This is another wonderful collection of four of Clive Barker's short stories. However, this may be his weakest collection out of the six Books of Blood. Still, these are not bad stories by any means.

"The Forbidden" is the short story that eventually became the movie "Candyman". I am not a fan of the movie, or its atrocious sequel. The movie may have been better if it had followed the book's story a little more. There are scenes of terror in the story, but I never did quite like how it ended. It almost feels as if this neighborhood accepted this odd version of reality, but only in the finale. The story involves a woman in Chicago who is trying to do a paper on Urban Legends (Note: This story came out over a decade before the movie "Urban Legends" came out, and may have been a basis for that film as well!). One of them involves a mysterious killer in the infamous Cabrini Green slums. She goes to interview some tenants to discuss why they believe in these stories, and probably wishes she never found out.

"Babel's Children" is the weakest of the four stories to me, in that it isn't that scary, not even in the 'political' revelations it brings up. An interesting premise, but the story wrapped around it wasn't very exciting to me. A woman becomes lost in the European wilderness and comes across a fortress where all the politics of the world seem to be run by some intelligent people, who treat the world as if it were a big game. There are some good moments of suspense, and some interesting theories, but this story is weaker than the others.

"In the Flesh" is a very clever story taking place primarily in prison, and like most of Barker's work takes us to alternate dimensions where only horror likes to exist. It is a very well done story, although the premise begs some questions. This story involves a good hearted, but long time prisoner who is asked to watch over a young newcomer to prison life. He is described as a 'born victim', and seems definitely in need of watching over while behind bars. It turns out he is trying to channel the spirit of one of his dead relatives who died in the prison, and the story eventually leads us to a land where evil inhabits while waiting for a new human soul to possess in our world.

"The Madonna" is my favorite story in the book. The characters are so well done, and humanized, which is especially important because we want to feel for what happens to even the villains here. There are so many good things in this story, that any fan of Barker must read it. Here we get a young entrepreneur who wants to start a new gym in an old run down Turkish bath. To get financing he enlists the aid of a well known criminal Mafia type. In the old building the two of them come across some ancient, and very feminine, goddesses. The ending is very unique!

Later Barker's "Books of Blood" was expanded and re-released to included three more collections of short stories, including this one. Here is a link to my review of that compendium:
http://www.epinions.com/content_30465691268



Recommended: Yes