Review: “The Hellbound Heart (1986)” by Clive Barker

PODCAST:

S3E8B – The Hellbound Heart (book)*

SHOW NOTES:

Prior to this recording, Ryan, Beam, and I danced and frolicked in a pentagram of fire deep in the Illinois woods with aching hopes to summon the Cenobite priests from the netherworld.

Ryan, Beam, Wilk & Rick

With eyes rolled back, Ryan drooled on our sacrifice as he mumbled sacred text from ancient alien scripts. At the conclusion of Ryan’s prayer, Beam pulled a lever actuating tension to the hooks surgically fastened deep within the creature.

Laura & Wilk

The moment the animal was devoured, we felt the presence of Wilk and Laura and commenced to record a podcast about Clive Barker’s “Hellbound Heart” that transformed and enhanced our Earthly senses and perspectives.

-Rick

WRITTEN BOOK REVIEWS:

Book: “The Hellbound Heart (1986)” by Clive Barker

Ryan: 3 1/2 Stars “… A carnal visage of thrill-based plotting that is both fast and to the point…that being the tip of a meat hook…”

Wilk:  4 Stars “…There is really no reason not to read this book. It’s very accessible, it’s a quick read, and it’s overall enjoyable…”

Rick: 2 Stars “…Not a real horror tale because it is corrupted with righteous vindictive retribution…”

Laura (guest): 4 Stars “…The characters…they don’t go into a lot of detail, but it’s scary, it’s haunting, it gives me the heebie jeebies…”

Beam (guest): 4 Stars “…I think he was still learning how to write at that time and he kept it really short, but there is a lot of depth there…”

(Click the links to read full written reviews on Goodreads.com)

FUN FACTOIDS:

On the show Rick talked about Clive Barker’s brief foray into the world of Disney. The two entered into an option agreement for a young adult fantasy series titled “Abarat.” Check out this article by Witney Seibold, “Clive Barker’s ABARAT: The Epic Disney Movie that Never Was” found here: http://www.blumhouse.com/2016/01/07/clive-barkers-abarat-the-epic-disney-movie-that-never-was/. We also mentioned a recent podcast interview with Clive Barker where he discussed going into a coma after contracting Toxic Shock Syndrome. That interview was conducted by Chris Hardwick for the Nerdist Podcast and can be found here: http://nerdist.com/nerdist-podcast-clive-barker/. Another great recent podcast interview with the author was conducted by David Barr Kirtley for Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy here: https://geeksguideshow.com/2015/05/10/ggg151-clive-barker/.

Clive Barker cites the death of famous skydiver, Leo Valentin, as having an affect on his life. Valentin was a modern “birdman” who fashioned wings for himself in an effort to create human flight, which ultimately ended in his own demise. Barker has stated that when he was very young he watched the performance which led to Valentin’s death. Later in Barker’s life, Valentin inspired some of the author’s stories.

The infamous stars of this book (and later the movie “Hellraiser”) might be the actual villains, the Cenobites. Much discussion was had on this episode about the motivations of these other-worldly beings and their motivations. The hosts and guests compared the seemingly savage disinterest of these unique baddies to that of wild animals (sharks and bears). During the podcast Ryan recalled an interview of director Werner Herzog who discussed the bears that were the real-life subjects of his documentary film “The Grizzly Man“. That interview was by Marc Maron for his podcast WTF:  http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-733-werner-herzog-godfrey.

Lastly, Wilk mentioned Clive Barker answered questions on Goodreads.com (like the scariest book he ever read) which can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10366.Clive_Barker?from_search=true.

 

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.