Clive Barker

An epic good-versus-evil thriller from the early days of two iconic characters pits long-beleaguered supernatural detective Harry D'Amour against priest of hell Pinhead. By the best-selling author of the Books of Blood series.

The Scarlet Gospels

Geoffrey Froggatt

I love Clive Barker and the Hellraiser franchise, so I was excited to read a sequel to The Hellbound Heart in the form of a fully expanded novel. This book acts as a continuation to both his previous novella The Hellbound Heart and his canon of Harry D'Amour stories. The book concerns the Hell Priest, the demonic Cenobite nicknamed "Pinhead", and his efforts to gain power. Content warning for graphic gore, sexual assault, body horror, homophobia, torture and physical abuse. This book was dark and adventurous and made me realize that there should be more adventure horror stories. This felt like more of a dark fantasy novel than it did a horror story, even if it did explore dark horror themes. I loved that Barker embraced Pinhead’s popularity in this book, and even though this was my first experience with the character of Harry D’Amour, I loved him all the same. I loved the morally grey and darkly hedonistic characters. I know some fans felt disenchanted with some of the more ridiculous and outlandish storylines in this book, but I respected Barker for doubling down on the lore and really going there. I would love a television show adaptation that faithfully adapted this storyline. I highly recommend this book for fans of dark fantasy novels, fans of Hellraiser, and fans of the original The Hellbound Heart novel. I hope Barker writes a sequel to this story one day.

Dennis Jacob Rosenfeld

I really wanted this to be good. I love Barker and the world he has created. This felt like something found in drawer left over from the eighties. Desperate attempts to shock and disgust and a weak story. The last 60 pages were good, but not enough to save the book.

Richard Binder

It's a remarkably sustained and engrossing read, but somewhere around the last 20-30 pages really complicated things start to get wrapped up awfully fast and it ends with that Eddie Izzard "... huh" feeling. I hope Barker plans to continue the story, though, because I think my disappointment lies in just how interesting things were starting to get *after* so much apocalypse. Also, if your diet plans have been failing you lately, the first 30 pages will keep you from second helpings of, like, anything.

Alexander

Steve

The long-anticipated novel"I think Clive Barker is so good that I am literally tongue-tied." Stephen King THE GATES TO HELL ARE OPEN AND SOMETHING BECKONS ...The last of Earth's magicians are living in fear. A Cenobite Hell Priest known as Pinhead is killing them off, gorging on their knowledge to enhance his own magical powers as part of a quest to take over Hell. Meanwhile, Private Investigator Harry D' Amour is fulfilling the final wishes of the dead, who communicate with his business associate, the blind medium Norma Paine. But while investigating one such case, Harry inadvertently opens up a portal between Hell and Earth.When Harry's nemesis Pinhead emerges through the portal, a vicious battle ensues. After failing to enlist Harry to pen his Scarlet Gospels - the epistles chronicling the Hell Priest's grand coup - Pinhead instead captures Norma. Harry realizes he must go through Hell - literally - to save her.MORE PRAISE FOR CLIVE BARKER"A powerful and fascinating writer with a brilliant imagination... an outstanding storyteller" JG Ballard"To call Clive Barker a 'horror novelist' would be like calling the Beatles a 'garage band'... He is the great imaginer of our time. He knows not only our greatest fears, but also what delights us, what turns us on, and what is truly holy in the world. Haunting, bizarre, beautiful." Quentin Tarantino"Barker is much more than genre writer" New York Times Book Review"Barker dislocates your mind" Mail on Sunday

The Scarlet Gospels

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