This singularly impressive book is a revealing look into a side of Clive Barker I never realized. I knew him from his writing and film work, but I never knew him as a graphic artist until a friend gifted me with this collection. The piercing self-portrait on the cover does justice to the sort of color, energy, and focus that you will find in these pages. The book itself is divided into general categories such as "Devils and Demons", "Momento Mori", and "Lovers", each with images running from the haunting to humorous.

Barker's art is very freehand, to the point that some may find his art too rough or abstract. Personal, I was a little put off by this style at first, but with time I became aware as to how much energy and bite the paintings contained. In the forward, Barker says that he never starts a canvas knowing what it will look like, and the loose, living nature of many of his pieces shows how the scene evolved even as the brush hit the canvas. The book has relatively large pages, but a peek at the endnotes shows that the average size of each painting is somewhere in the range of 4'x6', with many being much larger. I'd almost like to go to his house where he says many of these paintings hang just to get the full effect, but I am content to shine and shiver with the beautiful facsimiles in this collection. ( )