The Scarlet Gospels
A Terrifying Duel Between Good and Evil - The Perfect Horror Novel
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4.3 • 42 Ratings
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
The Scarlet Gospels takes readers back to the early days of two of Clive Barker's most iconic characters in a battle of good and evil as old as time.
The gates to Hell are open and something beckons . . .
The last of Earth's magicians are living in fear. A Cenobite Hell Priest known as Pinhead is killing them off, gorging on their knowledge to enhance his own magical powers as part of a quest to take over Hell. Meanwhile, Private Investigator Harry D' Amour is fulfilling the final wishes of the dead, who communicate with his business associate, the blind medium Norma Paine. But while investigating one such case, Harry inadvertently opens up a portal between Hell and Earth.
When Harry's nemesis Pinhead emerges through the portal, a vicious battle ensues. After failing to enlist Harry to pen his Scarlet Gospels – the epistles chronicling the Hell Priest's grand coup - Pinhead instead captures Norma. Harry realizes he must go through Hell – literally – to save her.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Harry D'Amour, the psychically sensitive detective from Barker's Books of Blood, faces off with Pinhead, the sadistic Cenobite star of the Hellraiser series, in this gory battle royal that takes the reader literally to hell and back. Following a blood-spattered prologue that sets the tone for the rest of the novel, Pinhead here portrayed as a demon residing in hell lures D'Amour and his entourage of mortal sidekicks to the infernal realm to serve as "witness" to what the demon calls "my gospels": a succession of gruesome atrocities whose purpose is revealed in the tale's outrageous climax. Barker's depiction of hell is Dantesque in scope and scale, and his descriptions of its architecture and denizens form an awesomely creative display of imagination. The visceral horrors that clot nearly every page of this novel are not for the squeamish, but the reader who stomachs them to the end will be impressed by the audacity of the author's ambitions.
Customer Reviews
Wickedly descriptive.
Couldn’t put it down.
Could do better
Not his best work. The clever, lyrical use of language in his earlier works has gone; and the need to shock and disgust has replaced actual horror. I would hate to use the word clichéd, but some of the characters were unconvincing - they seemed to be there solely to move the plot on to the big scenes.
The story is okay, but only okay. You do feel like finding out what happens next and it's interesting to find out what happens to these characters from other books.