The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker
"No tears, please. It's a waste of good suffering."
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pros: inspired one of my favorite horror franchises, classic horror, hell imagery, terrifying, well written
Cons: I wish there were more
Trigger warnings: Gore, Body horror, Violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Rape
Hellraiser is the first horror movie I remember scaring me… and that was before I even watched the film. Travel back with me to a time of Blockbuster; I was a little girl wandering the aisles, killing time while my mom or grandma figured out which movie they were gonna take a chance on. I always stumbled into the horror section even though I wasn’t allowed to watch those movies yet. That’s where I first met Pinhead and he scared the shit out of me.
Years later when I finally watched it in my early twenties, it held up. That movie is the only movie to ever give me nightmares. This moment specifically just ruined me.
Fast forward to present day, I jumped head first back into reading like never before and found out that Hellraiser was inspired by a novella by Clive Barker. Naturally, I had to read it!
The book is basically the same set up as the film: in a quiet house, a man named Frank opens a mysterious puzzle box that is said to hold unspeakable horrors and ecstasy. What’s released from the box drags him to hell to live out a pleasure and pain filled existence being tortured by Pinhead and all his demon friends, the cenobites. His brother and his wife Julia then move into the house and Frank starts to materialize. Julia and Frank begin an affair that leads to betrayal, secrets and acts of violence.
Let’s get this out… cenobites is a really silly sounding name for such horrifying entities. Cenobites makes me think of cereal. Aside from that, this book is gripping and stressful just like the movies. It’s a mind bending, violent novella that will satisfy your need for blood and guts. I love this book. I recommend it to anyone who loves horror movies and gore; I also recommend making a day/night of it and reading the book then watching the film.