Sometimes , making a name for yourself , whether in Hell or in penning , can be a twice edged sword .
Sure , there ’s all that warm and foggy “ hold out - where - everybody - knows - your - name ” eccentric stuff .. But along with the good come the not so dependable . Or perhaps more accurately , what comes with achiever is the increasing press of meeting and overstep expectations when you ( the author ) and your literary creation are synonymous with a whole coevals of advanced horror and subversive sense of humor .
Living up to those expectations while at the same metre changing the imprint of multitude who cogitate they know you is a labor unto itself . A job which horror fable , Clive Barker , attempt with abandon in his young novel , The Scarlet Gospels(St . Martins Press ) , his first novel length adults - only offering since 2007 . In the novel , Barker provides his long - suffering devotee base a final coda shell out his most well love mind - child , the darling S&M Cenobite anti - hero of print and sieve , Pinhead .
Except , much to our surprise , we find out that good ol’ Pinny ( along with Barker ) dead hates that cognomen … In fact , in The Scarlet Gospels , we get out despite about thirty year of being known as the demon with the computer hardware store facial , we should have been phone him the Hell - Priest ( do n’t leave the hyphen ) .
Well , geez … That sorting of puts a damper on things . It ’s kinda like calling , Rupert , your good protagonist from the fifth grade , “ Clarence ” for 28 yr .
Getting one ’s due is at the core of Barker ’s motivation in Gospels . In fact , the novel begins with Pin … err , the Hell - Priest teaching a familiar assortment of sorcerer an object lesson about put up in direction of what he want . Namely , absolute proof that the Priest is bad and baddest son - of - the abyss that has ever sent an innocent soul shrieking into oblivion .
The Priest means concern , gentle common people . To the extent that his master program , hatched over the trend of his last several appearances in movie and print , involve him wreaking havoc on his own Cenobite lodge with the ultimate goal of solving Hell ’s ultimate mystery . And create a steel newfangled , bloody litany all of his own .
Just like any safe guru , the Hell - Priest needs adherent . The most significant of which leaven to be another familiar brass to long time Barker readers , Harry D’Amour ( The Last Illusion , Everville ) . Clive ’s supernatural detective is tie into the empyrean of the Priest ’s schemes by the less - than - honest machinations of a newly dead , New Orleans - loving , hidden sadist , leading to an uncovering of yet another edition of the world ’s big mystifier box .
As one might imagine , gory terror and hilarity ensues as Barker , once again , reverse the Stephen King pattern of “ extraordinarily ordinary ” people team up up to stop malefic with his own gender and intimate orientation fine-tune flair . Do n’t worry , however , you horror loving completists , Barker still finds room for the prerequisite Mysterious Strongman ( sorta ) and the evenly necessary Magical Negro .
For some segment of Clive ’s diehards , there will be an former rush of the familiar , coupled with knowing lover service to long sentence favorite present moment from The Hellbound Heart and the Hellraiser film serial . ( bet for the “ Jesus Wept ” nudge and wink early on on in the minutes . )
And that perhaps sums up the swelled issue that The Scarlet Gospels is impel to carry like Sisyphus . Namely , the almost impossible burden of being as serious as Barker was at the top of his secret plan .
And quite a top it was . When he explode onto the scene in the 1980 ’s , Barker shook the gate like almost no one since , catapulting himself next to the Horror Writing Trinity of King , Straub and Rice seemingly overnight . It was n’t just boxershorts and novellas , of course , but film and plays and art , single handedly change the equation of what a revulsion theme creative could action . He fundamentally created the modern securities industry for British Horror and Suspense on this side of the Pond , making what Moore , Morrison and Ellis did toothsome to an American hearing . He was Neil Gaiman before Neil Gaiman .
But given the ten thousand of personal and professional obstacles Barker has encounter in the retiring number of long time it ’s not a surprisal that much of Gospels performs like the desolate building machines that our harrowed heroes encounter on their inevitable journey into Hell … Clunky , with signs of rust .
It ’s not that Gospels is in full a tough novel . In fact , there ’s a lot to like about its component parts . The return of the plush gore descriptions made famous in the Books of Blood , the ever quotable havoc of Pin - Priest , one of the most disgusting threat to ever come out of a imaginary water faucet , a protagonist who truly arise above his damaged past tense .
But noting the highs of the novel only stress the visible problem with a story that run perhaps 80 pages too long and at long last leave its heroes on the sidelines as the ultimate program of Pin - Priest is far to lofty and cosmic for mere mortals . The final denouement features some speechifying that would have been over the top for Stan Lee in the 70 ’s . There ’s also some strangely wooden ferociousness in the Koran , culminate with a really inauspicious death succession for one of our heroes . The exchange that take on places almost made me wonder if Barker had been prepping to write the swell Susan Lucci retort vehicle .
It gives me no pleasure to assort out the unpleasant entrails this finical offer . I count myself as a venerating enthusiast of Barker ’s body of work and in the back of my reviewing spunk I had hoped Gospels was go to be a round sightseer for him . Everyone who has followed his health and other personal struggle knows how near we came to never catch this novel .
In many ways , I hope it sells through the roof for him . And inspires him to get back on the composition knight as soon as humanly possible . Because I consider that a much better novel is still in the intimate workings of this world . One that will be a worthy heir to The slap-up and Secret Show , Imajica and Mister B. Gone than this uneven reboot . He hints at some interesting threads in the playing out of Gospels . thread that , by any measure of fairness , will make for a more fulfilling continuation .
He ’s always been an acquired taste , but at his best , he was a taste that one could n’t maybe ignore . Hopefully , it will just take a few turns of the puzzle box to see Barker get back on his plot .
Until that materialise , make indisputable you upgrade your contact list and ringtone for everyone ’s favorite Sir Ernst Boris Chain - handle sadist . The worst fate for this Judas Priest would be to make his final bow as Hell ’s version of Rodney Dangerfield .
Top image : Scarlet Gospels art by Carlos Garcia . Correction : An earlier version of this clause stated that Barker ’s most late book for adults was Coldheart Canyon , which came out in 2001 , not 2011 . In fact , his most late former book for adult was in 2007 .
book reviewBooksClive BarkerHellraiserHorrorMovies
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