JustAdventure+ Book Group discussion

Ok, this is just a test: let's put our reviews for dark fantasy and horror, plus tales of the macabre, in here.

I'll start off with my little Clive Barker review, that I had also posted on the main site:

This has been my first Clive Barker read, and I was very pleasantly surprised by it.

From what I had heard of Barker before, I had assumed his work was in the gory blood porn genre, and as such I was never very interested in trying out any of his work, since the more trashy kind of cheap thrills Stephen King used to grind out in his earlier years, really never did sit well with me; and neither does the kind of horror that features sexy teenagers being systematically mangled by homocidal maniacs (usually with very long butcher's knives) .

On the contrary, the volume I’ve just finished is a small collection of short stories that is intelligent, imaginative and satirical dark fantasy, the likes you see of in authors like Ray Bradbury and Gene Wolfe, with just a touch of a Lovecraftian sense of the macabre with a dollop of Kafka’s sense of the absurd.

A trademark feature seems to be that the stories start off with a very commonplace scenario, where everything is normal, sane and as everyday as you or I experience every day as we set of to work or school. Gradually a sense of weirdness starts to encroach in the story;- in come cases it works well, though in The Forbidden it did not work for me at first, as at first glance it seemed like a childish attempt at painting a horror figure, and I think this is a clue as to how the picture of Barker as a cheap thrill goremonger might have evolved.

However, after reading the rest of the stories, I realised that Barker’s works work on two levels. For the cheap thrill junkies, he does throw a few bones in some of his stories (though some of them are decidedly gore-less) but there is a lot of social commentary and satire going on in the background. I had a squiz at the plot of the movie “Candyman” that was based on The Forbidden, and there it was obvious to me that the hidden theme was distorted and ignored in the movie – it’s maker opting to put it into the slasher genre. (I’ll bet they made more money that way)

The actual theme originally intended by Barker, (besides a bit of a poke at the snobbish one-upmanship always to be found in intellectual/academic circles) seemed pretty obviously to me, to be a working of the theme that there is nothing worse for the human psyche than to be ignored, impotent, ridiculed, and/or nondescript, since everybody needs their existence validated somehow. For some the issue is important enough as to even draw attention to themselves in negative ways, as long as it means they get attention, of whatever kind.

The Candyman is a symbol of the allure of fame or notoriety, and Helen withstands this allure for a while, though she succumbs at the very end. Earlier in the story, other characters also succumbed to the Candyman, by telling sensationalist lies and …*censored for spoilers*.
The story also offers an effortless juxtaposition of the very different worlds of people living on the edges of society with that of snobbish university circles.

Barker delivers his double message cleverly enough camouflaged that sadly, a lot of people probably do dismiss works like The Forbidden as simply being of the horror “slasher” genre.

The Madonna is a wonderfully imaginative tale of ambiguity, which touches on relationship and gender issues, but overall delivers a delightful sense of the weird and macabre that only a Kafka or Lovecraft can match, yet delivered in pleasantly muted tones which makes it an enjoyable read.

Babel’s Children is a delightful little comic satire displaying Barker’s disdain for world politics.

In the Flesh was probably the story that touched me the most deeply and remained with me the longest, even managing to find it’s way into my dreams. I found myself identifying and empathizing with the characters in this one. Some of the story actually seems to have come from a dreamworld itself, and is guaranteed to please lovers of dark fantasy who enjoy exploring the landscapes of dream and psyche.

My interest has definitely been piqued, so I will be reading more Barker soon.

Regarding the volume of horror stories I'm looking at for Arkadia: This is actually not edited by Charles Dickens, he's merely a contributor. Stephen Jones & Dave Carson are the editors.

The book starts with a 65 page long exposition on "Supernatural Horror in Literature" by H.P Lovecraft himself. I've never read it before, so I might as well have a look at it. :)

It's quite a thick book, and the authors are all from an earlier century, so I don't know if I'll manage to sit it out, but I'll certainly read enough to be able to get a good general idea and report back on it. ;)

And now you're piqued my interest, dear lady. I've started reading "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson now, but my brother has a copy of Barker's Imajica, which I tried some years ago but never got that far with. Perhaps I'll put that one at the top of my list.

Thanks for the thread, Trav :D Glad to read your review of Barker - sounds right up my alley. I'll be getting at least the first volume of the Books of Blood omnibus in my next book purchase.

Thanks for looking at Horror Stories for me - I'm excited you noted Lovecraft's exposition, that's something I'm very interested to read. Let me know what you think of the stories :)

I just finished Infected by Scott Sigler and The Hot Zone by Richard preston. I could tell Infected was Sigler's first novel, especially in the way that the book picked up as it went along and steadily became smoother and more interesting to read. It was an interesting book, but all-in-all not, in my opinion, a great one, and I don't think I'll pick up its sequels.

The Hot Zone was fascinating in some ways, but I felt it was very anticlimactic in others. Preston's descriptions of how the Ebola virus infected humans and what it did to them were simultaneously horrifying and awe-inspiring, but I found many of the events themselves within the book weren't fleshed out enough to have warranted my taking the time to read them. I think the writing could have been vastly improved, particularly at the beginning of the book, where it seemed quite obvious to me that Preston didn't know exactly how he wanted to tell the story. I found myself re-writing in my head his sentences, to give them more flow. The beginning of the book started like a report of potential facts, listed one after the other, whereas later Preston seemed to have found his groove and was better at winding his facts into a more story-like narrative. All in all though, it was an enjoyable, eye-opening read that I would recommend, if simply for the education what exactly the Ebola virus is and does.

I finished Carmilla yesterday, but I'm not too sure what to tell you. Although it's slightly longer than your typical Gothic short story, it's quite similar in vein, and, while it is never really scary, it is notable in that it is among the earliest vampire literature out there, predating Stoker's Dracula by roughly 25 years.

I found it quite daring for it's time, in it's homoerotic descriptions, which are actually quite poetic.

I found it a bit frustrating that the plot is not fleshed out a bit more, since the exact origins of the vampire, etc. is only touched upon.

I wondered if perhaps Le Fanu meant the story partly as a homage to Lord Byron's epic poem, The Giaour; in which the narrator predicts that in punishment for his crime, the Giaour will be condemned to become a vampire after his death and kill his own dear ones by drinking their blood, to his own frightful torment as well as theirs.

In any case, it was an enjoyable enough read, and is definitely recommended for it's historical significance at the very least.

I'm reviewing my earlier opinion of Barker. I don't find his Books of Blood Volume One as good as the Volume Five. Volume 5 seemed more subtle and sophisticated.

I see that you've progressed further than I have with this volume, Arkadia - I'm taking a break in favour of lighter fantasy reading for now.

So what is your opinion so far?

Trav, I'm not sure you should review your opinion of an author based on a read-through of their earlier works, just as you shouldn't judge the skill of an artist based on works they did when they were 15 as opposed to 25 :) All told, it's an accomplishment that you like his later work much better than his earlier - he has progressed wonderfully then and I look forward to reading his later stuff :)

I just know I would hate for someone to read a recent work of mine and say "You are really good!" and then read some of the stuff I wrote five years ago and say "On second thought..."

I'm sure you know what I mean :)

But yes - I posted my opinion so far of the book on my Books of Blood comment page.

Thanks for your comments, Arkadia, I've read your other post, and I'm glad that you also liked Sex, Death and Starshine the least so far.

However, why I have reviewed my opinion (and I should have been more specific, I suppose), is that I have brought other members of our club under the impression that Barker's work is more Dark Fantasy than really horror so much.

I want to qualify that statement to apply only to the BOB vol. 5.
BOB vol. 1 is definitely horror, and I doubt that non-horror fans would enjoy it.

Nevertheless, it still is rather original work that may be enjoyed by many horrror readers, depending on one's individual taste, of course. :)

Ohh okay Trav. I understand now. I've been led to believe that pretty much all of Barker's later work is indeed dark fantasy (Weaveworld, The Great and Secret Show, etc). So it might just be this earlier volume and his earlier works that are so horror-bent? I think he also implied that in his introduction. So I suppose you could recommend him as a dark fantasy author if you added a side-note only to read his later works ^_^