What do you think?
Rate this book
Down, Satan!
The tale of a wealthy middle-aged businessman, Gregorius, who becomes depressed when he believes God has deserted him, and he comes up with a plan to build a Hell on Earth to summon Satan, believing that God will then sweep him (Gregorius) out of Satan's clutches and into his heavenly fold.
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1992
20 people want to read
About the author
Clive Barker
703 books15.3k followersClive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It was in Liverpool in 1975 that he met his first partner, John Gregson, with whom he lived until 1986. Barker's second long-term relationship, with photographer David Armstrong, ended in 2009.
In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.
Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.
Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.
Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.
Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.
A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid,
In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.
Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.
Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.
Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.
Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.
A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid,
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 2, 2021
"se le metió en la cabeza que la única manera de conseguir su propósito de volver a los brazos del Hacedor seria arriesgar el alma del modo más disparatado. La idea tenía sus méritos.
—; ¿acaso Dios, al verme in extremis, no se sentiría obligado a intervenir para hacerme volver al redil?"
Gregorius es un hombre inmensamente rico que lo posee todo a nivel material, Pero se siente vació a nivel espiritual. A pesar e obrar bien siente que dios no responde a su llamado. Entonces como un amante despechado recurre a su antítesis. Y vaya recurso al que apelara para llamar la atención del señor de las tinieblas.
—; ¿acaso Dios, al verme in extremis, no se sentiría obligado a intervenir para hacerme volver al redil?"
Gregorius es un hombre inmensamente rico que lo posee todo a nivel material, Pero se siente vació a nivel espiritual. A pesar e obrar bien siente que dios no responde a su llamado. Entonces como un amante despechado recurre a su antítesis. Y vaya recurso al que apelara para llamar la atención del señor de las tinieblas.
July 20, 2025
A short story that is having a fairly unique plot, though there are many stories that occupy the same niche in this specialized genre. Gregorius is looking for God, and when he cannot find Him he settles to summon the Devil. He builds a horror-house based on all known terrors known to man, including all ideas about Hell.
In the tradition of Poe, at the end his house is broken open and gruesome discoveries are made. After a trial Gregorius is put in an asylum.
The story is built on a clear scheme. Grogorius looses his belief in God, he decides to summon the Devil, he researches and builts his Hell on Earth. Then he lives there while horrors take place and he clearly goes completely mad - or the Devil actually occupies his building.
Then the climax when the house is broken open and the horrors it contains unearthed. And the trial and end of Gregorius.
And in the best of horror tradition: a doubt remains after all should be forgotten.
Short and prickles the imagination, it lingers...
In the tradition of Poe, at the end his house is broken open and gruesome discoveries are made. After a trial Gregorius is put in an asylum.
The story is built on a clear scheme. Grogorius looses his belief in God, he decides to summon the Devil, he researches and builts his Hell on Earth. Then he lives there while horrors take place and he clearly goes completely mad - or the Devil actually occupies his building.
Then the climax when the house is broken open and the horrors it contains unearthed. And the trial and end of Gregorius.
And in the best of horror tradition: a doubt remains after all should be forgotten.
Short and prickles the imagination, it lingers...
July 3, 2024
“It was the Devil’s party, after all.”
When you search too hard for the Devil, you risk becoming him yourself.
When you search too hard for the Devil, you risk becoming him yourself.
September 1, 2024
Never has the concept of 'humans are perfectly capable of creating their own hell' been taken so literally as this deceptively simple short story.
And yet, the ambiguity at the end is the most haunting part, as the reader is left with this feeling where they are not sure if Gregorious succeeded in his mission or not.
Ambiguity in horror is tricky, most writers use it as a cop out but true masters use it to create this terrible sense of the unknown.
And yet, the ambiguity at the end is the most haunting part, as the reader is left with this feeling where they are not sure if Gregorious succeeded in his mission or not.
Ambiguity in horror is tricky, most writers use it as a cop out but true masters use it to create this terrible sense of the unknown.
July 7, 2023
El hombre quiere que Dios le haga caso así que su infalible plan en llamar la atención del diab.. y pues que Dios se ponga celoso y trate de guiarlo por el buen camino spoiler …..sale mal .
January 1, 2024
No me pareció la gran cosa. Aunque la primicia era muy interesante.
April 22, 2024
Was not boring by any means... This kept me engaged throughout, but the ending was a huge let down (satan, lol). Wish this resolved in a meaningful way. There's so much more to be explored...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews