English teacher Brandon Kendall spent last week reading “The Hellbound Heart” by Clive Barker.

“I like that it has really interesting imagery with these kind of celestial demonic beings called cenobites,” Kendall said. “The actual imagery and the description on the cenobites I find really interesting.”

“The Hellbound Heart” follows the story of a woman named Julia. Julia is in a loveless marriage and the only person who can make her feel happy is her former lover turned brother in-law Frank. Then she finds out that her former lover is trapped in the realm of the cenobites and the only way to resurrect him is to kill people. 

“One of my favorite movies is ‘Hellraiser’ and this is the novella that ‘Hellraiser’ is based on,” Kendall said. “Clive Barker wrote this novella and then he directed and wrote the film version of ‘Hellraiser. It’s very rare for the author to direct their own book.”

Clive Barker is an English novelist, playwright, author, and film director. He came into popularity in the mid 1980s with his collection of short stories, ”The Books of Blood,” which established him as a household name in writing horror stories. He has also written “Abarat” and “The Thief of Always.”

Kendall recommends this novella to anyone who loves horror or bizarre romances.

The overall theme of the novel is the fine line between pain and pleasure, the greed and desperation that is ever present in mankind to always seek out what it is beyond its reach.