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The Scarlet Gospels takes listeners back many years to the early days of two of Barker's most iconic characters in a battle of good and evil as old as time: The long-beleaguered detective Harry D'Amour, investigator of all supernatural, magical, and malevolent crimes, faces off against his formidable and intensely evil rival, Pinhead, the priest of hell. Barker devotees have been waiting for The Scarlet Gospels with baited breath for years, and it's everything they've begged for and more.
Weaving tales of the everyday world transformed into an unrecognizable place, where reason no longer exists and logic ceases to explain the workings of the universe, Clive Barker provides the stuff of nightmares in packages too tantalizing to resist. This first volume contains the short stories : "The Book of Blood," "The Midnight Meat Train," "The Yattering and Jack," "Sex, Death, and Starshine," and "In the Hills, the Cities,"
Cabal is the story of Boone, a tortured soul haunted by the conviction that he has committed atrocious crimes. In a necropolis in the wilds of Canada, he seeks refuge and finds the last great creatures of the world - the shape-shifters known as the Nightbreed. They are possessed of unearthly powers-and so is Boone. In the hunt for Boone, they too will be hunted. Now only the courage of this strange human can save them from extinction.
Tortured Souls is one of the most vividly imagined, tightly compressed novellas ever written by the incomparable Clive Barker. At once violent and erotic, brutal and strangely beautiful, it takes us into the heart of the legendary "first city" known as Primordium, the site of political upheaval, passionate encounters, and astonishing acts of transformation.
The demon, known only as "Jakerbok", is a major force of evil then and now. He taunts the listener to "Burn this audiobook" throughout this satanically autobiographical monologue, for he has embedded his very self inside each word....as a long-dormant vehicle for the dark forces to finally conquer all things good and holy in this world.
Clive Barker has made his mark on modern fiction by exposing all that is surreal and magical in the ordinary world - and exploring the profound and overwhelming terror that results. With its volatile mix of the fantastical and the contemporary, the everyday and the otherworldly, Weaveworld is an epic work of dark fantasy and horror - a tour de force from one of today's most forceful and imaginative artists.
The Scarlet Gospels takes listeners back many years to the early days of two of Barker's most iconic characters in a battle of good and evil as old as time: The long-beleaguered detective Harry D'Amour, investigator of all supernatural, magical, and malevolent crimes, faces off against his formidable and intensely evil rival, Pinhead, the priest of hell. Barker devotees have been waiting for The Scarlet Gospels with baited breath for years, and it's everything they've begged for and more.
Weaving tales of the everyday world transformed into an unrecognizable place, where reason no longer exists and logic ceases to explain the workings of the universe, Clive Barker provides the stuff of nightmares in packages too tantalizing to resist. This first volume contains the short stories : "The Book of Blood," "The Midnight Meat Train," "The Yattering and Jack," "Sex, Death, and Starshine," and "In the Hills, the Cities,"
Cabal is the story of Boone, a tortured soul haunted by the conviction that he has committed atrocious crimes. In a necropolis in the wilds of Canada, he seeks refuge and finds the last great creatures of the world - the shape-shifters known as the Nightbreed. They are possessed of unearthly powers-and so is Boone. In the hunt for Boone, they too will be hunted. Now only the courage of this strange human can save them from extinction.
Tortured Souls is one of the most vividly imagined, tightly compressed novellas ever written by the incomparable Clive Barker. At once violent and erotic, brutal and strangely beautiful, it takes us into the heart of the legendary "first city" known as Primordium, the site of political upheaval, passionate encounters, and astonishing acts of transformation.
The demon, known only as "Jakerbok", is a major force of evil then and now. He taunts the listener to "Burn this audiobook" throughout this satanically autobiographical monologue, for he has embedded his very self inside each word....as a long-dormant vehicle for the dark forces to finally conquer all things good and holy in this world.
Clive Barker has made his mark on modern fiction by exposing all that is surreal and magical in the ordinary world - and exploring the profound and overwhelming terror that results. With its volatile mix of the fantastical and the contemporary, the everyday and the otherworldly, Weaveworld is an epic work of dark fantasy and horror - a tour de force from one of today's most forceful and imaginative artists.
Marty Strauss, a gambling addict recently released from prison, is hired to be the personal bodyguard of Joseph Whitehead, one of the wealthiest men in the world. The job proves more complicated and dangerous than he thought, however, as Marty soon gets caught up in a series of supernatural events involving Whitehead, his daughter (who is a heroin addict), and a devilish man named Mamoulian, with whom Whitehead made a Faustian bargain many years earlier, during World War II.
Imajica is an epic beyond compare: vast in conception, obsessively detailed in execution, and apocalyptic in its resolution. At its heart lies the sensualist and master art forger Gentle, whose life unravels when he encounters Judith Odell, whose power to influence the destinies of men is vaster than she knows, and Pie "oh" pah, an alien assassin who comes from a hidden dimension.
In the little town of Palomo Grove, two great armies are amassing; forces shaped from the hearts and souls of America. In this New York Times best-seller, Barker unveils one of the most ambitious imaginative landscapes in modern fiction, creating a new vocabulary for the age-old battle between good and evil. Carrying its readers from the first stirring of consciousness to a vision of the end of the world, The Great and Secret Show is a breathtaking journey in the company of a master storyteller.
When Dr. Louis Creed takes a new job and moves his family to the idyllic, rural town of Ludlow, Maine, this new beginning seems too good to be true. Yet despite Ludlow's tranquility, there's an undercurrent of danger that lingers...like the graveyard in the woods near the Creeds' home, where generations of children have buried their beloved pets.
Mr. Hood's Holiday House has stood for 1,000 years, welcoming countless children into its embrace. It is a place of miracles and blissful rounds of treats and seasons, where every childhood whim may be satisfied.… There is a price to be paid, of course, but young Harvey Swick, bored with his life and beguiled by Mr. Hood's wonders, does not stop to consider the consequences. It is only when the House shows it's darker face - when Harvey discovers the pitiful creatures that dwell in its shadows - that he comes to doubt Mr. Hood's philanthropy.
Four decades after it first shook the nation, then the world, William Peter Blatty's thrilling masterwork of faith and demonic possession returns in an even more powerful form. Raw and profane, shocking and blood-chilling, it remains a modern parable of good and evil and perhaps the most terrifying novel ever written.
Hollywood has made a star of Todd Pickett. But time is catching up with him. After plastic surgery goes awry, Todd needs somewhere to hide away for a few months while his scars heal. As Todd settles into a mansion in Coldheart Canyon - a corner of the city so secret it doesn't even appear on a map - Tammy Lauper, the president of his fan club, comes to the City of Angels determined to solve the mystery of Todd's disappearance.
Welcome to Derry, Maine. It's a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real. They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made 28 years ago calls them to reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city's children.
Ben Mears has returned to Jerusalem's Lot in the hopes that living in an old mansion, long the subject of town lore, will help him cast out his own devils and provide inspiration for his new book. But when two young boys venture into the woods and only one comes out alive Mears begins to realize that there may be something sinister at work and that his hometown is under siege by forces of darkness far beyond his control.
It begins in the most boring place in the world: Chickentown, U.S.A. There lives Candy Quackenbush, her heart bursting for some clue as to what her future might hold. When the answer comes, it's not one she expects. Out of nowhere comes a wave, and Candy, led by a man called John Mischief (whose brothers live on the horns on his head), leaps into the surging waters and is carried away.
Jack Torrance's new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he'll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote...and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.
These two tales, the first ever written by Clive, are offered here for the very first time. Their production has been lovingly supervised by Clive himself to ensure that these are not mere books, but works of art to be cherished. First Tales is sure to delight everyone from longtime fans to new listeners.
Frank Cotton's insatiable appetite for the dark pleasures of pain led him to the puzzle of Lemarchand's box, and from there, to a death only a sick-minded soul could invent. But his brother's love-crazed wife, Julia, has discovered a way to bring Frank back - though the price will be bloody and terrible...and there will certainly be hell to pay.
THE SEASONS LONG FOR EACH OTHER
An interesting look at pain and pleasure. What is one man's pain, may be another man's pleasure and vice versa. A man calls up demons, believing he is going to spend eternity in orgies, but what he gets is the opposite.
SOMEWHERE A BELL WAS RINGING
This is bloody and gory, but do not dismiss it as gore for gore's sake. Some thought went into the writing of this story. It is not a masterpiece, but it is entertaining and you will not sleep through it.
COME TO DADDY
Narrator does a great job.
18 of 19 people found this review helpful
Would you listen to The Hellbound Heart again? Why?
Yes. I'm very inspired by Barker's works and the audio for this was beautiful.
What other book might you compare The Hellbound Heart to and why?
120 Days of Sodom and The Story of O. Maybe not in plot, but in meaning. The pushing of boundaries.
Have you listened to any of Jeffrey Kafer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No, but I hope to now.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes and did.
Any additional comments?
Kafer's life to the Cenobites was perfection. His voice giving the details of the summoning ritual in the beginning gave it deeper meaning.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
You can Google me for the rest of the review! I have a whole review of this book in my Blogger and Wordpress blog:
"Inkish Kingdoms"
Hellbound Heart contains almost all of the mandatory elements for it to be a Horror story: “haunted” houses, magic objects, doors to other dimensions, dark characters, tension, sex, violence, and destruction. This whole story goes around the Lemarchand’s box and its secrets. Twist, click, turn, click, and then: you are doomed for eternity. Most people are scared of dying because nobody knows for sure what is beyond this reality. This novella builds in the reader anxiety, a sense of danger and dread that makes you want to keep reading. At some point, I was yelling (in my head of course) for one of the characters to get the fxck out of that place, and even prayed for that character… (not really, but the book had me on my knees). I want to add that the audiobook had special effects that disturbed me down to my core.
When I say it was brought from hell, I mean it as a complement!
10 of 12 people found this review helpful
What about Jeffrey Kafer’s performance did you like?
Love his voice!!!
Any additional comments?
I listened to this book while on my drive home from work, I got so engrossed that I took it to the gym to finish listening while I worked out. It was fast paced and never dull.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful
If you could sum up The Hellbound Heart in three words, what would they be?
Um... Hellraiser's Origins Story
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Hellbound Heart?
The fact that I had NO idea that Clive Barker wrote this as a short story before he wrote the screen play for the movie Hellraiser. For someone who grew up in the 80s you would think I would have known that especially since I like that movie. Anyway... The book is better than the movie, because they ran out of money. "So, Barker and a "Greek guy" animated these scenes (the end sequences) by hand over a single weekend. Barker has also commented that he thinks the FX turned out very well considering the amount of alcohol the two consumed that weekend." (Quoted from IMDb)
Which scene was your favorite?
When the Engineer shows up
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
No. The whole thing is pretty twisted.
Any additional comments?
If you are a Barker fan, this is a must. If you liked the movie Hellraiser, this is a must. If you just like a good, weird horror short story I guess you could make this a must. Give it a shot, you might like it.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful
The Hellraiser movies owe their start to this novella. And I had hoped to revisit this story to find what inspired so much gory insanity.
I was excited when, in focussing on Julia, the story seems to become about marriage. Marriage can seem like a curse, a trap and the "Double Indemnity"-like bargain Julia enters into with Frank functions as a dark nightmare version of marriage. But then the story abandons Julia's perspective and we spend the fifth act in the realm of basic (and uninteresting) horror. The book has the nice Miss Havisham-like death bride image near the very end, but it feels as though, having approached metaphoric engagement and literary depth, Mr. Barker lost inspiration (or nerve) and rapidly concluded with blood and body parts.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
What did you love best about The Hellbound Heart?
The tension once Kirsty begins to suspect Julia.
What did you like best about this story?
The scene where Frank succeeds in opening LeMarchand's box.
Which character – as performed by Jeffrey Kafer – was your favorite?
It's hard not to love Kirsty, but Jeffrey Kafer really brought the otherworldly nature of the cenobites to life.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
No, but it could definitely give some people nightmares.
Any additional comments?
I was touched by the sadness of Rory and Julia's loveless marriage.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful
Clive Barker's short, but terrifying, story wonderfully preformed. Fans of Hellraiser, and horror, will love.
loved the movie and now the book.. soo good. loved it and wasnt very long.
Better than the movie. The cenobites are different than those shown in the movie, I still don't really know much about The Engineer though.
A great listen for Hellraiser fans, very well read.
As usual Clive Barker does a good job with this story.
Kafers performance in this book is fantastic. Story is griping and disgusting at the same time.
For those who enjoyed hellraiser, this story won't disappoint, in many ways I preferred it to the movie, with the character of Frank getting more fleshed out and a somewhat extended back story.
Quite short, but doesn't out stay it's welcome
Where does The Hellbound Heart rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This particular audiobook ranks as one of the better experiences out there with a clarity of voice that allows you to move beyond the page into the world Clive Barker has crafted.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Hellbound Heart?
The opening chapters where Frank realises the gravity of his situation, and the descriptions of his now oversensitive senses.
What does Jeffrey Kafer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Jeffrey Kafer brings a clear and easily listenable book allowing you to enjoy Clive Barker's descriptive as it should.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
This book is not a book intended to make you laugh or cry, but it easily achieves its goals of horror, disgust, repellance and abandonment.
Any additional comments?
If you have heard of Pinhead or indeed seen the movie Hellraiser be sure to get this, as this will tear your soul appart harder than the movies will ever do.
This was a fun read - albeit a tad short. I enjoyed learning what I could about the Cenobites and the Lament Configuration and now I want more.
Of course, if you're looking for Pinhead in particular - this might not be the story for you : )
On a final note; I found the closing lines to be beautifully chosen. Really glad I got this one.
simply amazing Clive Barker truly outdid himself so similar to the film and yet the changes he made for the film are so much better while I prefer the film the book is still amazing