Editorial Review
From his Books of Blood to The Damnation Game, Weaveworld, and The Great and Secret Show, to scores of short stories, bestselling novels, and now major motion pictures, no one comes close to the vivid imagination and unique terrors provided by Clive Barker.
The Hellbound Heart is one of his best, a nerve-shattering novella about the human heart and all the great terrors and ecstasies within its endless domain. It is about greed and love, lovelessness and despair, desire and death, life and captivity, bells and blood. It is one of the most dead-frightening stories you are likely to ever read.
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Customer Reviews
Can you put the puzzle box down? 
2008-08-07
I have been a fan of Clive Barker since reading Imagica a couple years ago. Barker can write some truly imaginative books. He is one of the authors that breaks the mold of our commercial carbon copy writing industry. I knew that if I was going to ever see myself a fan of his works I had to read Hellbound Heart. This is the book that started the whole Hellraiser movie series. If you ever saw the movies you know how hard it is to forget `pinhead'. First and foremost you don't have a clear description of any Cenobite that reflects the pinhead character except for the reference to `the engineer'. With that said don't buy this book just for pinhead, you'll miss the point. The book is very short (between 150-180pg depending on your edition) so reading it in a single sitting is not hard to do. It took me two days to read it. This book was amazing! The way Clive Barker describes the human heart with its lust and desires Often the heart is drawn despite the fact that what you may desire can harm your soul (or torture it) is the underlying theme that makes this story so powerful. The author also has a great way of describing the atmosphere. There is a paragraph at the start of one of the chapters that describes the way seasons over take each other with a violent submission that is similar to the submission patterns of the characters. This is a great classic and should be read by any horror fan.
A great short story I give it 5 of 5 stars!
Books are always better than the movies 2008-05-31
I remember watching the 1st Hellraiser for the very first time not long ago. Now to many of you that seems kind of strange, but I'm only 21 and so I had no clue who Clive Barker was or what this story was all about.
After watching the movie I wasn't all that impressed. But I remember noticing that the film was based on a book called The Hellbound Heart, so I went and bought the book and was surprised to see it's small size. I glanced through the first couple of pages and found myself immediately hooked. I couldn't believe how clean and elicit the prose were in this novella. I couldn't stop reading it.
What I learned while reading this novella was this: It's true when they say that books are better than movies (I truly believe that!). This book is not only, at times, sickening to the stomach because of the powerful impact of imagery, causing some of the most horrifying moments in any story that I have ever read, but also pleasing to a reader's eye, because the writing style is just remarkable!
Barker has become one of my favorite writers. He's witty and descriptive; he's clever and dark; he's all around a great writer!
If you get a chance, or just want something entertaining to read that will also make your stomach cringe, grab this novella and read it. You won't regret it.
Hellbound is Heavensent 2008-05-21
The Hellbound Heart: A NovelI never thought that I would be able to get a new copy of this book.To sum it all up ,it is better than the movie it inspired (Hellraiser)
A beautiful (terrifying) edition 
2008-04-05
The Hellbound Heart was originally written before Clive Barker became "The Future Of Horror". This is what one would expect from a seasoned writer with years of 'getting away with it' behind him. It also shows what was left out of the filmed version (we'll see what the remake brings). This is a stunning edition with original cenobite designs drawn by Clive as well as the original first chapter reprinted with annotations and notes by the author. A must for Clive fans. If you're new to the mans writings be prepared to sleep with the light on for quite a while.
One of the Top 10 Horror Novellas 2008-02-27
For a while in the 19th and 20th centuries, novellas ruled as the dominant form of horror fiction. From "Dracula" to "Frankenstein," many of the greatest horror characters emerged from slim volumes. "The Hellbound Heart" is the birthplace of Clive Barker's popular "Hellraiser" series of films (although he only wrote and directed the first film and not its subsequent sequels). The most recognizable character--Pinhead--does not appear by name in this novella. Instead, we have the briefest of glimpses into the morally ambiguous world pitting pleasure against pain that Barker mined early in his writing career. As an introduction to both Barker and the Hellraiser universe, "The Hellbound Heart" is a bloody good read.
As always, the book far outdoes the movie 2008-02-12
From his Books of Blood to The Damnation Game, Weaveworld, and The Great and Secret Show, to scores of short stories, bestselling novels, and now major motion pictures, no one comes close to the vivid imagination and unique terrors provided by Clive Barker.
The Hellbound Heart is one of his best, a nerve-shattering novella about the human heart and all the great terrors and ecstasies within its endless domain. It is about greed and love, lovelessness and despair, desire and death, life and captivity, bells and blood. It is one of the most dead-frightening stories you are likely to ever read.
A Hell of a Book 2008-01-19
As a casual reader of horror (mainly Stephen King and Richard Matheson up until now) I had heard quite a bit about this Clive Barker fellow with all comments being positive. I had even seen tid bits of his directorial debut "Hellraiser" which was based upon this, his own novel. From what I saw I liked. His type of horror is very unique to say the least. Where as King merely gives you goosebumps Clive will go straight for the jugular. With that said I was surprised that it took me this long to read one of his novels or short stories.
Was I dissapointed? No, Clive is a much better writer than King with his descriptions jumping from the page. While reading, I thought that the book almost read itself. You are only required to turn the page every now and then. A word of warning though. I have run into some readers who are turned off by short stories or short novels and this book is certainly a short novel coming in at merely a 164 pages. If you prefer something longer this book may not be for you. Personally I preferred it with this story. While Barker is very descriptive he leaves much up to the imagination which in my opinion builds mystery. Less is truly more in this instance. After reading this Barker's Books of Blood, The Damnation Games and others are at the tops of my Wish List.
watched the movie then read the book, and the book is better! 2008-01-16
It is rare to watch a movie then read the book and claim the book is better. It seems which ever a person does first is their favorite. I had low expectations of reading this book considering how classic the movie is. To my shock this book was a total page turner. This book was my cure to boring fiction. There is not a dull moment, and this book truely deserves to be called a "page turner". My brother read it in a matter of hours, and then I did the same! If you want to enjoy a great book that makes me proud to be a horror fan read this book! IMHO this is the best horror fiction book I have ever read!
True horror at its best 2007-12-07
Even though I have seen the film based on this book several times, the shock caused by the gory, claustrophobic and irreverent narrative was unavoidable. It catches with such a strong grip that you will feel compelled to read and read and deep yourself in the horrible ways of a group of demons, or at least terrible beings, entrapped themselves in an endless pain and suffering world populated only by them and their victims. And, as narrative it is, it contains at least one scene, missed in the movie, that at first I passed without paying too much attention but, as time went by, began to grow in my imagination with a scary, really chilling, result. If you like horror please read this book. If you are a fan of Hellraiser movies, it is a necessity to do so. And if you like to dabble in Crowleyan Magick without the necessary skills, read it as a warning of what can be stored for you for eternity.
Pretty good, somewhere between Goosebumps and a real book 2007-10-31
OK, so maybe that title was a little rough. :)
I liked The Hellbound Heart because it was easy to get into, yet it kept my attention without letting me get bored at all. It was a little bit straightforward, but I prefer that than losing track of all the characters in something like Ocean's 11. :p
If you have a 4-5 hour plane flight, this is the perfect way to spend that time. (That's where I read it)
