Clive Barker's Tapping the Vein (Paperback)

~ (Author), Various (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

... similar to old EC Comics morality tales, written with the dark poetry of early Neil Gaiman. -- Breakdowns, March 20, 2003

Barker's truly twisted, truly visionary visions brought to life. . . it's almost impossible not to at least look. -- Rue Morgue Magazine, March/April 2003

Comics stories ought to work visually as much or more than verbally, and horror stories usually cry out for visual pyrotechnics, which is what they got in the Hellraiser comics. --Booklist

If you're a fan of horror comics, get this collection. -- Optical Sloth, February 2003

Overall, the stories achieve to avoid the clichés so often found in horror. With an interesting amalgam of writers and artists, these tales, though most over a decade old, still don t quite sit well in the stomach. They question the world, and the hell beneath it. Jacob Malewitz --Paperback Reader

The writers in charge of the adaptations have managed to condense the stories without losing any of Barker's writing punch. -- ComicReaders.com, February 2003

Product Description

This Eisner-nominated anthology mini-series brings the best of Clive Barker’s Books of Blood short stories to the comics medium. Barker’s work is brought to a stunning visual realization by comics’ greatest artistic talent: John Bolton, P. Craig Russell, Klaus Janson, Tim Conrad, Bo Hampton, Stan Woch, Hector Gomez, and more. Collected here are such horror classics as "Skins of the Fathers", "Human Remains", "In the Hills, In the Cities", "Down Satan", "How Spoilers Bleed", "The Madonna", "Pig Blood Blues", and "The Midnight Meat Train" . . . just to name a few.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Checker Book Publishing Group (September 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971024936
• ISBN-13: 978-0971024939
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #600,731 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great idea pulled off with excellence, January 23, 2003

By	Matt C. Stedman "matt" (Sedona, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The stories from Clive Barker's The Books of Blood are ideal for a graphic novel adaptation because of their visual intensity and visceral power. Here Barker and various artists have made a series of comic books in the tradition of EC comics but with stories more powerful and with more depth than the old comics ever achieved. Although I like Stephen King's comic homage, Creepshow, Tapping the Vein is a much better buy and contains adaptations of some of the most original short stories I've ever read. The combination of great artwork and great storytelling make In The Hills, The Cities the best. And the great artwork for Pig Blood Blues adds much to this lesser Clive Barker story. One dissapointment is that I didn't care much for the artwork for The Skins of the Fathers, my favorite of the stories chosen for this collection. Still fan's of Barker's The Books of Blood will love this collection. I'm eager to see more adaptations like this, especially for his stories, The Last Illusion and Rawhead Rex.

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like Clive, then you'll like this one too, November 29, 2005

By	Stefan Isaksson "www.stefanisaksson.se" (Malmoe, Sweden) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Years before Clive Barker wrote The Hellbound Heart which later was brought to the screen and transformed into Hellraiser he already had much experience from the life of a writer. Together with friends in a theatre group Barker had written several scripts for the stage, and in 1984 he published a collection of astonishing short stories, which became known as the Books of Blood. These days Barker is not a horror writer per se, even though his creations still contain supernatural and/or horror-influenced elements.

Books of Blood have been a global success, and many different editions have been published by different publishers. Checker Publishing Group - known for their high-quality editions of new and classical comics - has now released some of Barker's most celebrated stories from, among other, Books of Blood in the shape of a comic.

It's not a very easy task to transform the bizarre world of Clive Barker into a different media, but all in all one must say that Checker has done a great job. The stories are "Human Remains", "Pig Blood Blues", "Skins of the Fathers", "The Midnight Meat Train", "In the Hills, the Cities", "How Spoilers Bleed", "Down, Satan", and "Scape Goats".

However, the read is not a very easy one, despite the illustrations that accompany it, and unfortunately, some of the contributors more or less fail to do their job. For example, John Bolton's drawings for "In the Hills, the Cities" are masterpieces of art, while Klaus Janson's contributions to "Skins of the Fathers" are aeons away from the creepiness of Bolton.

Still, the stories in themselves are all brilliant literature, and in most case the transformation into comics are quite successful, even though it must be said that the reader more or less has to read the stories in their original form before attempting to read the comics. This is the only way to fully understand what's going on (and sometimes you still don't, but that's just the way Barker works). If you've read the stories before and liked them, then this Checker release will not let you down, but if you're new to the world of Clive Barker you'll probably have a hard time understanding some of the stories.

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like Clive, then you'll like this one too, November 22, 2005

By	Stefan Isaksson (Malmoe, Sweden) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Years before Clive Barker wrote The Hellbound Heart which later was brought to the screen and transformed into Hellraiser he already had much experience from the life of a writer. Together with friends in a theatre group Barker had written several scripts for the stage, and in 1984 he published a collection of astonishing short stories, which became known as the Books of Blood. These days Barker is not a horror writer per se, even though his creations still contain supernatural and/or horror-influenced elements.

Books of Blood have been a global success, and many different editions have been published by different publishers. Checker Publishing Group - known for their high-quality editions of new and classical comics - has now released some of Barker's most celebrated stories from, among other, Books of Blood in the shape of a comic.

It's not a very easy task to transform the bizarre world of Clive Barker into a different media, but all in all one must say that Checker has done a great job. The stories are "Human Remains", "Pig Blood Blues", "Skins of the Fathers", "The Midnight Meat Train", "In the Hills, the Cities", "How Spoilers Bleed", "Down, Satan", and "Scape Goats".

However, the read is not a very easy one, despite the illustrations that accompany it, and unfortunately, some of the contributors more or less fail to do their job. For example, John Bolton's drawings for "In the Hills, the Cities" are masterpieces of art, while Klaus Janson's contributions to "Skins of the Fathers" are aeons away from the creepiness of Bolton.

Still, the stories in themselves are all brilliant literature, and in most case the transformation into comics are quite successful, even though it must be said that the reader more or less has to read the stories in their original form before attempting to read the comics. This is the only way to fully understand what's going on (and sometimes you still don't, but that's just the way Barker works). If you've read the stories before and liked them, then this Checker release will not let you down, but if you're new to the world of Clive Barker you'll probably have a hard time understanding some of the stories.