Books of Blood

Books of Blood is a series of six horror fiction anthologies collecting original stories written by British author, playwright, and filmmaker Clive Barker in 1984 and 1985. Known primarily for writing stage plays beforehand, Barker gained a wider audience and fanbase through this anthology series, leading to a successful career as a novelist. Originally presented as six volumes, the anthologies were subsequently re-published in two omnibus editions containing three volumes each. Each volume contains four, five or six stories. The Volume 1–3 omnibus contained a foreword by Barker's fellow Liverpudlian horror writer Ramsey Campbell. Author Stephen King praised Books of Blood, leading to a quote from him appearing on the first US edition of the book: "I have seen the future of horror and his name is Clive Barker." Books of Blood Volume 6 is significant for its story "The Last Illusion" which introduced Barker's occult detective character Harry D'Amour. The detective went on to appear in more of Barker's writings, the Hellraiser comic book series from Boom! Studios, and the 1995 movie Lord of Illusions (based on "The Last Illusion" and adapted by Barker himself). Overview Clive Barker's tagline for Books of Blood was: "Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red." The opening story, "The Book of Blood", introduces the premise of the anthology series by revealing that a fake psychic is attacked one night by genuine ghosts and spirits who decide to make him a true messenger by writing stories into his flesh. This makes him a "Book of Blood" and the narration then invites the reader to read these stories. The UK editions of Volume 6 close with a story, "On Jerusalem Street", that features a man who pursues the fake psychic in order to skin him and take his Book of Blood. Thus, a framing story is created around the anthologies. The stories range in genres. Some are traditional horror, some are described by Barker as "dark fantasy," some are comical, and "The Last Illusion" is notable for being a mixture of horror and noir while also introducing the occult detective Harry D'Amour. A common thread is that most of the stories feature everyday people in contemporary settings who become involved in violent, mysterious, and/or supernatural events.