By: Clive Barker
The Hellbound Heart is a horror novella, that will be adapted into a classic horror movie franchise, Hellraiser.
Plot: Frank is a man who has had every pleasure imaginable in the world. After tiring of the same pleasures, he seeks out the Lament Configuration, a puzzle box that supposedly will show him pleasures from which the world has never seen. When he solves the puzzle in his grandparent's house, he unleashes the Cenobites of the Gash, who will show him pleasures beyond his understanding.
Unfortunately for Frank, the cenobites are a squad of sadomasochistic demons that believe the difference between pleasure and pain is insubstantial. He goes with them willingly at first, but quickly realizes his mistake, and the eternal torture he is going to endure.
Several months later, Rory (Frank's brother) moves into the grandparent's house with his wife, Julia to start a new life. Rory is unaware of how untrustworthy Julia is or the fact that Julia had sex with Frank right before their wedding. When Rory cuts his hand in the same room that Frank solved the puzzle, his blood creates a gateway for Frank to return this world.
Only a whisper at first, Frank tells Julia that the blood is the key to his return, and that he requires a lot more of it in order to become whole again. He convinces her to lure men back to the room, which each death helps him become more human.
While still in a muscle on bone state, Frank attacks Rory's friend Kirsty, who had stopped by the house to check on Julia, all the while suspicious she is having an affair. During the attack in the room, Kirsty manages to escape with the Lament Configuration, her weapon of desperation she used to fend off Frank and survive. In the hospital, where she is being treated for her injuries from the encounter with Frank, she accidentally in ignorance solves the configuration, and summons the cenobites.
After telling the cenobites that Frank is actually alive, they leave her with the choice of getting Frank to admitting who he is or she will spend an eternity in torture for solving the Lament Configuration.
Unfortunately for Frank, the cenobites are a squad of sadomasochistic demons that believe the difference between pleasure and pain is insubstantial. He goes with them willingly at first, but quickly realizes his mistake, and the eternal torture he is going to endure.
Several months later, Rory (Frank's brother) moves into the grandparent's house with his wife, Julia to start a new life. Rory is unaware of how untrustworthy Julia is or the fact that Julia had sex with Frank right before their wedding. When Rory cuts his hand in the same room that Frank solved the puzzle, his blood creates a gateway for Frank to return this world.
Only a whisper at first, Frank tells Julia that the blood is the key to his return, and that he requires a lot more of it in order to become whole again. He convinces her to lure men back to the room, which each death helps him become more human.
While still in a muscle on bone state, Frank attacks Rory's friend Kirsty, who had stopped by the house to check on Julia, all the while suspicious she is having an affair. During the attack in the room, Kirsty manages to escape with the Lament Configuration, her weapon of desperation she used to fend off Frank and survive. In the hospital, where she is being treated for her injuries from the encounter with Frank, she accidentally in ignorance solves the configuration, and summons the cenobites.
After telling the cenobites that Frank is actually alive, they leave her with the choice of getting Frank to admitting who he is or she will spend an eternity in torture for solving the Lament Configuration.
Review: Truly a classic that spawned a movie franchise! Extremely gruesome from page to page, the reader will have to bare some disgusting descriptions, but will hopefully be enamored with the idea of "the box". The cenobites are unfeeling and creepy, and really strike fear from word to word. This is a must read for any horror fan or for any fan of the Hellraiser series of movies. The shortness of the novella is the only drawback. The book is very fast-paced, but lacks any history into the cenobites, who are the most intriguing characters in the story.
Discussion: In the story Frank seeks out a puzzle that will unleash to him all the pleasures he could ever want. Would you solve a puzzle that promised such pleasure or do you believe in Pandora's Box, and would refrain on the "too good to be true" principle?
Discussion: In the story Frank seeks out a puzzle that will unleash to him all the pleasures he could ever want. Would you solve a puzzle that promised such pleasure or do you believe in Pandora's Box, and would refrain on the "too good to be true" principle?
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