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Clive Barker's Books of Blood 1-3 by Clive Barker
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Clive Barker's Books of Blood 1-3

by Clive Barker

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The Books of Blood were collections of short stories, and this is a collection of the first three volumes. Clive Barker is definitely a master of the horror short story, although he is no longer writing in that genre. In this collection, Dread is the short story which terrified me the most.

"We are all our own graveyards I believe; we squat amongst the tombs of the people we were." -- Introduction

"...that there was worse in the world than dread. Worse than death itself. There was pain without hope of healing. There was life that refused to end, long after the mind had begged the body to cease. And worst, there were dreams come true." -- Dread

I read the short stories:
Volume 1
The Book of Blood -- Ghost; (Intro to the collection)
The Midnight Meat Train -- Serial Killer; Monster; New York
The Yattering and Jack -- Demon
Pig Blood Blues -- Monster
Sex, Death, and Starshine -- Zombies
In the Hills, the Cities -- "The Body of the State"
Volume 2
Dread -- Mad Scientist; Serial Killer
Hell's Event -- Demon; Hell
Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament -- Psychic power over flesh; Feminist
The Skins of the Fathers -- Monster
Volume 3
New Murders in the Rue Morgue -- Mystery; Mad Scientist
Son of Celluloid -- Monster
Rawhead Rex -- Monster
Confessions of a (Pornographer's) Shroud -- Ghost
Scape-Goats -- Ghost ( )
ktoonen | May 15, 2009 |  
Perfect for any horror fan! Better than his movies! The vivid writing grabs the reader and thrusts him/her into the story so that when youre done you half expect blood splatter on your clothes. ( )
hemlockclock | Mar 13, 2009 |  
Hellraiser, need I say more. Scary short stories and well-written.
bkwyrmy43 | Dec 12, 2007 |  
Some of the greatest horror-stories ever told. Innovative, sensual and disturbing. ( )
Ex_Oblivione | Aug 10, 2007 |  
This is the first work of Clive Barker's I ever read and inspired a life-long literary crush. It was one of those books I checked out constantly as a teenager. Years later when I got my hands of a copy of my own I reread the stories. For the most part they had held up over the intervening years. It's still one of my favorite horror collections. ( )
roach | Jan 1, 2007 |  
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Amazon.com (ISBN 0425165582, Paperback)

"Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red." For those who only know Clive Barker through his long multigenre novels, this one-volume edition of the Books of Blood is a welcome chance to acquire the 16 remarkable horror short stories with which he kicked off his career. For those who already know these tales, the poignant introduction is a window on the creator's mind. Reflecting back after 14 years, Barker writes:

I look at these pieces and I don't think the man who wrote them is alive in me anymore.... We are all our own graveyards I believe; we squat amongst the tombs of the people we were. If we're healthy, every day is a celebration, a Day of the Dead, in which we give thanks for the lives that we lived; and if we are neurotic we brood and mourn and wish that the past was still present.

Reading these stories over, I feel a little of both. Some of the simple energies that made these words flow through my pen--that made the phrases felicitous and the ideas sing--have gone. I lost their maker a long time ago.

These enthusiastic tales are not ashamed of visceral horror, of blood splashing freely across the page: "The Midnight Meat Train," a grisly subway tale that surprises you with one twist after another; "The Yattering and Jack," about a hilarious demon who possesses a Christmas turkey; "In the Hills, the Cities," an unusual example of an original horror premise; "Dread," a harrowing non-supernatural tale about being forced to realize your worst nightmare; "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," about a woman who kills men with her mind. Some of the tales are more successful than others, but all are distinguished by strikingly beautiful images of evil and destruction. No horror library is complete without them. --Fiona Webster

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:01 -0400)

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