Clive Barker, Coldheart Canyon

Coldheart Canyon

Clive Barker

Harper, Nov 2009, $14.99

ISBN: 9780061769054

Willem Zeffer manages the career of silent film star Katya Lupescu who sadistically took pleasure from others. While in Romania, Willem buys painted tiles from a medieval monastery that graphically show bizarre sexual encounters. He brings them to Hollywood though he is unable to explain to himself let alone his wife why he had to buy the erotic artwork. However, he has them placed inside of Katya's Coldheart Canyon mansion; which leads to a who's who of the silent film era coming to her home ostensibly to see the queen of frozen sadism, but deep down each knows they visit to admire the sexual arousing masterpieces.

Six decades since a bewildered Willem brought the tiles to California, movie star Todd Pickett recovers from slipshod cosmetic surgery at Coldheart Canyon mansion. At the same time he wallows in self pity, the president of a Todd fan club, unhappily married Tammy Lauper, decides to visit her recuperating hero to help him heal. Still visiting the mansion are the ghosts of Hollywood legends and wannabes who came to see the artwork of the Queen of Hell condemning a hunter to sexually depravity that gripped each of them when they were alive and continues its fascination well passed their death, a hellish time on earth.

This is a fascinating dark Hollywood ghost story that also pays homage to the legends of the silver screen. The story line is fast-paced and gripping though not particularly as frightening as some of Clive Barker's previous works. Fans will enjoy Mr. Barker turning Jacqueline Susan and the spirit of Harold Robbins on their respective heads as they are just two of the ghosts of Hollywood residing at Coldheart Canyon.

Harriet Klausner

First published back in 2001, ' Coldheart Canyon 'came three years after the publication of Barker ' s epic love story ' Galilee ' . With many fans of Barker ' s work expecting the sequel to ' Galilee 'to be following, or indeed the first instalment of the long awaited ' Abarat 'quartet to emerge, ' Coldheart Canynon 'was an interesting return to Barker ' s darker, more apocalyptic and dare I say more depraved side of his fiction.

Written during a very difficult period of Barker ' s life, with the unfortunate and sad death of his father, Barker takes it onboard to tackle face on some of the demons that are obviously surrounding him at the time of writing. In doing this the book takes on some heavy emotional aspects that hold such an obvious and predominant personal weight.

The novel starts off, setting down the fabric from which this intricate tale with be woven. With an intentionally muddled feel to the early pages of the book, the pieces of the storyline quickly start to weave themselves together until the storyline is firmly set on its way.

Barker soon unleashes a magical glimpse of the dark, depraved and damn right sadistic underbelly of Hollywood. With a satirical eye on the shallow vanity of the rich and famous, Barker creates the character of Todd Pickett; a hugely famous and adored movie star whose age is beginning to catch up with him.

This seemingly unconnected subplot, soon takes dominance over the storyline, allowing the otherwise dishevelled remaining pieces of story to merge around its main thrust. The unlikely character of Tammy Lauper, one of Todd Pickett ' s obsessive fans, soon takes a surprising main position within the unfolding tale.

With the thick pulse of the story now underway, Barker delves into his dark and deeply disturbing imagination, to bring to the tale a turn towards to his earlier fiction. Very possibly Barker ' s most sexually explicit piece of written work so far, the reader is thrust into a monstrous playground for Barker ' s mind to unleash all hell.

All taboos are hit head-on within the space of a chapter, without a shameful look back. Definite elements of S&M infiltrate the pages, bringing back fond memories of Barker ' s ' Hellraiser 'work. The erotic elements of the novel, spiral deeper and deeper into the depraved, leaving even the most hardened reader of bizarre sexual practices left gasping for air.

The characters within ' Coldheart Canyon ', however irrelevant they appear to be, are all beautifully portrayed with a delicately created personality to each, that is breathed into life by Barker ' s carefully crafted use of the written word.

With the tale now fully underway, Barker never lets up from the accelerator, with each chapter hurtling further and further into the depths of the ' world-within-a-world 'that Barker has unleashed upon his readers.

The novel draws to an end, with a definite slowing down of pace, with Barker taking on once again more emotional aspects of the characters. This creates a tidy yet subtle bookend structure to the book as a whole. The final conclusion is wholeheartedly satisfying and well delivered to the very last word.

' Coldheart Canyon 'is by no means a novel for the faint hearted. The sexual depravities explored to a limitless excess are nothing short of disturbing. The book is a respected and deserved return to Barker ' s core of writing styles. This is certainly a spectacular read and one that offers up a good glimpse of what lays behind the eyes of this incredible author.

The novel runs for a total of 606 pages and was punlished by HarperCollins Publishers.