Books of Blood Volume One by Clive Barker

I am a long time fan of Clive Barker and was excited to see "Midnight Meat Train" listed on FEARnet recently. All I can say is that the adaptation did justice to his short story. I loved the movie and it had me digging through my collection for "Books of Blood Volume One," circa 1984, so I could reread it.Barker's imagination is head and shoulders above the rest. You will not find any vampires or other conventional monsters here. If you aren't familiar with Clive Barker's brand of horror - bloody and graphic - these six stories are a good place to start.The book starts with an introduction by Ramsey Campbell. Then the first story, "The Book of Blood" sets the tone for the rest. It's about Dr. Mary Florescu, who hires a young medium, Simon McNeal to investigate a haunted house. At first McNeal fakes his result but then the ghosts demand retribution. They attack, carving their words in his flesh. He becomes a living Book of Blood, and the tales that follow are taken from his bo
dy."The Midnight Meat Train," features Leon Kaufman, an unwitting accountant who falls asleep on a New York subway train. He wakes up beyond the end of the line to see partially disemboweled corpses hanging on the train. Mahogany, the butcher, now has to kill Kaufman to guard his secret. They fight and Kaufman kills Mahogany. Unfortunately he will now have to replace him and supply food for the creatures who rule the subway."The Yattering and Jack," is a dark comedy about a demon that is sent by Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies to torment and destroy Jack Polo's sanity. This demon will stop at nothing to make jack notice him, driving himself almost mad in the process.In "Pig Blood Blues" Redmen, a retired cop comes to work at a school for delinquent boys. He catches them beating up a kid named Lacy, who tells him about Henessey, a boy who's missing. Redmen tries to unravel the mystery but things are not what they seem."Sex, Death and Starshine" is a ghost story. The mysteri
ous Mr. Lichfield arrives at the Elysium theatre and tells the actors their production of Twelfth Night will be the last. He wants the producer to replace the lead, Viola. But the producer is having an affair with the actress and ignores him. Lichfield goes to her and gives her the kiss of death.The final story is "In the Hills, the Cities." Mick and Judd, two gay men, are on a vacation in an isolated area in Yugoslavia when they come upon a ritual between two cities. Bodies of the people are bound together to create two massive creatures. But one giant collapses killing thousands of people. The two men get caught up in the chaos with disastrous results.When this book first came out Stephen King said, "I have seen the future of the horror genre, and his name is Clive Barker." Read this book and see how right he was. Remember this was years before "Hostel," "Saw" and other slasher films. You can find the book used online or new as part of a collection.Clive Barker's Books of
Blood Volumes One to ThreePublisher: Berkley (October 1998)ISBN: 978-0425165584Pages: 528Price: $17.00

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