Books of Blood Series by Clive Barker, Dominique Dill

The Books of Blood combine the ordinary with the extraordinary while radiating the eroticism that has become Barker's signature. Weaving tales of the everyday world transformed into an unrecognizable place, where reason no longer exists and logic ceases to explain the workings of the universe, Clive Barker provides the stuff of nightmares in packages too tantalizing to resist... moreThe Books of Blood combine the ordinary with the extraordinary while radiating the eroticism that has become Barker's signature. Weaving tales of the everyday world transformed into an unrecognizable place, where reason no longer exists and logic ceases to explain the workings of the universe, Clive Barker provides the stuff of nightmares in packages too tantalizing to resist.Never one to shy away from the unimaginable or the unspeakable, Clive Barker breathes life into our deepest, darkest nightmares, creating visions that are at once terrifying, tender, and witty.The Books of Blood confirm what horror fans everywhere have known for a long time: We will be hearing from Clive Barker for many years to come. This first volume contains the short stories : "The Book of Blood," "The Midnight Meat Train," "The Yattering and Jack," "Sex, Death, and Starshine," and "In the Hills, the Cities." less

Alternate Cover Edition of ISBN 9780425087398To a surgeon, cutting into the human body is an art. Muscle and flesh are his canvas, the scalpel his tool. He studies the composition of the organs -- their balance and form -- the structure of the bones and network of blood vessels. He makes his incision, cutting, slicing with loving care. — Clive Barker is another type of surgeon. — He understands the human body too. He knows how the nerves send impulses to a riveted brain... moreAlternate Cover Edition of ISBN 9780425087398To a surgeon, cutting into the human body is an art. Muscle and flesh are his canvas, the scalpel his tool. He studies the composition of the organs -- their balance and form -- the structure of the bones and network of blood vessels. He makes his incision, cutting, slicing with loving care. — Clive Barker is another type of surgeon. — He understands the human body too. He knows how the nerves send impulses to a riveted brain. And he knows how the hot blood surges through veins and arteries under a thin membrane of skin.And then gushes out... Five stories of horror and intrigue include, "Dread," "Hell's Event," "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," "The Skins of the Fathers," and "New Murders in the Rue Morgue." Reprint. less

Alternate Cover Edition for ISBN 9780425093474To a mortician, the preparation of a corpse is an art. The smooth, silent exchange of blood and embalming fluid is like a symphony to be orchestrated. The presentation of the deceased -- lying in a shining casket framed by flowers -- is an exquisitely composed tableau. And the burial itself is the magnificent climax to his craftsmanship. — Clive Barker also knows how to prepare a body for the grave... moreAlternate Cover Edition for ISBN 9780425093474To a mortician, the preparation of a corpse is an art. The smooth, silent exchange of blood and embalming fluid is like a symphony to be orchestrated. The presentation of the deceased -- lying in a shining casket framed by flowers -- is an exquisitely composed tableau. And the burial itself is the magnificent climax to his craftsmanship. — Clive Barker also knows how to prepare a body for the grave.He knows how to plunge his readers into unearthly depths, spiraling from dark horror to dizzying madness. He knows how to lower the body temperature to an icy chill -- and make the heart pound faster and faster.Until it stops...To a mortician, the preparation of a corpse is an art. The smooth, silent exchange of blood and embalming fluid is like a symphony to be orchestrated. The presentation of the deceased - lying in a shining casket framed by flowers - is an exquisitely composed tableau. And the burial itself is the magnificent climax to his craftsmanship.Clive Barker also knows how to prepare a body for the grave.He knows how to plunge his readers into the unearthly depths, spiraling from dark horror to dizzying madness. He knows how to lower the body temperature to an icy chill - and make the heart pound faster and faster.This books includes the following stories:(1) Son of Celluloid;(2) Rawhead Rex;(3) Confessions of a Pornographer's Shroud;(4) Scape-Goats;(5) Human Remains less

"Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red." For those who only know Clive Barker through his long multigenre novels, this one-volume edition of the Books of Blood is a welcome chance to acquire the 16 remarkable horror short stories with which he kicked off his career. For those who already know these tales, the poignant introduction is a window on the creator's mind... more"Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red." For those who only know Clive Barker through his long multigenre novels, this one-volume edition of the Books of Blood is a welcome chance to acquire the 16 remarkable horror short stories with which he kicked off his career. For those who already know these tales, the poignant introduction is a window on the creator's mind. Reflecting back after 14 years, Barker writes: I look at these pieces and I don't think the man who wrote them is alive in me anymore.... We are all our own graveyards I believe; we squat amongst the tombs of the people we were. If we're healthy, every day is a celebration, a Day of the Dead, in which we give thanks for the lives that we lived; and if we are neurotic we brood and mourn and wish that the past was still present. Reading these stories over, I feel a little of both. Some of the simple energies that made these words flow through my pen--that made the phrases felicitous and the ideas sing--have gone. I lost their maker a long time ago. These enthusiastic tales are not ashamed of visceral horror, of blood splashing freely across the page: "The Midnight Meat Train," a grisly subway tale that surprises you with one twist after another; "The Yattering and Jack," about a hilarious demon who possesses a Christmas turkey; "In the Hills, the Cities," an unusual example of an original horror premise; "Dread," a harrowing non-supernatural tale about being forced to realize your worst nightmare; "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," about a woman who kills men with her mind. Some of the tales are more successful than others, but all are distinguished by strikingly beautiful images of evil and destruction. No horror library is complete without them. --Fiona Webster less

A master storyteller and unrivaled visionary, Clive Barker has mixed the real and unreal with the horrible and wonderful in more than twenty years of fantastic fiction. The Inhuman Condition is a masterwork of surrealistic terror, recounting tragedy with pragmatism, inspiring panic more than dread and evoking equal parts revulsion and delight.

Terrifying and forbidding, subversive and insightful, Clive Barker's groundbreaking stories revolutionized the worlds of horrific and fantastical fiction and established Barker's dominance over the otherworldly and the all-too-real. Here, as two businessmen encounter beautiful and seductive women and an earnest young woman researches a city slum, Barker maps the boundless vistas of the unfettered imagination -- only to uncover a profound sense of terror and overwhelming dread... moreTerrifying and forbidding, subversive and insightful, Clive Barker's groundbreaking stories revolutionized the worlds of horrific and fantastical fiction and established Barker's dominance over the otherworldly and the all-too-real. Here, as two businessmen encounter beautiful and seductive women and an earnest young woman researches a city slum, Barker maps the boundless vistas of the unfettered imagination -- only to uncover a profound sense of terror and overwhelming dread.Stories:The ForbiddenThe MadonnaBabel's ChildrenIn The Flesh less

Few authors can claim to have marked a genre so thoroughly and personally that their words have leaked into every aspect of modern pop culture. Clive Barker is such an author, and the Books of Blood marked his debut - his coming out to the world - in brilliant, unforgettable fashion. Crossroad Press is proud to present Clive Barker's "Books of Blood" in digital for the first time... moreFew authors can claim to have marked a genre so thoroughly and personally that their words have leaked into every aspect of modern pop culture. Clive Barker is such an author, and the Books of Blood marked his debut - his coming out to the world - in brilliant, unforgettable fashion. Crossroad Press is proud to present Clive Barker's "Books of Blood" in digital for the first time.The Books of Blood combine the ordinary with the extraordinary while radiating the eroticism that has become Barker's signature. Weaving tales of the everyday world transformed into an unrecognizable place, where reason no longer exists and logic ceases to explain the workings of the universe, Clive Barker provides the stuff of nightmares in packages too tantalizing to resist. Never one to shy away from the unimaginable or the unspeakable, Clive Barker breathes life into our deepest, darkest nightmares, creating visions that are at once terrifying, tender, and witty. The Books of Blood confirm what horror fans everywhere have known for a long time: We will be hearing from Clive Barker for many years to come.In this, the sixth and final volume of Clive Barker's Books of Blood, with a new introduction by Mark Miller, five new stories of darkness unleashed:THE LIFE OF DEATH - Hidden in the crypt of a derelict church she found Decay and Corruption in hits terrible glory. But such glamour can prove infectious....HOW SPOILERS BLEED - They commited a crime no jury could convict them for. But there were other judges...other punishments...TWILIGHT AT THE TOWERS - Ballard was the perfect spy. A man with all the cunning of an animal. Or was it vice-versa?THE LAST ILLUSION - (A Harry D'Amour novella) - New York had shown Harry horrors enough for a dozen lifetimes. He thought he'd seen the worst that flesh could suffer. Then the beautiful widow walked into his life, with a husband who wouldn't lie down dead, and all Hell on her hells. And suddenly Harry was face to face with forces that could teach Manhattan a lesson in depravity.ON JERUSALEM STREET (a Postscript) After the end, a new beginning: walking the highway of the dead... less

Here are the stories written on the Book of Blood. They are a map of that dark highway that leads out of life towards unknown destinations. Few will have to take it. Most will go peacefully along lamplit streets, ushered out of living with prayers and caresses. But for a few, the horrors will come, skipping, to fetch them off to the highway of the damned.. moreHere are the stories written on the Book of Blood. They are a map of that dark highway that leads out of life towards unknown destinations. Few will have to take it. Most will go peacefully along lamplit streets, ushered out of living with prayers and caresses. But for a few, the horrors will come, skipping, to fetch them off to the highway of the damned...From the brilliant World Fantasy Award winner Clive Barker come fourteen spine-chilling stories of darkness unleashed, gathered together in one volume for the first time. These are visionary tales of terror which will curdle the very marrow in your bones... less

BRINGS TOGETHER ALL SIX BOOKS OF BLOOD"Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red." For those who only know Clive Barker through his long multigenre novels, this complete edition of the Books of Blood is a welcome chance to acquire all six volumes and 30 remarkable horror short stories written by the British author Clive Barker. For those who already know these tales, the poignant introduction is a window on the creator's mind... moreBRINGS TOGETHER ALL SIX BOOKS OF BLOOD"Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red." For those who only know Clive Barker through his long multigenre novels, this complete edition of the Books of Blood is a welcome chance to acquire all six volumes and 30 remarkable horror short stories written by the British author Clive Barker. For those who already know these tales, the poignant introduction is a window on the creator's mind. Reflecting back after 14 years, Barker writes: I look at these pieces and I don't think the man who wrote them is alive in me anymore.... We are all our own graveyards I believe; we squat amongst the tombs of the people we were. If we're healthy, every day is a celebration, a Day of the Dead, in which we give thanks for the lives that we lived; and if we are neurotic we brood and mourn and wish that the past was still present. Reading these stories over, I feel a little of both. Some of the simple energies that made these words flow through my pen--that made the phrases felicitous and the ideas sing--have gone. I lost their maker a long time ago. These enthusiastic tales are not ashamed of visceral horror, of blood splashing freely across the page: "The Midnight Meat Train," a grisly subway tale that surprises you with one twist after another; "The Yattering and Jack," about a hilarious demon who possesses a Christmas turkey; "In the Hills, the Cities," an unusual example of an original horror premise; "Dread," a harrowing non-supernatural tale about being forced to realize your worst nightmare; "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," about a woman who kills men with her mind. Some of the tales are more successful than others, but all are distinguished by strikingly beautiful images of evil and destruction. No horror library is complete without them. --Fiona Webster less