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autisticbookbug's review against another edition
3.5
i am not particularly squeamish but as a lover of all kinds of horror i loved that this managed to get some gut-churning feelings going for me especially since it wasn't just like a mindless slasher vibe. it was all very human in that it was touching on some of the worst parts of humanity like power and greed and pleasure and pain whilst also making it all so exaggerated and inhuman in a really clever way. i'm a big fan of monster-of-the-week type horror and sci-fi and this definitely gave me the same kind of joy.
without going into too much detail on every story in here, there was definitely some obvious favourites for me here. i also found that book 1 in this omnibus was simultaneously the weakest book, but included my favourite story overall - The Midnight Meat Train.
To name some other of my favourites:
- The Yattering & Jack was exceptionally fun
- In The Hill, The Cities was some outrageously bizarre and unique body horror
- Jacqueline Ess was some top-tier supernatural feminine rage
- New Murders in the Rue Morgue absolutely did it's inspiration justice;
- Rawhead Rex brings some more excellent primordial horrors after Midnight Meat Train
- Scape-goats really got to me personally as a Scottish person who knows all of the haunting tales of the sea and the islands
3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✖️
caitcoreads's review against another edition
5.0
“We are all our own graveyards I believe: we squat amongst the tombs of the people we were.”
Books of Blood, a collection of short stories written by Clive Barker, helped to launch him into a career as a leading author in the horror genre. In this book, volumes 1-3 are collected, containing 16 short stories riddled with dark fantasy, body horror, and cataclysmic supernatural events. Barker was inspired to write the Books of Blood anthology containing ranging themes and tones after reading the Dark Forces collection edited by Kirby McCauley in the 1980s. He was inspired to show that a proper collection didn’t have to have a tight thematic structure tying all of the stories together to make an impact.
After reading The Hellbound Heart novella a couple of months ago, I’ve been yearning for more Clive Barker in my life. I kind of can’t believe that I called myself a horror aficionado before diving into Barker’s sadistically beautiful mind. I can say wholeheartedly that I enjoyed every story in this book, but if I had to choose favorites, I’d say they would be, “Pig Blood Blues”, “New Murders in the Rue Morgue,” and “Son of Celluloid.” The depth that Barker shows in this collection is outstanding. Each story truly feels like it was written by an entirely different author. Reading Clive Barker is an intoxicating experience. He writes horror that will churn your stomach and cover your skin with a sickly slime, while also making you ponder the sheer and complex beauty of the human anatomy. You will never read anything like him.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
My favorite quote was, “Women had always existed: they had lived, a species to themselves, with the demons. But they had wanted playmates: and together they had made men. What an error, what a cataclysmic miscalculation.”
Books of Blood, a collection of short stories written by Clive Barker, helped to launch him into a career as a leading author in the horror genre. In this book, volumes 1-3 are collected, containing 16 short stories riddled with dark fantasy, body horror, and cataclysmic supernatural events. Barker was inspired to write the Books of Blood anthology containing ranging themes and tones after reading the Dark Forces collection edited by Kirby McCauley in the 1980s. He was inspired to show that a proper collection didn’t have to have a tight thematic structure tying all of the stories together to make an impact.
After reading The Hellbound Heart novella a couple of months ago, I’ve been yearning for more Clive Barker in my life. I kind of can’t believe that I called myself a horror aficionado before diving into Barker’s sadistically beautiful mind. I can say wholeheartedly that I enjoyed every story in this book, but if I had to choose favorites, I’d say they would be, “Pig Blood Blues”, “New Murders in the Rue Morgue,” and “Son of Celluloid.” The depth that Barker shows in this collection is outstanding. Each story truly feels like it was written by an entirely different author. Reading Clive Barker is an intoxicating experience. He writes horror that will churn your stomach and cover your skin with a sickly slime, while also making you ponder the sheer and complex beauty of the human anatomy. You will never read anything like him.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
My favorite quote was, “Women had always existed: they had lived, a species to themselves, with the demons. But they had wanted playmates: and together they had made men. What an error, what a cataclysmic miscalculation.”
dknippling's review against another edition
4.0
Overall - excellent, longish horror stories, heavy on the description, very much about the dangers of hedonism, and addiction to any kind of pleasure (religion, pleasing society, controlling other people, really, do ANYTHING once too often, take it for granted, and it'll turn on you).
Favorites:
Midnight Meat Train
In the Hills, the Cities
Rawhead Rex (although the monster's one vulnerability made me roll my eyes)
Favorites:
Midnight Meat Train
In the Hills, the Cities
Rawhead Rex (although the monster's one vulnerability made me roll my eyes)
bxtsu's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
arawlinson's review against another edition
3.0
Like most short story collections some great stories and some not so great. This felt like 1 50/50 split.
jolietjane's review against another edition
3.0
I REALLY struggled with this rating. I LIKED THIS BOOK, and the Book of Blood 1 in particular was spectacular. I did struggle through and ultimately sort of skip some of the stories in books 2-3, they were a little less character focused and sort of boring to me. Barker does great at metaphysical weirdness and Chronenburg body horror, but some of the short stories fell flat and focused on weirdness over substance for me personally.
I would absolutely read more of his work- hes a genius, but this was a little bit TOO much of him at once for me.
I would absolutely read more of his work- hes a genius, but this was a little bit TOO much of him at once for me.
jono1660's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
josephhack's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0