The Hellbound Heart

The Hellbound Heart is a horror novella by Clive Barker, first published in November 1986 by Dark Harvest in the third volume of their Night Visions anthology series, and notable for becoming the basis for the 1987 movie Hellraiser and its franchise. It was re-released as a stand-alone title by HarperCollins in 1988, after the success of the movie, along with an audiobook recorded by Clive Barker and published by Simon & Schuster Audioworks. It retains the gory, visceral style that Barker introduced in his series of collected short stories The Books of Blood. The story focuses on a mystical puzzle box and the horror it wreaks on a family that is unfortunate enough to come across it.

Synopsis

Frank Cotton is a hedonist who has spent his life in a selfish, single-minded pursuit of the ultimate sensual experience. Having lived a life of world travel, engaging in countless crimes and every sexual experience known to mankind, Frank is now a nihilist, his pursuits having left him feeling unfulfilled and still wanting more extreme experiences. Jaded to the point that conventional sexual activity now leaves him completely unstimulated, Frank hears rumours of the Lament Configuration, a puzzle box that is said to act as a portal to an extradimensional realm of unfathomable carnal pleasure. Locating the owner in Düsseldorf, Frank obtains the box by performing "small favors" and returns with it to his deceased grandmother's home in England. Frank prepares a shrine consisting of bonbons, flowers, severed doves' heads, and a massive jug of his own urine, offerings for the box's inhabitants: The Cenobites, members of a religious order dedicated to extreme sensual experiences.