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The Scarlet Gospels is the horror novel of 2015!

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In November of 1986, Clive Barker first unleashed his most enduring creation on the world, when Dark Harvest published his novella The Hellbound Heart. It was an intimate story involving a secretive family, the unlikely opening of the gates to hell, and a group of creatures known only as the Cenobites. The Hellbound Heart laid the foundation for a long-running series of films, comics and stories for the past three decades. And introduced us to a now classic icon of modern horror, the Lead Cenobite, who came to be known as Pinhead over the years.
Mr. Barker was not yet a household horror name at the time, but he was well on his way. At the time, he had only published his hugely influential Books Of Blood and his first novel The Damnation Game. He had received the incredible blessing of Stephen King, who labeled him “The future of horror”.The influence of Hellraiser over the years has been astounding. A very personal glimpse into the deviations and fantasies of a young author were there on the big screen for all to witness, and the film tapped a vein in popular culture that had fans clamoring for more Pinhead.
While the first few sequels, most notably Hellbound : Hellraiser 2, built upon the foundation Barker originally created, the quality of the films strayed further from the source material with each following film. Now, nearly three decades later, Barker has returned to the material with a vengeance. First announcing that he will be heavily involved in a new film iteration of the classic, and bringing our anti-hero back to the pages in his first full-length horror novel in years!clive-barker-and-pinhead1Make no mistake, The Scarlet Gospels is a straight up horror novel, featuring all of the psychosexual deviant behavior and twisted visions we have come to expect from the depths of hell. It brings us an uncompromising vision of Clive Barker’s Hell, and expands and builds upon his own mythology in ways no one else has in the intervening decades.

Barker has his own distinct vision of the architecture and hierarchy of the underworld, and he brings it to life in painstaking detail with this new novel. Right from the first pages, we are witness to the return of the beloved Priest of Hell, disrespectfully known as “Pinhead” but never to his face, and his epic crusade to essentially take over Hell. It is an interesting new way to look at an established character, especially one who we have seen mainly in short scenes in the films, his new ambition all consuming.

In fact, the most fascinating thing we get from this novel is the extended view of who this Lead Cenobite really is, as compared to who he would like to be, and who the audience perceives him as. Despite all of the intimidating and serene speeches of suffering we have seen over the years, we learn that Pinhead is in fact very low on the totem pole of Hell. All of his interdimensional meddling over the years has essentially been keeping this priest in his place as a glorified dog catcher, collecting up strays and mutts who chance upon the unassuming portal in the shape of a puzzle box.

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The Scarlet Gospels documents his time and rise to power as he assuredly slaughters and slays through the ranks of the Underworld.  Of course that means we are introduced to many characters, including armies of angry demons and wise old alchemists, all the way up to the Lord of Hell himself, Lucifer. But the Lord of Hell is not alone in showing us these sights. Tying together some of his other literary work, Barker crosses the paths of his iconic Cenobite with the fascinating character of Harry D’Amour and his friends. D’Amour is a character that originated in the short story The Last Illusion (brought to the screen by Scott Bakula in the film Lord Of Illusions) and made an appearance in Barker’s giant fantasy epic Everville. His vast knowledge of supernatural events and somewhat unlucky knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time put D’Amour and his friends directly in the path of Pinhead’s crusade. The story of D’Amour and his friend’s involvement is a fascinating one early on in the novel, and their involvement is central to the world Barker is building. They are especially good comic relief and add a heart and a more human point of view to the spectacle.

And what a spectacle it is! An epic war in Hell, instigated and carried out by the priest who has had enough of his miniscule position and has ambitions bigger than any mortal or demon. The final third of the book is an action-filled war of epic proportions deep in the bowels of Hell, putting Pinhead in a position we fans had never imagined. The warrior of Hell has come to take over, and he has all manner of magic and torture at his disposal, and will stop at nothing to achieve his lofty goals. It is immensely satisfying reading, written in an excitable style by one of the great imaginers of our generation. It isn’t often that a complete re-invention of a decades- old character is successful, but this one hits all of the right notes. This novel is what King was talking about back in the 80s when he had seen the “future of horror”. The future is now. Clive Barker is back and Pinhead has come to take over.

The Scarlet Gospels is the horror novel of 2015!

Order your copy here!

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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