r/clivebarker

This topic has probably been talked to death. I’m not even the best Clive Barker fan since I’ve literally only read The Hellbound Heart and seen the og Hellraiser film, but I love the story and I love the idea the Cenobites are beings that religiously devote themselves to pain. That’s why so many of the film adaptions are infuriating cause somewhere along the way people took the idea and were like, “what if these are demons from hell?” Like that’s dumb. Any jackass can write a story about Christian demons punishing someone because they were evil. What makes the Cenobites scary is that they don’t torture you because they care if you’ve been naughty or whatever, they torture you because they think it’s like a spiritual gift. Idk man I know I’m not the first person to say this but it genuinely made me appreciate gate keeping more, the original meaning has been buried by surface level interpretations by filmmakers and other writers who didn’t actually get the point of Hellraiser and the hellbound heart. I think even Clive himself made that mistake in the scarlet gospels, but fact check me on that one.

​

Its been over 20 years since I read Weaveworld and the biggest thing I remember from the book are the chapters where the characters go walking in the desert for the Scourge. It felt like I was walking with them for hours upon hours, chqpter after chapter, and nothing... such endurance, in search of something forbidden, only to find at the end of it all something so terrifying and horrific. Because it was written so brilliantly, it became vivid and ended up being a fantastic sequence in a film I'd never seen.

I might not be remembering it well, I am in my mid-40's now, but I always remember that part with such brilliance.

What do you guys think about Hellbound Heart as well as other Barker's novels when it comes to be one of the novels to be analysed in a thesis?

I believe it has many interesting themes for instance; desire, body horror, gothic aesthetic, and how overall in how transgressive it is. However, my advisor said that he has never heard of it and said that it is a random book with no value and that I could as well write a thesis about Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse (lol) which made me mad.

Yesterday, I finished reading the Hellbound Heart. Although, I liked it, I wanted to hear more from people that maybe are more experienced with literature or the whole Hellbound/Hellraiser world.

I love horror games, and when I saw Hellraiser Revival (the game coming out tomorrow) it intrigued me so much, that I wanted to actually read and learn more about the series before playing it.

I have barely ever read books for my own pleasure, unless they were graphic novels, so I understand my literary analysis or experience in reading had hindered how I would feel the depth of the book.

Why I came here:
Maybe I had a different perspective of what the book would’ve been considering that the Cenobites seem to be the main plot for people to are not familiar with the book. I like the whole story, but as for the Cenobites and the Order of Gash, the puzzle box, and all of these supernatural aspects… the book felt incomplete to me. Its not the fact that the cenobites are not very present, but that we barely get any background to understand where they come from, whats their purpose, why are they just summoned for pleasure… idk it felt like you could change the story to fit with other supernatural entities and make it work. The idea and concept seemed interesting but I think it barely flourishes, and pales immensely in the actual plot.

Then I saw the movie, back to back
I honestly feel I would’ve been even more lost, if I had not read the book. The central plot works around Julia, Larry (idk why they changed his name), Kirsty, Frank, and the victims. I would have just found everything else, random and a bit senseless for the most part. They just show a glimpse of the cenobites and franks submission at the very beginning, and suddenly the cenobites spawn again towards the end without any build up to understand what, why, and who are they.

I just felt a bit underwhelmed, but today I will watch the second one and the other ones (even though they are not considered the best, or any good).

ALL OF THIS just to give my opinion on how I felt, but not to criticize or be negative about the book nor the movie. I just want to know if this is a common feeling, or did I just miss all the story telling right before my eyes. Thanks!! And I’m definitely interested in reading more of Clive’s work.