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The Books of Blood, Volume 1 cover art

The Books of Blood, Volume 1

By: Clive Barker
Narrated by: Simon Vance,Dick Hill,Peter Berkrot,Jeffrey Kafer,Chet Williamson,Chris Patton
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Summary

The Books of Blood combine the ordinary with the extraordinary while radiating the eroticism that has become Barker's signature. Weaving tales of the everyday world transformed into an unrecognizable place, where reason no longer exists and logic ceases to explain the workings of the universe, Clive Barker provides the stuff of nightmares in packages too tantalizing to resist.

Never one to shy away from the unimaginable or the unspeakable, Clive Barker breathes life into our deepest, darkest nightmares, creating visions that are at once terrifying, tender, and witty.

The Books of Blood confirm what horror fans everywhere have known for a long time: We will be hearing from Clive Barker for many years to come. This first volume contains the short stories : "The Book of Blood," "The Midnight Meat Train," "The Yattering and Jack," "Sex, Death, and Starshine," and "In the Hills, the Cities."

©1984 Seraphim Films (P)2013 David N. Wilson

What listeners say about The Books of Blood, Volume 1

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Visceral, grisly horror classic

I first read the Books of Blood at 18, and was immediately struck by Clive Barker's incredible talent and imagination for the horror genre. Many of the stories, about an hour or so in length, have since become classics, and a few have been adapted for film - The Forbidden, the basis of the Candyman franchise, and the Midnight Meat Train for example. Even knowing what to expect I was struck again and again while listening to the dizzying breadth of Barker's imagination - the Dante-esque visions of hell, the faustian comedy of the Yattering and Jack, the giants made of men - and how well it integrates with the realities of everyday experience.
The performance is very good - none of the narrators give anything less than an excellent reading, and the narration never impacts negatively on the story, which is more or less all I look for in a performance. I was very pleased with this.
It's a must listen for horror fans. Just be warned, the stories often involve extremely graphic violent and sexual content. Hopefully the other 4 books in the collection will join volumes 1 and 2 on Audible shortly.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

My first Barker book, and a good start!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, its a good listen, and the narrators put in a great performance which really helps animate the stories.

What other book might you compare The Books of Blood, Volume 1 to, and why?

I'm fairly new to horror fiction, so it would have to be Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King, although some of the imagery in Barker's stuff is expectedly more otherworldly!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The last few minutes of 'The Yattering and Jack' , and the conclusion to 'The Midnight Meat Train'

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Classic Clive Barker

A good collection of short stories. I purchased this collection a good few years ago as a paper book. Loving hearing them again.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Essential reading for all fans of horror.

If you could sum up The Books of Blood, Volume 1 in three words, what would they be?

Chilling depraved and intense.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes i my blood curdled.

Any additional comments?

A very good book full of wild imagination and terrifying imagery. Clive Barker is a master of horror i had the paperback of this book and i love the cross over to audio book i will definitely be buying the other books in this series.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great

If you could sum up The Books of Blood, Volume 1 in three words, what would they be?

Unique, grotesque, marvellous.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The narrator brings an eerie quality to the stories which you wouldn't experience if you had only read the book. This is especially evident when voicing the demon in "The Yattering and Jack"

Any additional comments?

I loved the surreal premise and unusual quality of the stories. Each one is completely different from the one that came before.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Horror at its finest, perfection narration

Hailed by Stephen King as "the future of horror", Clive Barker's debut collection was proof of that title then, and continues to be so now. Each tale is as groundbreaking now as it would have been upon initial release. This gathering of art-horror tales push all imagined boundaries to produce the finest short stories "genre writing" has seen. "The Midnight Meat Train" and "In the Hills; the Cities" are my two personal favourites from volume 1.

Each narrator has been perfectly selected for their respective tale, and only add to Barker's prose. I cannot recommend this collection enough.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great

really starting to love this author best to listen to with head phones tho as theres quiet a lot of sexy bits haha

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Stories - Shame about the Narration

Fabulous horror stories - Clive Barker is a real master storyteller. The concept of the Books of Blood is set up in the first story, then the following anthology displays the author's skill and range of imagination; from the NYC subway in Midnight Meat Train, to the very British trials and tribulations in the Yattering and Jack.


I felt that some narrators let the tales down by either over exaggerated depth of feeling and expression, or badly chosen "voices" for some of the characters. It's mildly annoying - not enough to prevent me from purchasing more in the series, but annoying enough that if I could never hear those narrators again, I would pay more to do so!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

chilling tales from Clive Barker

sex,blood and fantasy collide in these chilling tales from Clive Barker, Barker continues to be one of the most visceraly descriptive writers I have read, my favourite from this collection had to be "up in the hills the cities" and if you're like me you'll find yourself thinking about these stories for days

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

Gruesome Stories

Classic stories by Clive Barker, for readers who like their horror on the graphic and bloody side.

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