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Michael Morrison (review date 1985)

SOURCE: Morrison, Michael. “Clive Barker: The Delights of Dread.” Fantasy Review 8, no. 2 (February 1985): 35-37.

[In the following review, Morrison explores thematic and stylistic aspects of the short stories in the first three Books of Blood.]

In 1984, Sphere Books unleashed upon the unsuspecting world Clive Barker's Books of Blood, three volumes of tales by a writer heretofore unknown in the genre. Although traditional in form and style, Barker's stories are original, disturbing, and as discomforting as anything in contemporary literature. This collection heralds the arrival of a major new talent in horror fiction.

Some of the stories in Books of Blood are inventive variations on traditional themes. For example, “Son of Celluloid” and “Human Remains” are vampire and doppelganger stories, respectively; and “The Midnight Meat Train” is a zombie story that might give...

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1. Introduction
2. Criticism
   1. Michael Morrison (review date 1985)
   2. Michael A. Morrison (review date 1985)
   3. Chris Morgan (review date 1985)
   4. Fleming Meeks (review date 1986)
   5. Douglas E. Winter (review date 1986)
   6. Ken Tucker (review date 1986)
   7. Michael A. Morrison (review date 1986)
   8. Don D'Ammassa (review date 1986)
   9. Don D'Ammassa (review date 1986)
   10. Cosette Keis (review date 1987)
   11. Elizabeth Gleick (review date 1987)
   12. Laurence Coven (review date 1987)
   13. Don D'Ammassa (review date 1987)
   14. Science Fiction Chronicle (review date 1989)
   15. Ken Anderson (review date 1989)
   16. Craig William Burns (essay date 1993)
   17. Gary Hoppenstand (essay date 1994)
   18. Linda Badley (essay date 1996)
3. Further Reading
4. Copyright