He weaves together dozens of storylines, characters, locales, and possibilities into one ultimately unsettling, ultimately sublime vision. The Great and Secret Show is a shining gem of a novel, each facet leading perfectly to the next, illuminating more of the whole, captivating the eye.
There are also monsters made out of poop and semen. Keep an eye out for those. Clive Barker is really in a different place from the rest of us. This book brings us across and lets us stretch out in his living room. It makes us at home in his home. Which, granted, is a forbidding, ludicrous place made from batshit and waffles. Great list! He seems to be an author that can be talked about more than he is read….
Like Like. Well done Sir. I feel this list if incomplete without Weaveworld. These are 4 of my favorite novels ever. Lost count. And Cabal is amazing. I was a huge Stephen King fan as a teenager, until I read Cabal. This was hilarious, witty and just really cool. Beautiful horror fantasy. Unbelievable imagination. Unbelievable entertainment. Unbelievable reading. I LOVE this book!
I apparently have missed quite a number of fantastic reads by Mr. I plan on adding a number of reads from here , not just from the five listed but from the comments as well. Mister B. Gone and Great and Secret Show are right there on the top now. Fantastic review and Thank you for this from one of those people who has let myself be very limited in my reading of this mans work. Vitina Molgaartd. I totally agree with your list but like others I too love Weaveworld, I guess I need a top 6 list.
Like Liked by 1 person. Conflicting loyalties — oh, and Armageddon — then threaten a Californian town with buried secrets. Sacrament Barker coming out as gay in the early 90s was a brave decision, and his publishers were nervous about this novel having a gay central character.
Will Rabjohns is a wildlife photographer whose life changes after a near-death experience. He is flung back to visions of his childhood and time spent with two mysterious, seemingly immortal travellers, themselves bent on witnessing the deaths of the last representatives of animal species.
One of his lesser-known works, but one of his best. The Hellbound Heart You know Hellraiser already: this is the novella that birthed it. Frank Cotton uses a magical box to unlock the doors of a world of unknown pleasures. Here, and in the original film — like the xenomorph in Alien — less is more. You could read this in a rainy afternoon, and you should. Coldheart Canyon This is good fun, and perhaps languishes so low in this list because I came to it late.
The mansion, though, has secrets. Once the home of a silent movie heroine with bizarre tastes, it contains a room whose tiles — from roof to floor — depict a savage medieval hunt. Is that a trick of the light, or do the pictures move? The Damnation Game A re-telling of Faust, Marty Strauss is released from prison into the employ of Joseph Whitehead, a wealthy industrialist whose deal was with an all-too-human devil.
Time to repay the debt, but Whitehead is not willing. Everville Quiddity is still threatened, and the veil between our world and that one is thin. Everville is another town with secrets, a crossroads of America at which opposing forces will meet.
Those with the determination to commit to nearly an entire day of listening will be glad they put forth the effort, because this is one impressive production. Barker's 19th book is an epic saga of Hollywood's underbelly, a dazzling Clive Barker, illus. It has the abstraction of nihilistic philosophy, expressed With a bone-chilling opening consisting of a gloomy score and a very angry Doug Bradley Hellraiser 's Pinhead himself , Barker's latest horror effort is brilliantly realized in this masterful reading.
Bradley is inherently creepy as the Executed murderer Tom Requiem is resurrected by agents of the Underland to Edited by Preston Grassman.
Atmosphere suffuses the standout pieces: wrecked ships and a lost Zora Neale Hurston novel collide in a remote seaside town in More from pw. The Best Books of PW Picks: Books of the Week.
New Pub Dates for Forthcoming Books: Children's Announcements. Stay ahead with Tip Sheet! Free newsletter: the hottest new books, features and more. Premium online access is only available to PW subscribers. Great topic. I have always felt a failure as a horror reader since I have never picked up one of his books even though I always wanted to.
Take your time. You can't rush into Clive Barker anyway. This guy takes his work very seriously. When he first emerged, he was unlike anything which had previously appeared. His ideas are vast, and not your bogeyman-in-the-wardrobe type of horror. You'll then get a feel for his style and vision. SOC has one of the best opening lines ever. Go on! Give them a go! Dec 13, PM. Totally agree with John. Clive is very unique.
If you look at his movies, they obviously look dated now but his stories aren't. His language is extremely rich which is creepy and scary in its own way.
Dec 30, PM. I do love barker but he does take some getting used to. He just has a style all his own and you gotta fit into the groove to really get going. Jonathan wrote: "Volume three of "Books of Blood" is the ideal starting point.
While it's not a story that's often singled out for praise, 'Human Remains' is the best thing he's ever written, in my opinion. I really need to re-read it. Dec 31, AM. Jonathan wrote: "Daniel wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Volume three of "Books of Blood" is the ideal starting point. While it's not a story that's often singled out for praise, 'Human Remains' is the best thing he's ever Left such an impact on me.
Speaking of hearts, Hellbound Heart is another great place to start. It's a perfect little novella--and a hell of a dark one. Edit: just saw that you already read Hellbound Heart, Dylan.
Glad you enjoyed it. Shocked that you disliked In the Hills, the Cities though. I am one of those terrible horror fans who have never read any Clive Barker but has always loved his movies. Oct 28, PM. I read The Damnation Game about years ago and liked it a lot although I remember it was slow to get started, especially considering how short my attention span was at that time college.
Someday I'm even going to go back and re-read Damnation Game.
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