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Hellraiser: The Toll

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Hellraiser: The Toll

By: Mark Alan Miller
Narrated by: Tom Holland
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About this listen

Hellraiser: The Toll tells the story of what happened between Clive Barker's iconic works Hellraiser and its literary follow up, The Scarlet Gospels. Written by Mark Alan Miller (Next Testament, The Steam Man), featuring narration by director Tom Holland (Child's Play, Fright Night), a full cast that includes Mali Elfman, Kasey Lansdale, Peter Atkins, Robert Parigi, Richard Ankles, Christian Francis, Joshua Holland, & Justin Vonderach, and original music by powerhouse composer Cris Velasco (God of War 1-3, Clive Barker's Jericho). Thirty years after Kirsty escaped from the clutches of the Hell Priest, Pinhead, and lived to fight another day, her life has never been the same. Every few years she fashions a new name, a new identity, and a new home for herself; She is a woman who is running from her past at all costs, which is why it comes as such a surprise when she receives a mysterious letter in the mail, addressed to the identity she's been running from over half her life.

Answering the letter's query, she begins a descent down a rabbit hole to the ultimate confrontation. Her actions stir something unnameable in the ether, and throw her into a game where nothing…not even what she sees in front of her very eyes…can be trusted.

With equal parts economy and eloquence, author Mark Alan Miller brings to life the beginning of the end as The Toll expands the Hellraiser universe, and shows that before Detective Harry D'Amour's adventures in The Scarlet Gospels, there was a first witness to Pinhead's infernal plan.

©2018 Mark Alan Miller (P)2018 Mark Alan Miller
Horror Supernatural Thriller & Suspense Paranormal Scary
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it was a decent little audiobook, almost a full audio drama with sound effects and a full cast. however I was disappointed they were making it a continuation of the films, not the Hellbound Heart novella

decent but also disappointing

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I came across this book whilst searching for Hellraiser comics. The price of the book seemed really expensive so when I found it on Audible I immediately downloaded it. How disappointing. The narrator was good, the other readers were good too but the story is dire.
For a Hellraiser novella it just doesn’t go anywhere. I felt very much short changed after this. It should have been much better.

Not worth the read

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I enjoyed the story but found the main narrator to be very poor. Their style of reading made it very hard to follow the story. That is a shame as the ‘actors’ were not bad. If they re-recorded this with a different narrator it would be so much better.

Good story but terrible narration

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All the the different voices annoyed me but loved the ending when Harry was mentioned

The way the tied in the other book

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First things first: I received this free for an honest review.

Mark Alan Miller's Hellraiser: The Toll is a strange mixed bag.

I'm really tempted to leave the review at that single line, as I genuinely think it sums up this book/audiobook as much as any review needs to; but I guess I'll go on.

Hellraiser: The Toll isn't a book that bridges The Hellbound Heart and The Scarlet Gospels, regardless of what you might have heard. Its a strange melding of a sequel to both the novella itself and the movie that came from it and it is best read in such a light.

Taken on its own merits, ignoring its strange lineage, it is still somewhat mixed up. It spends far too much time retelling the events in Hellaiser (the 1987 movie) apparently unaware that anyone reading a book called Hellraiser: The Toll would probably be very aware of what led us to this point. In itself this retelling isn't a chore to sit through, and it does at least clarify which version of Pinhead we will eventually meet, but it literally takes up half the books length and reduces this new story to little more than a longish short story.

When we do get to the story we find that we are in pure Hellbound: Hellraiser II (the 1988 sequel) territory in that a doctor enlists our hero, Kirsty's, help to contact the Cenobite leader; this time in an attempt to defeat him. It all ends up being a little something-of-nothing storyline wise, and after finishing it I had a profound sense of missed opportunity. There are some good ideas lurking within this tale. Hints at earthly covens doing the Cenobites wishes and places of evil and depravity forming crossroads into their hellish world, but the story is too short and, once the recap is over with, seems to much in a rush to get to the end, leaving us with something that feels more like an outline to a longer work; or perhaps the synopsis to a movie script. So it wasn't a surprise to me when I realised who the author was and his connection to Clive Barker, his films, and the recent comic book based on the Hellraiser franchise.

Ultimately Hellraiser: The Toll reads like a rejected story arc from the Hellraiser comics, which in themselves feel like fan-fiction rather than anything truly connected to Barker's universe; but after all this is said it doesn't necessarily mean that Hellraiser: The Toll is actually "bad".

I know, sounds like I'm contradicting myself doesn't it!

I think a readers enjoyment of Hellraiser: The Toll greatly depends on what they are reading it for and what they might be expecting from the story. If you're familiar with the movies more-so than the novella, or if you're looking for a dip into Barkerville that's not going to leave you breathless and looking over your shoulder than Hellraiser: The Toll will do the job just fine. However if you are a seasoned fan of Barker's early works then your opinion might be a whole lot harsher, and you might spend the remaining day spitting and cursing under your breath.

Personally I'm glad I took the time out for this story but I'll almost certainly never revisit it. There were some nice ideas, unfortunately unexplored, and it was kind of nice to catch up with Kirsty after all these years; but I have to admit that it left behind more sadness than fear, sadness that the Hellraiser franchise was finally over.

Nice cover, not so sure about the story...

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