the hellbound heart

The Hellbound Heart is a short horror novel by Clive Barker. It was the basis for the movie Hellraiser. It contains the story of a man named Frank who, tired and bored with conventional existance, seeks other means through which to fulfill his desires. Frank has lived a strange life full of colorful characters, and shady dealings, and having tasted nearly every morsel of carnal pleasure, as well as savoring the adrenaline packed moments affored from a life at odds with law enforcement, he turns to the occult to satisfy his desires. A puzzle box, perhaps aquired during his most shady deal yet. But the rumors and stories about the box are convincing... he thinks he knows what the box will summon, beings who will take him to realms of pleasure unknown in the mortal realm. And in order call these beings, he must solve the puzzle of the box. As he does so, amid candlelight and ritual, the tolling of a bell grows louder, and with the successful opening of the box, Frank finds himself thrust into a realm of horror, each moment drawn into an eternity through some sort of time distortion... the beings, the Cenobites, have come, but their measure of pleasure is far different than our own. Pain extruded through torture and mutilation, until the quivering nerve endings are stretched beyond their limits and thrust the visitor into new heights of agonizing experiences. Frank's family assumes he is dead or vanished, but Frank is not dead and finds a way to escape his Cenobite torturers. Frank is reborn amid murder and blood, escaping the realm of his torment, and wreaking havoc among his brother's family, and eventually the Cenobites are called forth to reclaim him... seeking the one who escaped their caring yet eternally malevolent grasp... but the Cenobites are always on the lookout for new initiates into their realm of exquisite sensory overload, and Frank's brother's family just might do.

The Hellbound Heart

See also