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Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Collected Best #2
Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Collected Best II
"The Canons of Pain" - A puzzle box captured during the Crusades becomes the focus of dark rituals. Art by John Bolton. (1989)
"Razing Hell Part 1, Stolen Time"- A famous author finds his way out of hell by solving a puzzle. Art by Mark Pacella. (1994)
"Razing Hell Part 2, No One Ever Dies in Hell" - A trio of demon hunters on a quest the destroy the Leviathan by stealing the keys of hell. Art by Mark Pacella. (1994)
"Razing Hell Part 3, The Penitent"- The last of the demon hunters, wracked with guilt, descends into hell to rescue his friends . Art by Mark Pacella. (1994)
"Songs of Metal and Flesh" - a blind man's obsession with sound comes full circle. Art by Dave Dorman and Lurene Haines. (1990)
"Pleasures of Deception" - A frustrated artist find the new avant guard. Art by Bill Koeb. (1990)
"Cenobite" - The denizens of hell choose a representative to maintain order. Art by John Van Fleet. (1990)
"Old Wives Tale" - The truth about nursery rhymes comes out. Art by Steven Johnson (1992)
"Fury" - A brilliant new cure for the plague of the twentieth century - but are there repercutions? Art by Gil Ashby. (1992)
"The Blood of a Poet" - A young poet sacrifices everything for art. Art by John Ridgeway (1990)
"Sheddim" - The son of a murdered Jew calls upon the Gollum for vengeance. Art by Tim Conrad (1992)
"Of Love, Cats and Curiosity" - The old lady across the street really loves her cats - and she hates you. Art by Ricardo Villagran. (1992)
"Razing Hell Part 1, Stolen Time"- A famous author finds his way out of hell by solving a puzzle. Art by Mark Pacella. (1994)
"Razing Hell Part 2, No One Ever Dies in Hell" - A trio of demon hunters on a quest the destroy the Leviathan by stealing the keys of hell. Art by Mark Pacella. (1994)
"Razing Hell Part 3, The Penitent"- The last of the demon hunters, wracked with guilt, descends into hell to rescue his friends . Art by Mark Pacella. (1994)
"Songs of Metal and Flesh" - a blind man's obsession with sound comes full circle. Art by Dave Dorman and Lurene Haines. (1990)
"Pleasures of Deception" - A frustrated artist find the new avant guard. Art by Bill Koeb. (1990)
"Cenobite" - The denizens of hell choose a representative to maintain order. Art by John Van Fleet. (1990)
"Old Wives Tale" - The truth about nursery rhymes comes out. Art by Steven Johnson (1992)
"Fury" - A brilliant new cure for the plague of the twentieth century - but are there repercutions? Art by Gil Ashby. (1992)
"The Blood of a Poet" - A young poet sacrifices everything for art. Art by John Ridgeway (1990)
"Sheddim" - The son of a murdered Jew calls upon the Gollum for vengeance. Art by Tim Conrad (1992)
"Of Love, Cats and Curiosity" - The old lady across the street really loves her cats - and she hates you. Art by Ricardo Villagran. (1992)
200 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 18, 2020
Overall it is good, what hurts it the most is that these stories lack an overarching storyline, since the cenobites and their appearences become very reppetitive. I would lable it as cautionary tales and background stories of the hellraiser universe. How you respond to some of these is really hit or miss because the themes are all over the place like a mixed bag.
The talent of the writers and the artists is probably the best part of this collection, as they really hold up well. I only could ask for a reprint in an oversized format as the print quality could be improved.
For horror fans a feast and for casual readers worth the time. 3.5 out of 5.0
The talent of the writers and the artists is probably the best part of this collection, as they really hold up well. I only could ask for a reprint in an oversized format as the print quality could be improved.
For horror fans a feast and for casual readers worth the time. 3.5 out of 5.0
January 12, 2021
More solid than not, this one has a few truly excellent standalone stories that have more meat than bloody meat.
I suppose I wanted to like the over-arc story to be more interesting than it was. A cenobite four horseman apocalypse revolving around chaos versus order DID have a few excellent ideas, and at least one of the tales was truly horrific, but I think I'd judge this one more on the attempt and direction than the actual execution.
Not that there are many actual executions here. Becoming a cenobite's plaything means immortality and never-ending pleasure, after all. In hell.
Were there many morals to the tales?
Some, but mostly, no. Not really. The preoccupation with Order was about the limit. I DO like the interesting configurations of ideas, however. Hell is a creation of pure order, after all.
I think I read these more for the insight into Clive Barker's universe more than anything. It is ABSOLUTELY better than any of the movies past two and maybe not quite as good as Barker's later The Scarlet Gospels which also has Pinhead.
I suppose I wanted to like the over-arc story to be more interesting than it was. A cenobite four horseman apocalypse revolving around chaos versus order DID have a few excellent ideas, and at least one of the tales was truly horrific, but I think I'd judge this one more on the attempt and direction than the actual execution.
Not that there are many actual executions here. Becoming a cenobite's plaything means immortality and never-ending pleasure, after all. In hell.
Were there many morals to the tales?
Some, but mostly, no. Not really. The preoccupation with Order was about the limit. I DO like the interesting configurations of ideas, however. Hell is a creation of pure order, after all.
I think I read these more for the insight into Clive Barker's universe more than anything. It is ABSOLUTELY better than any of the movies past two and maybe not quite as good as Barker's later The Scarlet Gospels which also has Pinhead.
February 15, 2015
some stories were good, other stories didnt excite me enough to care about what happened.Since it's a collection,all stories are done by different artists (I think) so the artwork is different too which I liked.
October 28, 2009
Fucking creeeeepy, but I guess that's the point. Well-done.
January 17, 2010
A bit dated, but this is still a satisfying and creepy collection.
March 13, 2013
based on sexual desires as it always is with Clive....we have seen the movies and what a novela has become
March 13, 2019
i am 12 i'm in junior and this book kind of reminds me of me because i have voices in side of my head and they say go hert your self, or go kill your self. i found this book and i starting reading it then i realized that there is more people in this world. that have this problem like me and i feel bad for those people that have these demons inside of there head. i started having these thoughts when i first came to jouner high thought it was gonna be good but i was wrong. about half of a year in people started to relies that i was hear and they started to call me fat and push me around they would not let me sit on the bus with them. i was about to call my mom and to see if she can come pick up if one more person said no then somebody said yes that's the kind of people we need in this world. please share this your friends and family compliment then don't be mean to them ok be nice to people even there over weat when these people called me fat, or ugly,and not let me sit with them on the bus i went home in tears just don't be mean to people please have a nice day.
March 17, 2019
What nightmares are made of.
March 11, 2024
Empieza bien, pero a la mitad es predecible. Te entretiene
October 8, 2025
a nice one although it would've been better if plot would get more twist with some unique storyline
March 25, 2015
I usually dont like reading a book series out of order (for fear that I might miss out on valuable character information/ backstory) but I couldnt find the first collection and continued on.
This particular version is broken down into 10 seperate stories:
- Canons Of Pain
- Razing Hell pts 1-3
- Songs Of Metal And Flesh
- The Pleasures of Deception
- Cenobite
- Old Wives' Tale
- Fury
- The Blood Of A Poet
- Sheddim
- Of Love, Cats, And Curiosity
As far as this whole collection is concered it was a hit or miss as to which stories I actually liked. There were some that I thought showed some promise but felt it needed to be flushed out a little more. But all in all they had pretty good imagery that went along with them, which is a plus.
Out of the bunch my favorite was Songs Of Metal And Flesh . This story centers around Jason, a blind pianist. As I've often heard when you lack one of your senses the others compensate by becomming sharper. This hold true for Jason as he bcomes aware of the other rehlm through music notes and seeks revenge on some who've wronged him.
To me Hellraiser fares much better as movies rather then short stories. With the movies you get more time to become invested in the characters.
This particular version is broken down into 10 seperate stories:
- Canons Of Pain
- Razing Hell pts 1-3
- Songs Of Metal And Flesh
- The Pleasures of Deception
- Cenobite
- Old Wives' Tale
- Fury
- The Blood Of A Poet
- Sheddim
- Of Love, Cats, And Curiosity
As far as this whole collection is concered it was a hit or miss as to which stories I actually liked. There were some that I thought showed some promise but felt it needed to be flushed out a little more. But all in all they had pretty good imagery that went along with them, which is a plus.
Out of the bunch my favorite was Songs Of Metal And Flesh . This story centers around Jason, a blind pianist. As I've often heard when you lack one of your senses the others compensate by becomming sharper. This hold true for Jason as he bcomes aware of the other rehlm through music notes and seeks revenge on some who've wronged him.
To me Hellraiser fares much better as movies rather then short stories. With the movies you get more time to become invested in the characters.
November 14, 2013
Clive Barker is one of horror's milestones. He brought us to Hell & back & that's some bad time for the folks "downstairs". This collection is unevenly brought together, but nonetheless as amazingly horrifiying as the first collection. The Cenobites are some of THE creepiest creatures in horror history. The art is disgustingly awesome, showing us all the gruesome tortures of Hell. My favorite element of the Hellraiser series is also probly everyone else's as well...Pinhead, of course!! The general of Hell's army!! The master of soul-tearing death!!
November 8, 2013
Worthwhile for fans of the series but an uneven collection. The better stories are fairly good and there is some good artwork. The weaker are pretty bad, and the the proportion is such that I almost gave a 2-star rating. It's a tough mythology to write for despite the compelling universe Barker established. If anything, the Cenobites seem much to easily defeated in this collection, and the stories at times too hopeful.
November 28, 2012
Worthwhile for fans of the series but an uneven collection. The better stories are fairly good and there is some good artwork. The weaker are pretty bad, and the the proportion is such that I almost gave a 2-star rating. It's a tough mythology to write for despite the compelling universe Barker established. If anything, the Cenobites seem much to easily defeated in this collection, and the stories at times too hopeful.
April 24, 2012
Bad stories, bad art.
May 8, 2013
Amazing!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews