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Books: It’s been a while since I've done a book review (mostly because I haven't been reading any books) but I did manage to finally finish one off… Clive Barker’s Books of Blood, volume 1. Any fan of horror has likely heard of, if not read this book already, but I'm just now getting to it. Better late than never, right? Anyway, I will say up front that I am a definite Barker fan, so keep that in mind.
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Also, SPOILERS for the stories… you've been warned.
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First published in 1984, Books of Blood is a trilogy of short stories. Volume 1, the subject of this review, contains six.
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#1: The Book of Blood
Short and cute, this story tells of a person who is feigning psychic ability, and in doing so, angers spirits who are passing through the house that he's pretending to “read”. Some beautiful imagery here, and the rest of the stories contained in the trilogy have been transcribed from the scars that were carved into the body of the faker.
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#2: The Midnight Meat Train
According to Mike Bracken’s Horror Geek blog (which is fantastic), TMMT is either somehow limping its way towards becoming a feature film, or going direct to video. I'm not entirely clear on the whole debacle, but from what I gather, the carnage of converting this story into a movie has not been pretty.
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Anyway, I can see why someone would want to film the story, although I daresay it seems more fit for television than an actual film… A straightforward play off of themes found in H.P. Lovecraft’s classic works (albeit with a more personal and modern flair) TMMT is about a mass murderer who preys on people who ride on subways late at night. I'm a big Lovecraft fan, so this one struck a chord with me.
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#3: The Yattering and Jack
A demon is sent to torment a man with the intent of claiming his soul, and finds itself frustrated at every turn since the man in question is able to turn a blind eye to all of the mischief and destruction wrought around him. I think this story is possibly my favorite out of volume 1, since it's a good mix of horror and comedy. The ending is strong as well, a good little twist waiting for those curious to see how it turns out.
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#4: Pig Blood Blues
I have to admit, I really didn't get this one. It seems like the elements are there: a possible haunting, a boy's reformatory, a giant pig… but in actuality, the story didn't go anywhere near the direction I thought it would, and the end left me wanting. With all due respect to Barker, I felt like this one was a fail. It was weird, but it didn't amount to much.
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#5: Sex, Death and Starshine
Far and away, the most unsatisfying story in the book. The gist is that a group of actors are resurrected from the dead to go on performing their craft for all eternity… and that's about it. I get the feeling that Barker was writing this not so much as a horror story, but as a commentary on people he knew, or his experience in the theater wrapped up in a little zombie veneer. It was too long, it was neither scary nor very interesting, and meant very little to me as someone not involved in acting or the theater.
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#6: In the Hills, the Cities
Although I hated the ending to this story, I have to say that I found Barker’s imagery and descriptions of certain aspects of the story to be quite hypnotic; haunting, even. In this tale, the residents of two small Eastern European villages strap themselves into giant frameworks that take the form of huge men. The original intent is for each “city” to battle the other, but something goes awry and what results is a very disturbing series of events told from the eyes of two travelers passing through the area. Very fresh and inventive, this one stuck with me the most and even now, I'm having a hard time getting some of the images created out of my head. Good stuff.
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Although not every story in the book was a success, it's very clear to see why Clive Barker rose to the top of the horror genre… some of his phrasing is poetry, and he does not lack for imagination.
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I'm very much looking forward to volume 2.
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