Hellbound Hearts [Paperback]

Paul Kane (Author), Marie O'Regan (Author), Clive Barker (Contributor), Neil Gaiman (Contributor), Dave McKean (Contributor), Mike Mignola (Contributor), Kelley Armstrong (Contributor), Barbie Wilde (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009

Clive Barker's iconic masterpiece The Hellbound Heart, the novella adapted into the film Hellraiser, unleashed a new mythology of horror, brilliantly conceived and born of the darkest imagination. Now, enter this visionary world -- the merciless realm of the demonic Cenobites -- in this collection of stories inspired by The Hellbound Heart. Featured here is the graphic work "Wordsworth," from bestselling author Neil Gaiman and artist Dave McKean, who unlock an explicit way to violate innocence -- one torturous puzzle at a time.... New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong logs on to a disturbing website for gamers, where the challenge is agonizing, and the solution beyond painful. When his father disappears, an Oxford student returns to his family's mansion, where a strange mechanism in the cellar holds a curious power, in a haunting illustrated work by Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This undistinguished anthology set in Clive Barker's imagined universe in which a puzzle box serves as the gateway to the realm of the sado-masochistic Cenobites ties in with the release of a remake of the 1987 horror film Hellraiser, adapted from Barker's novella "The Hellbound Heart." Unsurprisingly, these 21 stories are no more for the faint-of-heart than the materials that inspired them. While non-Barker fans may recoil at what often comes across as violence for violence's sake, even those who found some literary merit in the gory Barker novella may grow weary of a regular dose of torture, genital mutilation and bleak savagery. Not even a gifted and well-known author like Neil Gaiman ("Wordsworth," a tale in graphic form with artist Dave McKean) can do much with the theme of an innocent or a non-innocent stumbling on or seeking the fabled box and unleashing, accidentally or not, the horrific Cenobites. Other contributors include Conrad Williams, Tim Lebbon, Kelley Armstrong, Nancy Holder, Sarah Langan and Chaz Brenchley. Stephen Jones, who worked on the film Hellraiser, provides an introduction.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; Original edition (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439140901
• ISBN-13: 978-1439140901
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Stories!!, October 5, 2009

By 

Zia (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hellbound Hearts (Paperback)

What a creepy fun filled read and just at the right time of the year. This book is full of great short stories by wonderful authors. Stories full of Cenobites and creatures made from your worst nightmares. Neil Gaiman's graphic piece was just awesome and Kelly Armstrong's The Collector gave me chills.

I really enjoyed this collection of tales inspires by Clive Barker's novella The Hellbound Heart. The stories were so good that halfway through the book I got the urge to re-watch the Hellraiser movies and have since put them on my Netflix queue.

If you are looking for a scare this Halloween season, I would highly recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Boxing - Few Men enter, Less Men Leave!, August 10, 2010

By 

TastyBabySyndrome "Matthew Lewis, author of M... ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellbound Hearts (Kindle Edition)

When I first read that infamous short on "the box," "cenibites," and all those little horros, I was shaken by it. I was really young at the time and reading things I was "allowed to read" - today it seems strange to thing of a bad thing as reading material you aren't supposed to considering what it inappropriate behavior now.
I recall seeing the movies after that and thinking that the story had a life of its own and that more should be done. Well, more has been done.

In a book with wording from Peter Atkins, Conrad Wiliams, Sarah Pinborough, Mick Garris, Tim Lebbon (I consider Lebbon a plus in any addition(, Richard Matheson, Nency Holder, Simon Clark, Steve niles, Sarah Langan, Nick Vince, Yvonne Navarro, Mark Morris, Barbie Wilde, Jeff Mariote, and a few others - not to mention Clive barker. This means you have a dieverse scope when it comes to the style of telling you see, and you have such a different taste when it comes to plot, character handling, horrible things, and so much else.
The group; I like it alot.
Also here is work from Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden when illustrations are needed, and these are sexy beasts. I also love Mignola's work - he has been a favorite of mine for way too long now. So, this is the perfect arrangement to find and to read like a madman.

If you liked the way the bo has been thusfar, read this. You will like other people's ideas on what the beast should be, not to mention the fact that you get so many different flavors of pain and suffering here.
I would have bought it simply because of the idea, but it had talent backing it up. Even the pictures are done by masters!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great collection, December 10, 2009

By 

Tommy Walters (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hellbound Hearts (Paperback)

Hell has many faces. In this anthology we see some of them. For anyone who is familiar with the Hellraiser mythology (the great novella by Clive Barker and the 8 movies), there is surely some wavering about this book. I know I was on the fence on whether to buy it or not. I did, and I am glad that I made the choice. 90% of these stories are very good. The other 10% weren't bad, but not as strong in my opinion. Some of my favorites are the story that lead off the book, "The Dark Materials Project," "Santos Del Infierno," and "The Promise." "The Promise" sent chills down my spine.

The one thing I will say is that we meet Cenobites that are new and unfamiliar to us. There are appearances by one or two of the demons that were developed in the films, but for the most part they are new and nasty. The descriptions of some of the creatures is truly terrifying. I found these characters more disturbing than some of the cenobites created in the films.

This was a great hold over until Cliver Barker finally finishes the long awaited final Pinhead story. If you are a fan of the movies or his novella, read this book. I was not disappointed. It is a book that will have a place on my bookshelf for a long time.