The Great Clive Barker (Re)Read of 2024 Part 2
Another trio of novels from the master of the macabre
I’m back with more Barker! The Great Clive Barker (Re)Read of 2024 continues with three more novels published in three different decades.
The Damnation Game (1985)
This one falls under the “reread” category for me, but it had been a very long time since I had last read it. This was Barker’s first published novel (coming out all the way back in 1985), so I was curious to see how it holds up on a revisit.
The story is pretty impressive in scope. It opens at the end of World War II in Poland as a petty thief attempts to track down a card shark who reportedly never loses, and then it flashes to present day (read: 1985) England where a convict is being let out of prison as part of a work release program to serve as the bodyguard for an eccentric billionaire. Then things go full speed off the rails.
Our protagonist is a man named Marty Strauss (the convict) who spends most of the novel on the estate of the aforementioned wealthy employer (Joseph Whitehead). Also living on the estate is Whitehead’s daughter (Carys) who happens to be telepathic. Strauss has been brought in as Whitehead’s bodyguard specifically to protect him from a seemingly supernatural nemesis named Mamouilan and his repulsive right-hand man (Breer).
I really enjoyed this one on reread. I’ve heard complaints that the story suffers from having no likable characters, but that didn’t bother me in the slightest. These characters are all pretty awful people, but Barker does an excellent job of getting the reader invested in their fates regardless. If there is one area where the novel suffers a bit, it’s from having a bit too many ideas crammed into it. You can certainly tell that this was Barker’s first novel, and he wanted to make sure he got all of his ideas in there in case he never got the chance to have another novel published. Needless to say, any such fears have proven to be unfounded.
Mister B. Gone (2007)
This one was a first time read for me. I’m not sure why I had never gotten around to reading it before now, but I have now corrected this omission.
The premise for Mister B. Gone is a clever one: the book that are reading is possessed by a demon. More specifically, it is possessed by a demon named Jakabok Botch. This demon is none too pleased to be trapped inside of this book, so he is imploring the reader to stop reading immediately and burn it. The demon becomes more and more annoyed with you with each successive paragraph wherein you have ignored his pleas. The demon ultimately decides to tell you the story of how he came to possess the book that you hold in your hands with the hope that you will eventually agree to destroy it and set him free. That story takes many twists and turns that even includes Johannes Gutenberg playing an integral role.
It’s a fun little bit of meta narrative for the reader to engage with. Unfortunately, I found this premise wears thin over the course of 256 pages. It would have been much better suited for a short story or novella (something in the 70-100 page range) than a full novel in my opinion. Just to be clear, I did not think this was a bad book. I liked it overall. I just felt it became too repetitive as it went along.
The Thief of Always (1992)
No book has benefited from a reread more than The Thief of Always. For those unaware, this was Barker’s attempt at writing a children’s story. When I first read this book years ago, I fell squarely in the “those unaware” camp. It really fell short of my expectations because of that, so I was curious how I would receive it now with that knowledge.
This story is written in the style of an old fable. It calls to mind the classic Grimm fairy tales with a modern twist. It follows a young boy named Harvey Swick (great name) who is taken to a place called Holiday House by a mysterious figure named Mr. Hood. It’s a whimsical place where children go on fun adventures and every night is Halloween. It’s pretty obvious from the outset that there’s something sinister going on, but I think it’d still be worth it to live somewhere where every night is Halloween.
It’s a very fun story with just the right amount of horror to spook some kids while not overdoing it. The book is also filled with illustrations drawn by Barker himself to supplement the story. Some of those illustrations seem a bit intense for a children’s story, but that’s Clive Barker for you.
I enjoyed this book so much more on this reread. Knowing the intended audience really changed my perception of the material, and I was really impressed by Barker’s ability to change up his writing style to better suit the readership. It was also just announced that Jennifer Kent (director of The Babadook) will be directing an adaptation of this story for the big screen. That feels like a match made in heaven to me.
That seems like a good place to wrap things up for this week. Come back for the third part in this series where I’ll be mixing in a slightly different art form along with more traditional novels that Barker is known for.