A Hellraising Listening Experience

Clive Barker is an author that’s been on my to-read list for a number of years, ever since I first saw the movie Lord of Illusions (jesus, twenty years ago now? yeesh…) and heard Stephen King sing his praises as “the future of horror” way back when. So yeah, Barker’s been in the game for quite a long time, has established himself as an icon within the genre, and I am a woefully massive latecomer to his work. I figured it’s high-time I corrected that by giving The Hellbound Heart a listen.

I went into this book mostly blind. I had a fairly superficial knowledge of Pinhead and the Cenobites (think demonic, leather-clad, freaky, mutilated S&M goth types) thanks to the Hellraiser flicks and their place in pop culture. I knew this was the book that inspired the first Hellraiser movie, which I haven’t seen, and had little idea what to expect story-wise. I guess I had expected a lot of Pinhead and his Cenobites, and was surprised to find them mostly absent save for brief appearances at the beginning and end of this book.

In their absence, though, we get a pretty cool and mysterious gothic-tinged story. Frank Cotton has come to possess an old artifact, Lemarchand’s puzzle box. When opened, it serves as a key between realities, opening the door separating the real from the more realer still. This is, in short, a dimension of nightmares.

Following Frank’s disappearance, his brother Rory and Rory’s wife, Julia, move into the house that Frank had briefly inhabited. Julia finds herself becoming drawn to an empty, drafty room, in which the drapes have been nailed to the window sills to keep the light out. The room seems to ‘speak’ to her, and she finds herself growing emboldened, bringing lovers to this room in order to spill their blood. Blood that Frank needs to return.

Narrated by Jeffry Kaver, Barker’s elegant prose is brought to life in a style somewhat reminiscent of the golden age of radio plays and a touch of Rod Serling. This is a terrific match for the fantastical, metaphysical horrors Barker describes. And, oh boy, describe it he does. We get some pretty brilliant depictions of sex and violence, from the gory-looking Cenobites and Frank’s initial encounter with them, right on up to chaotic finale. Barker goes for the guts, sometimes literally (I suspect “the carpet of her bowels” is a phrase that will stick with me for too damn long), but there is a rather strange beauty to the madness.

The audio production is superb, and I really liked the bit of sound engineering that went into the delivery of dialogue from the Cenobites. Kaver’s narration suddenly takes on an ethereal, otherworldly echo to drive home the fact that these things are not human and most definitely not of this Earth. It was a bit startling to hear at first, but jeez is it ever a cool and welcome addition, and a nice demonstration of the elasticity in design that audiobooks are capable of. Kudos to Crossroads Press for that extra bit of effort!

Ultimately, I felt The Hellbound Heart was a satisfying introduction to Barker’s work, and I’ll be checking out his works in the future as time allows.

11 people found this helpful

Beautifully done

Would you listen to The Hellbound Heart again? Why?

Yes. I'm very inspired by Barker's works and the audio for this was beautiful.

What other book might you compare The Hellbound Heart to and why?

120 Days of Sodom and The Story of O. Maybe not in plot, but in meaning. The pushing of boundaries.

Have you listened to any of Jeffrey Kafer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I hope to now.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and did.

Any additional comments?

Kafer's life to the Cenobites was perfection. His voice giving the details of the summoning ritual in the beginning gave it deeper meaning.

6 people found this helpful

Duh, Hellraiser Anybody?

If you could sum up The Hellbound Heart in three words, what would they be?

Um... Hellraiser's Origins Story

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Hellbound Heart?

The fact that I had NO idea that Clive Barker wrote this as a short story before he wrote the screen play for the movie Hellraiser. For someone who grew up in the 80s you would think I would have known that especially since I like that movie. Anyway... The book is better than the movie, because they ran out of money. "So, Barker and a "Greek guy" animated these scenes (the end sequences) by hand over a single weekend. Barker has also commented that he thinks the FX turned out very well considering the amount of alcohol the two consumed that weekend." (Quoted from IMDb)

Which scene was your favorite?

When the Engineer shows up

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No. The whole thing is pretty twisted.

Any additional comments?

If you are a Barker fan, this is a must. If you liked the movie Hellraiser, this is a must. If you just like a good, weird horror short story I guess you could make this a must. Give it a shot, you might like it.

10 people found this helpful

Narration was brought from hell!

You can Google me for the rest of the review! I have a whole review of this book in my Blogger and Wordpress blog:

"Inkish Kingdoms"

Hellbound Heart contains almost all of the mandatory elements for it to be a Horror story: “haunted” houses, magic objects, doors to other dimensions, dark characters, tension, sex, violence, and destruction. This whole story goes around the Lemarchand’s box and its secrets. Twist, click, turn, click, and then: you are doomed for eternity. Most people are scared of dying because nobody knows for sure what is beyond this reality. This novella builds in the reader anxiety, a sense of danger and dread that makes you want to keep reading. At some point, I was yelling (in my head of course) for one of the characters to get the fxck out of that place, and even prayed for that character… (not really, but the book had me on my knees). I want to add that the audiobook had special effects that disturbed me down to my core.

When I say it was brought from hell, I mean it as a complement!

21 people found this helpful

Not what I expected

What about Jeffrey Kafer’s performance did you like?

Love his voice!!!

Any additional comments?

I listened to this book while on my drive home from work, I got so engrossed that I took it to the gym to finish listening while I worked out. It was fast paced and never dull.

7 people found this helpful

The book the the movie Hellraiser was based on..

So I didn't like the movie but this short story was great! I wish it wasn't a short story (I know it has chapters but like took 4 hours to finish it) . Definitely some differences here and there from the movie but overall some things were said and done verbatim. Amazing narrator too!

2 people found this helpful

VIRGIN WHORES

THE SEASONS LONG FOR EACH OTHER
An interesting look at pain and pleasure. What is one man's pain, may be another man's pleasure and vice versa. A man calls up demons, believing he is going to spend eternity in orgies, but what he gets is the opposite.

SOMEWHERE A BELL WAS RINGING
This is bloody and gory, but do not dismiss it as gore for gore's sake. Some thought went into the writing of this story. It is not a masterpiece, but it is entertaining and you will not sleep through it.

COME TO DADDY
Narrator does a great job.

19 people found this helpful

Clive Barker at his best.

I think this book is woefully underrated in the lexicon of horror, often disregarded as simple torture p*** or body horror without purpose. that is a shame because there is so much more to this story than simply the macabre. What might a person find if they allow themselves to become numb to the pleasures of life? What boundaries will they push in their pursuit of pleasure? And will they regret what they find on the other sides of those boundaries?
definitely a 10 out of 10, A quick and easy read, and deserving of a spot in any horror collection.

1 person found this helpful

best Gothic horror story ever

Perversion, sex, gore, gluttony, last, pain, and Hell. the story doesn't overstay its welcome and it's tightly wound lore keeps you immersed until the final moments.

1 person found this helpful

Master of the Fantastic Horror

Came from Hellraiser to get the original story and was not disappointed. Highly recommend for fans of dark fantasy and horror.

1 person found this helpful