Books of Blood - Clive Barker

"Every body is a book of blood; Wherever we're opened, we're red" Penned in the 1980s, Clive Barker's 6-volume Books of Blood series consists of a total of twenty one short stories that show Barker at his darkest and most creative. The stories all lean towards the gory and the grotesque, and are written in an accessable and engaging way that will likely appeal to fans of Steven King, although in my opinion Barker's writing is infinitely more varied than that of the enjoyable but frequently formulaic King. Some of the the better stores here include 'The Body Politic', in which people's hands and limbs suddenly and mysteriously develop ...  Read the complete review

Clive Barker has a warped, sick but unquestionably brilliant imagination. My first introduction to this twisted but talented writer was his epic horror/fantasy 'Weaveworld'. It is a fantastic novel, and I thoroughly recommend it, but having recently read his 'Books of Blood' volumes 1 - 6 I think that these would be a better introduction for readers who are new to Barker. Barker's style of writing is very 'wordy' and descriptive, and takes some getting used to. The short stories in the 'Books of Blood' are easier to manage at first than the lengthy and complex 'Weaveworld'. Barker is a classic horror ...  Read the complete review

Written in 1984, this set of six books are Clive barkers first major venture into the world of horror,he was also writing plays at that time.There are approximateley 30 short stories in the collection,all have some merit,they seem to be the typical early works of a horror writer, that is not to diparage any of their work! But even then it was obvious that Mr barker would be an outstanding talent and that there were real nuggets of genious amongst these tales of poor souls who in the main come to ghastly & unenviable ends.He has the knack of bringing people to life within the first couple of pages,and making us give a damn what happens to them.despite the fact that some ...  Read the complete review

There are six volumes to the Books of Blood, although you can get them in two collection (1-3 and 4-6). Obviously with such a range of different bits and bobs on offer, not all of the stories are going to be any good, and it's definately the case here. However, there are a few gems amongst the masses that really stand out (there's one, whose name escapes me, where a guy is researching fear and unwittingly turns his subject into his own recurring nightmare), so you shouldn't give up if you don't like a couple. In addition, the story that inspires the CandyMan films is in the second collection - totally different to the film. Barker's prose is ...  Read the complete review