“The Hellbound Heart,” by Clive Barker

FM's rating:

1.      Premise 8

2.      Prose 9

3.      Plot 9

4.      Characters 7

5.      Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

This is the classic horror story out of which the movie “Hellraiser” was made.  And it definitely reads like Classic Horror.  I carp a lot about 200-page novels being “crammed” into 500 page books, so here is the model: a 164-page novel neatly packed into a 164-page book!  It wasn’t any shorter or any longer than it needed to be; hence the “9” rating on Plot.  Barker has his own unique way with words, pacing and phrasing that lends itself perfectly to the genre.  The standard elements of horror fiction are here, presented in a way that somehow escapes being trite.  Very enjoyable!





Here’s the November line-up!

“Lives of the Monster Dogs,” by Kirsten Bakis [11/7]
“Die Trying,” by Lee Child [11/14]
“Strangled Prose,” by Joan Hess [11/21]
“Downbelow Station,” by C.J. Cherryh [11/28]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for the next month, please do so!)