the blood having to fall on the floor on the attic it has always seem such a weak point of the film to me. I can't help to think that if Rory had went to the bathroom, there would be no story.
I think the book The Consumer by Michael Gira would be up your alley. Just read the lyrics of an album by SWANS for a taste of the depravity and soul-searching darkness.
I have to humbly disagree about the sequel to Hellraiser. Hellbound is like the Empire Strikes Back of horror films. It compellingly expands the original movies themes and ideas while it explores the inexplicable nature of the god that the cenobites serve. In fact Hellbound seems to imply a rather Dualistic framing of the Hellraiser cosmology. The god of darkness and its dominion is of equal scope and magnitude as the God of light “above”. A deeper horror I would think.
Most of the sequels are terrible. Most of the latter were not specifically Hellraiser movies but had the IP crowbarred into them so that the company could keep hold of the license. The 2022 one however is awesome! Apparently, it has a lot of the lore from the Books of Blood and Hellbound Heart. I haven't read them so this is a great explainer of how it ties in with the movies. "Hellraiser II - Hellbound" hints at a lot of lore surrounding the cenobites and their god, Leviathan.
...usually i would go with the man who will probably never get the Nobel-prize but would have already gotten it if he only would write about anything else but Horror...
