Rating: 
Summary: First class horror and fantasy. First class stories.
Review: This volume puts Barker in a class by himself. The stories display an impressive range: "In the Hills, the Cities" is as original and lyrical as anything by Ray Bradbury, while "The Midnight Meat Train" is a gut-wrenching, nerve-shattering horror show in the style of the grand guignol. The stories of the Books of Blood series easily rank among the best dark fantasy tales ever published.
Rating:
Summary: This is a fiercely inventive, groundbreaking collection.
Review: This volume puts Barker in a class by himself. The stories display an impressive range: "In the Hills, the Cities" is as original and lyrical as anything by Ray Bradbury, while "The Midnight Meat Train" is a gut-wrenching, nerve-shattering horror show in the style of the grand guignol. The stories of the Books of Blood series easily rank among the best dark fantasy tales ever published.
Rating:
Summary: The birth of a true horror visionary
Review: With Volume One of Books of Blood, Clive Barker burst upon the horror scene like a giant supernova exploding in space, mixing an obvious love for the more gruesome aspects of the dark literary arts with a vision and power all but unheard of. Stephen King said that the very future of horror was named Clive Barker. With that endorsement, such an eye-catching title, and a wonderfully horror-laden cover image (much better than the reprints of recent years), I simply had to have this book. An introduction by horror maestro Ramsey Campbell further fuelled my fires of interest. I was still rather new to the horror scene at that time, and while I knew even then that Barker was constructing stories unlike any I had ever read, it was several years later that I truly realized the astounding originality and creativeness of this man's genius. The initial offering, The Book of Blood, stands out as a unique ghost story in its own right, but it also serves as a provocative abstract for everything Barker sought to accomplish with these stories (and I should note that he originally wanted all of the volumes of Books of Blood to be published together in one book). After this enticing introductory tale, we head below the streets of New York to sneak a ride on The Midnight Meat Train. This story is vintage Clive Barker. While it is full of blood and gore, it is clearly not a case of gore for gore's sake. Barker isn't trying to drown the reader in blood as a means to hide any lack of skill on his part because the skill is undeniably there for all to see. This is a story that you will not soon forget. Barker really changes his line of attack in the next story, The Yattering and Jack. The Yattering is a demon sent to torment and destroy the sanity of a little nobody named Jack. In this dark comedy farce, the poor Yattering does everything he can think of to make the unshakeable Jack miserable, driving himself almost mad in the process. I think of The Yattering and Jack as an amusing sort of Barker bedtime story. Pig Blood Blues forces the casual reader to once again don hip hugger boots for a trek into gore and depravity. At a certain school for wayward boys, a monster resides in a pig sty on the campus farm, a menacing sow who thinks that pigs are more equal than humans; in this place, the other white meat is not pork. Sex, Death and Starshine is a good story, but it alone among these offerings seems to be lacking a certain oomph. The idea behind the story is fantastic, however, as it touches upon the needs of the dead to be entertained every once in a while. Easily, the most impressive story told in these pages is In the Hills, the Cities. The impact of this pioneering, bold, brilliant story is akin to that of Shirley Jackson's unforgettable tale The Lottery. Two male lovers touring the hidden sights of Yugoslavia become the reluctant witnesses to a sight few men could ever even conceive of when a unique traditional battle between the citizens of two adjacent towns takes an unexpected and ever-so-destructive turn. If you want to know what the big deal about Clive Barker is, this is the story you need to read. This first volume of Barker's horror-laden creations left no doubt in the minds of most horror fans that fresh blood had arrived to increase the vitality and further the maturing process of a genre always failing to win the widespread respect it deserves. While Barker's dark visions will not suit the taste of even some traditional horror fans, he more than deserves a choice seat at the table of the horror gods.
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