The Books of Blood, Volume 1

By: Clive Barker

Narrated by: Simon Vance, Dick Hill, Peter Berkrot, Jeffrey Kafer, Chet Williamson, Chris Patton

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Books of Blood combine the ordinary with the extraordinary while radiating the eroticism that has become Barker's signature. 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.

Never one to shy away from the unimaginable or the unspeakable, Clive Barker breathes life into our deepest, darkest nightmares, creating visions that are at once terrifying, tender, and witty.

The Books of Blood confirm what horror fans everywhere have known for a long time: We will be hearing from Clive Barker for many years to come. 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."

©1984 Seraphim Films (P)2013 David N. Wilson

Everyone's a Book of Blood

What did you love best about The Books of Blood, Volume 1?

I've been reading Barker and collecting his stuff since the late 80s. He's the great imaginer of our time. These first stories, raw, powerful and shocking at the time ushered in a brand new understanding of the politics of horror. No longer were we talking about the outside threats, the aliens, the monsters, we were facing our own inner demons, we were the monsters, and Clive Barker really understood that long before the rest. The human monster is the most frightening of all. And these stories, from the Midnight Meat Train rattling beneath NYC to the unhappy demonic Yattering trying to do the job he hates, the visceral nature of Pigs Blood Blues, Sex Death and Starshine... brilliant... but truly the gem, the story that assures Barker's legacy is that final one, In the Hills, The Cities... which is quite possibly one of the best stories of fantasy-horror ever written.

12 of 14 people found this review helpful

Pure brilliance!

The stories themselves are interesting and emotionally touching. Of course we get the Clive Barker mood with it's suspence, horror and gore. Anyone who calls himself/herself a horror fan must experience "The Books Of Blood".

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

WICKED !

Mr Barker has delivered yet again another masterpiece of Science fiction/ Horror.
Books of Blood #1 was great.
can't wait to read the rest.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Throw Ration and Reason out the window!

Any additional comments?

After listening to these stories I went on an aggressive search for everything that Clive Barker had released through Audible. He is a Master Story teller. I still have his stories in my head! Life is so full of the everyday... Barker knows how to take you away. But who knows where he is going to take you. AWESOME.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Riveting and Bone-Chilling!

Quite possibly the scariest audiobook I have ever listened too! From the author who brought us the "Hell Raiser" movies, I should have known this would be a riveting, bone-chilling experience. No one can write horror like Clive Barker with his twists and turns, and mind-bending exploits into the dark side of humanity. This collection of short stories is certainly not for the faint of heart! I'm not typically a fan of a lot of "gore" but with Barker's stories it's inevitable and it works fantastically to his advantage. Each of these stories left me in absolute awe....and yes, rather afraid of the dark. I quickly learned that these were not the stories to listen to before going to bed. But, they were incredible nonetheless. The narrators all performed outstandingly and to choose one favorite over the others would be a grave injustice. Each narrator had a unique, eerie quality that only enhanced Barker's writing and brought it to life. My initial impression was that the narration had a "Twilight Zone" appeal to it but then quickly stepped beyond and into something much darker and much more sinister. As an audiobook, this was an astounding performance of stories that I would highly recommend to fans of Horror Fiction, and particularly fans of Clive Barker. Very well done....FIVE stars!

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

A BOOK OF BLOOD WRITTEN IN BLOOD

ONCE YOU BECOME A MAN, YOU START TO DIE
This is six short stories or novella's. I liked one of the six, thought that two were okay, didn't like one, but thought it had potential and was not crazy about the rest. All stories were predictable.

1. The Book of Blood. B-, This sets up the reason for the rest. It is written in a sort of Lovecraft style with masturbation thrown in.

2. The Midnight Meat Train. B-, Had potential, was probably the goriest. Has lots of butchered bodies. The word blood is in every other sentence. When will writers realize that for adults, just saying blood, does not scare us?

3. Pig Blood Blues, D+, A long drawn out story. Early on we find out that this pig eats people. We are told this several more times, each time as if it is a new revelation. This one was not mentioned in the summary.

4. The Yattering and Jack, B+, Kind of funny, closest to a surprise ending, entertaining. If ever sold by itself worth purchasing, but don't buy this whole collection for it.

5. Sex, Death & Starshine, C, Starts with a blow job and later has a corpse giving a blow job. The bj's were not enough to save the story. It's another, the people in arts should be worshiped and perhaps given another award show.

6. In The Hills, The Cities, C+, just an excuse for Barker to write about men having sex with men, the story was pretty stupid.

The Barker worshipers have hit the unhelpful button on anyone with the balls to tell the truth, so read this while you can.

Q: WHERE'S YOUR SENSE OF ADVENTURE?

A: I FORGOT TO PACK IT.

34 of 52 people found this review helpful

Finally!

What made the experience of listening to The Books of Blood, Volume 1 the most enjoyable?

Some of Barker's best early stories are in this volume. The narrators are strong and the tales still pack a great punch. The introductions mentioned in the description, however, are nowhere to be found. Just the stories.

Collecting the first three Books of Blood into one full audio book may have been a better idea, but it's a fair price for a half-dozen stories of this quality. "Midnight Meat Train" is a classic, but the final story in V1 is something truly special.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Not Quite what I Expected

When I purchased this audiobook my intention was to listen to some stories that scared me. The first story, "The Book of Blood", did just that. It was unsettling.

My expectations were being met and the next story, "The Midnight Meat Train", started off in the same vein but ended on a weird note. A couple of the other stories were more humorous than horrifying but "Pig Blood Blues" and "In the Hills, The Cities" both hit all of the right horror notes.

What was evident from the start is that Clive Barker is a good writer and knows how to tell a story. The narrators all did a good job as well. There's nothing bad I can say about this omnibus other than if you are looking for a collection of stories that are all straight horror then you should look somewhere else. If you are looking for a mixture of straight horror and horror comedy then this collection is right for you.

Even though I was looking for straight horror I am happy that I read Mr. Barker's collection because they were all interesting stories.

7 of 11 people found this review helpful

Fantastic reading of Barker's early work!

If you could sum up The Books of Blood, Volume 1 in three words, what would they be?

Vivid, evocative, seductive.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Books of Blood, Volume 1?

Hearing the "boom," "boom" stepping of the gigantic city-collective Popolac as it approached the story's two, traveling protagonists standing in its path.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

I can't really choose one, as the narrators were all spot on, though I did have a laugh at the "Yattering."

If you could rename The Books of Blood, Volume 1, what would you call it?

Seriously?

Any additional comments?

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed all the readers. I hope they add all six books in the future, not just the first two.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Golden Source Material, Spotty Performance

These short stories form a core backbone of classic 1980's horror, from a decade when horror was visceral and real in a way that can only be crudely aped in the post-internet, post-cgi world of social media and smartphones. Anyone who wants a true taste of subversive and dark goth-style lit should gorge upon the decadent and dissolute feast that is Clive Barker.

My only complaint that is that the voice acting, while solid, could have been better. Some of the actors just don't capture the languid, jaded but earnest, aloof but incisive voice that I can hear in the words of Clive Barker...both sensitive and bleak, blunt, crass even, yet nuanced and introspective with emotion and carnal desires and disgusts. The voice actors did their best, I suppose. It's a tall order to serve up the nuances of emotion that Clive Barker's writing demands. Only the dead, acting life, could possibly achieve it!

Visceral, grisly horror classic

I first read the Books of Blood at 18, and was immediately struck by Clive Barker's incredible talent and imagination for the horror genre. Many of the stories, about an hour or so in length, have since become classics, and a few have been adapted for film - The Forbidden, the basis of the Candyman franchise, and the Midnight Meat Train for example. Even knowing what to expect I was struck again and again while listening to the dizzying breadth of Barker's imagination - the Dante-esque visions of hell, the faustian comedy of the Yattering and Jack, the giants made of men - and how well it integrates with the realities of everyday experience.
The performance is very good - none of the narrators give anything less than an excellent reading, and the narration never impacts negatively on the story, which is more or less all I look for in a performance. I was very pleased with this.
It's a must listen for horror fans. Just be warned, the stories often involve extremely graphic violent and sexual content. Hopefully the other 4 books in the collection will join volumes 1 and 2 on Audible shortly.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

My first Barker book, and a good start!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, its a good listen, and the narrators put in a great performance which really helps animate the stories.

What other book might you compare The Books of Blood, Volume 1 to, and why?

I'm fairly new to horror fiction, so it would have to be Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King, although some of the imagery in Barker's stuff is expectedly more otherworldly!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The last few minutes of 'The Yattering and Jack' , and the conclusion to 'The Midnight Meat Train'

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Classic Clive Barker

A good collection of short stories. I purchased this collection a good few years ago as a paper book. Loving hearing them again.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Essential reading for all fans of horror.

If you could sum up The Books of Blood, Volume 1 in three words, what would they be?

Chilling depraved and intense.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes i my blood curdled.

Any additional comments?

A very good book full of wild imagination and terrifying imagery. Clive Barker is a master of horror i had the paperback of this book and i love the cross over to audio book i will definitely be buying the other books in this series.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great

If you could sum up The Books of Blood, Volume 1 in three words, what would they be?

Unique, grotesque, marvellous.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The narrator brings an eerie quality to the stories which you wouldn't experience if you had only read the book. This is especially evident when voicing the demon in "The Yattering and Jack"

Any additional comments?

I loved the surreal premise and unusual quality of the stories. Each one is completely different from the one that came before.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A feast of classic Barker

An enthralling and thrilling listen. I must admit I felt a little lost at first in the opening chapter, it was hard to grasp exactly what was going on, but once the actual stories began, they felt unique, even in the way that Clive Barker wrote them, and each narrator, admittedly, some better than others, fundemetally all added to the mesmerizing experience. I love the works of Clive Barker at the best of times, but listening to them told with such vigour, made me love them that little bit more.

A set of creepy classics

I remember, during one of the 1980s numerous air traffic controller strikes, being laid up at Parma Airport with nothing but 2 volumes of 'the blood'. This brings back the magic of that 18hr readathon. The Yattering and Jack- still hilariously evil.

Bloody

Would you listen to The Books of Blood, Volume 1 again? Why?

Yes. The stories are so varied yet similarly brutal.

What did you like best about this story?

The language and the tone.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but as it is an anthology you can also read it in smaller sittings.

Any additional comments?

'Midnight Meat Train', 'Pig Blood Blues' and 'The Yattering and Jack' are all really excellent.

Brilliant stories!

I really enjoyed these tales of blood. Wasnt quite expecting a set of short stories, very pleasantly surprised.

Really enjoyed it!

I've tried reading Barker a couple of times and given up. MISTER B GONE and SCARLET GOSPELS are two that spring to mind.
Now I know that Barker has some hardcore fans and they're always shocked when I say I haven't liked anything I've read.When I tell them the titles I tried they are never surprised. It appears I picked two of his weakest....
Anyway, the one recommendation that always comes up is BOOKS OF BLOOD.I had a voucher for a free audiobook so thought I'd give this one a go. SOOOO happy I did! This is the Barker I always hoped to find when I read his work. The guy that I know created Hellraiser and Candyman! I really, really enjoyed it. Some stories more than others, but that's normal.
End result anyway is, I will definitely be trying out more Barker.