If one observes the Catholic artwork from the past, the needles could indeed be metaphors for the seven rays of occultism. The story itself is stoked in metaphorical dark angles.

Other objects included is jugged urine and hypodermic needles at peculiar compass alignments. Seven being of great significance to the holy qabalah. Frank obtains the box and commits to a seven day ritual over a seven-day period, which consists of dove’s heads at peculiar compass alignments. The opening sequences show Frank having taken refuge in his grandparent’s house after locating the owner of the box in Dusseldorf. This was Clive’s way of trying to show the true horror of martyrdom, which is equally suffering and takes on such nihilistic extremes in Frank’s case. The Hellbound Heart is stoked in Catholic symbolism, which, is if one searches deep enough, follows similar replicas of ritualistic attainments. But in Frank’s case, a pleasure that is equally self-destructive neurosis in the further development of the self and will. Frank’s ever self-compulsive need to open gateways to the cenobites in their Faustian offerings of higher dimensions of pleasure. In its original incantation The Hellbound Heart is a love story of erotic proportions, mainly concerning Rory, Julia and Frank’s chase for everlasting thirst and exploration of pleasures unknown to man. I began analyzing the sheer vastness of the universe which consisted of not just Hell Priest or lead cenobites aka Pinhead, becoming the name adopted by the many billions of fans that quite frankly makes Hellraiser what it is today an epic monster franchise series.ĭue to the franchise and focus on Doug Bradley as the ever-immortal Pinhead, the novella and original tale is overshadowed by its very own monster, and has become something more than The H ellbound Heart, the novella first set out to achieve. In the forever hope of carnal pleasure, Frank is left wanting more and more clearly enough is never enough. He believes he has indulged in everything the world can offer.

It takes us on a journey of the forever thrill-seeking Frank Cotton, who has submitted his will and initiation into further explorations of self-sensory pleasure. The story focuses on a mystical puzzle box called Lemarchand box – the movie calls it the Lament Configuration box – that opens a gateway to unforeseen worlds most notably the labyrinth, known as the Leviathan. The novella itself retains the gory, visceral style that Barker introduced in his series of collected short stories, The Books of Blood and Damnation Game.

After the success of the movie, the book was re-released as a standalone title by Harper-Collins in 1988 along with an audiobook recorded by Clive Barker and published by Simon & Schuster Audioworks.

The hellbound heart comic