Didn't capture my attention and engagement. I'll hopefully try again in the future. Didn't capture my attention and engagement. I'll hopefully try again in the future.

I will admit to some bias in my review, as I'm a huge fan of Barker's work. I find he is one of the few horror authors who consistently delivers good, solid horror novels. Damnation Game is a great story, with characters you love to hate (my favorite kind).

As always, Barker provides a detailed and rather disturbing insight into the mind of a true horror writer. Unlike many other popular authors in the field, Barker isn't afraid to reach out past the realm of acceptability - and that's a good thing. Although not a new book, this one is a good example of Barker in his prime.

Clive Barker, Clive Barker, Cliver Barker. There! I said it three times.. does he have a new book out yet?!

I seriously can't get enough of Clive Barker's novels. He is an expert and writing books that you can't put down. I seriously can't get any work done when I have a Clive Barker novel in my hands.. but that's a good thing.. right? If you didn't already get the hint that I loved this book.. then let me blatantly express that I LOVED THIS BOOK. So,, stop reading this review and go get the book!!!

Well, this is the first time I've read Clive Barker; his reputation precedes him and this novel had a lot to live up to... But it just wasn't for me. I love horror, but this novel just felt like it was trying to gross me out. I will give points for being the first author in a long time to force me to crack open my dictionary.
Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the digital copy to review. All opinions are my own.

I have read Clive Barker before, Weaveworld is one of my all-time favourite books, but so many of his others have just been so-so for me. This one, while not being at Weaveworld was pretty good! Mr. Barker has quite a way of describing things so that you can really visualize them, some parts actually made me feel queasy.

The storyline was good, and the characters were not super likeable, but in a good way. My only real complaint was I didn’t care enough about the main character, Marty.

I am glad that I got to read this one, thank you!

Not sure how I missed this one the first time around. I’m a big fan of Clive Barker, and at one point, was reading everything of his that came out. Glad this one popped up again. Classic story from a horror master.

I'll repeat this every time I read a horror novel ... novel-length horror is difficult sustain. There are very few names that stand out in this field because so few can doo this well. Clive Barker is among those few.

Poland at the end of World War II. Our protagonist, unnamed, a thief, is looking for a man named Mamoulian - a gambler who never loses.

Move forward a few dozen years where Marty Strauss, a prisoner in the United kingdom, is offered early, supervised release. The condition? He will go to work for a wealthy recluse, Joseph Whitehead. How hard can it be? It has to be better than rotting away in prison, right?

When Strauss finally finds himself in Whitehead's inner sanctuary he learns that Whitehead is trying to get himself out from an oath he doesn't think he even made in the first place with a certain Mamoulian many years ago. But is this nothing more than part of a (Damnation) game?

This book is a reprint, originally published in 1985, and apparently this was author Clive Barker's first novel. (I'm familiar with Barker but not what I would consider a huge fan so I'm not familiar with his body of work). One of the nice things about good horror fiction is that it doesn't really go out of style. As long as humans are reading it, the terror that it is universal to most people will continue to invoke horror.

Barker throws in a little bit of everything - cannibalism, incest, monsters, animal abuse - and the visuals vary from the swanky mansion with all its opulence, to rotting meat with maggots. It definitely has all the hallmarks of a first novel in which the author packs the book with all forms of horror with the hopes that something will stick with each reader.

The prose is delicious and it's Barker's writing style that keeps the reader interested, more than the story itself. The basic story is is quite interesting, but it gets a little lost behind all the splatter thrown up.

Barker is the creative behind the Hellraiser films (writer and director of the first film) and we can see some of what will come out in that first film here in this early novel. It is dark and gritty and that touch of the supernatural really keeps the reader on edge.

It is great to have this re-released so that a new generation of horror readers can experience this first novel by a horror master.

Looking for a good book? The Damnation Game is a new edition of Clive Barker's earliest novel and fans of the horror genre should make sure to put this on their reading list.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

What else to say about Clive Barker. If you love horror you surely know him and if not you need to get into him now. His new novel is amazing. Yet we find his weird imagination that makes each of his book an unique piece of horror literature!

The Damnation Game by Clive Barker, a good premise, that took just a little long to deliver on, but overall enjoyable. Thank you for giving me a chance with this book.

I have long loved Clive Barker's work and was so happy to revisit him. Are you going to put out more of his past titles?

I have read a few Clive Barker books but for some reason had not read this one before. While I was a fan, I could tell that this was his first full length novel and felt it lacked some of his usual flair for the shocking and scary (think Books of Blood). The characters were well enough written but I did find the book a little too long and drawn out for my liking. I would still recommend it, especially to someone who hasn't read anything else by him.