The Hellbound Heart
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Clive Barker is widely acknowledged as the master of nerve-shattering horror. The Hellbound Heart is one of his best, one of the most frightening stories you are ever likely to read, a story of the human heart and all the great terrors and ecstasies within.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Review
Praise for Clive Barker:
'Passionate and ingenious… A ride with remarkable views'
Times Literary Supplement
'A powerful and fascinating writer with a brilliant imagination… Clive Barker is an outstanding storyteller'
J G Ballard
'Barker's fecundity of invention is beyond praise. In a world of hard-bitten horror and originality, Clive Barker dislocates your mind'
Mail on Sunday
'Barker is much more than genre writer'
New York Times Book Review
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This fast-paced, action-packed novella served as the basis for Clive Barker's extreme horror movie masterpiece Hellraiser, but it is well worth reading on its own merits. The human heart and its vulnerability to perverse pleasures of a sensuous nature is a compelling theme at the heart of Barker's writing. Those familiar with the movie will find that this original story matches up fairly closely with what they have seen, but there are some important differences. For one, a little more information about the infamous puzzle box is revealed. The characters are fleshed out a little better, yet Julia remains a cold person whose motives are not completely understandable. The Cenobites are actually featured much less here than in the movie, and the physical descriptions of them are far less developed--Pinhead himself reportedly speaks with a girlish voice in the novella. The blood and gore are certainly here, but their full magnitude is determined by the imagination of the reader. Interestingly, Kirsty's relationship with Rory (who was called Larry in the movie) is ambiguous at best. While one assumes Rory is her father, Kirsty always refers to him by name, and her relationship with him, if he is her father, is not a normal one for she seems to relate to him as some sort of potential lover.
The depth of Barker's vision is much better developed in print than on the movie screen, and that is what makes this novella a must-read for fans of extreme horror. The dark side of the human soul is a source tapped deeply by Barker's imagination, and he is unafraid of revealing the depravity of any given individual. As such, his writing betrays a complexity and ingenious subtlety which critics of horror will never identify or understand. Surprisingly, there is really not a great deal of perverse sexuality in this particular work, so readers who tend to shy away from his Books of Blood may actually find The Hellhound Heart to be the optimal doorway by which to enter the haunted, terrifyingly alive world of this modern master of horror.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Being a huge fan of Clive Barkers Books of blood and his screen efforts such as Hellraiser, Cabal/Nightbreed and his screenwriting for Candyman, I'd have to say that The hellbound heart disappointed me a bit. I had hoped for a lot more insight in the Cenobites. You are offered a few hints, and there's a bit more about Franks lust for forbidden pleasures than in the movie, but the last forty pages (or so) of this rather short book (128 pages) is wasted away on a lot of chaising around, and you never really get a satisfying psychological insight in Frank; he's just a mean dude, and the hierachy and motives of the cenobites remains somewhat a mystery. I'd much rather recommend Barkers different volumes og the Books of blood if you are to dive into his early gory period. Hats of to the idea of this book (which of course is brilliant, groundbreaking) that would have probably knocked me off my seat if i'd read it back in the eighties and had'nt seen the movie like a million times.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a short little book, but it definitely packs a punch. I read thing in three (short) sittings and I think it is definitely worth the money. Need a book to get into Clive Barker? Look no further.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Wonderful Stuff!
I saw a South Bank Show dedicated to Clive Barker some twenty-odd years ago and before that I thought CB was a bit of an egotistical maniac. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ms. Emma H. Mitchell
SHORT BUT BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN.
This,of course being the book that inspired the film HELLRAISER,is undeniably impressive.
True if you've seen the film,you know the synopsis about forbidden pleasure coming in... Read more
True if you've seen the film,you know the synopsis about forbidden pleasure coming in... Read more
Published 9 months ago by BAZ316
Hellbound? Reckon so...
I knew the Hellraiser films and wanted to get into Barker the writer.
What better place to start, something familiar and yet not. Read more
What better place to start, something familiar and yet not. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Paul M. Edwards
Promises much, delivers little
Let's get one thing out of the way - no matter what the cover says this isn't a novel, it's scarcely a novella. Read more
Published on 24 July 2009 by Elizabeth Sterling
Thrilling
I bought this book as I felt like reading the book that the film, Hellraiser was based on, would help me like the film more than I originally did. Read more
Published on 9 May 2009 by Steven Stewart
Brilliant!
I read this book in a day-no particular accomplishment as it is a very short book, but a superb one at that. Read more
Published on 6 May 2009 by Chris Warne
A small classic
Even if you are familiar with the Hellraiser movies you must read this. Short but oh, so sweet. Read what spawned a classic of the horror genre. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2008 by The Cainster
Horror? not a fan but loved this
I don't like horror novels and I resisted reading this book for a long time despite the urging of my friends. Read more
Published on 31 Oct 2007 by Plessen
A dark and seductive tale redefining hell and the endless limits of...
First published back in November of 1986 by Dark Harvest Publications within their third volume of the 'Night Visions' series of anthologies; Clive Barker's classic tale 'The... Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2006 by Chris Hall
Good…but slightly pointless
‘The Hellbound Heart’ is the novella that emerged in the cinema as the movie ‘Hellraiser’, and while this is a well-written and inventive short book... Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2006 by Jane Aland
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