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| Mister B. Gone | 
 enlarge | Author: Clive Barker
Publisher: HarperCollins
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $2.68
You Save: $22.27 (89%)
New (38) Used (28) Collectible (4) from $2.68
Avg. Customer Rating:  74 reviews
Sales Rank: 50369
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 0060182989
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780060182984
ASIN: 0060182989
Publication Date: October 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Mister B. Gone marks the long-awaited return of Clive Barker, the great master of the macabre, to the classic horror story. This bone-chilling novel, in which a medieval devil speaks directly to his reader—his tone murderous one moment, seductive the next—is a never-before-published memoir allegedly penned in the year 1438. The demon has embedded himself in the very words of this tale of terror, turning the book itself into a dangerous object, laced with menace only too ready to break free and exert its power. A brilliant and truly unsettling tour de force of the supernatural, Mister B. Gone escorts the reader on an intimate and revelatory journey to uncover the shocking truth of the battle between Good and Evil.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 69 more reviews...
 I found this a very disappointing read... November 5, 2007
43 out of 49 found this review helpful
Having been an avid fan of Clive Barker's fiction for the past twenty or more years, starting with "Books of Blood", I have come to expect so much more from this author. I was very disappointed with Mr. B. Gone. I found myself tiring quickly of the pleading to stop reading, the begging for the fire, etc. And I agree with the reviewer who indicated that the book has been "dreadfully proofread". I agree.....so many typographical errors, extra words, missing words....and again, since the book is ABOUT words and their power, I found myself pulled out of the story several times a chapter.
I found it to be not scary, not suspenseful, and rather slapdash. It pains me to write this review, in a way, since I count myself an ardent fan of Mr. Barker's work, but this one....well.....I think I should have given it a miss. I must say though, for the record, that this is the first book of Mr. Barker's for which I have had a less-than-stellar review. Usually, I find his books to completely capture me. This one, I found rather boring.
To those of you who liked it, I wish I felt the same way. But, alas, I did not.
Mister B. Gone, and he took my money with him! November 15, 2007
22 out of 27 found this review helpful
There was actually a pretty good book hidden in here trying to get out. Unfortunately, it failed.
First, the good things:
This was a really inventive premise. A demon escapes from Dante's Inferno, and finds himself in the real world. How does he react? How does the World react to him? He has escapades. Cool idea.
Barker's demon Jakobok, and indeed the other angels and demons in this book, in no way fit the common stereotype. Also cool.
Now the bad things:
The conceit of the book that it actually contains Jakobok's spirit, and he wants you, The Reader, to burn the book. While inventive at first, about what seems like the thousandth time you go through it this device becomes more than grating, it is irritating beyond words. I ended up skipping pages and pages at a time to get beyond it and back to the story. In what is already a short book, if this stuff were edited out, you'd have a magazine article remaining. Barker's editor deserves a swift kick in the [...].
In a book in which Gutenberg's printing press play such a pivotal role, it is beyond ironic that this book is so chock full of typographical and printing errors. Also REALLY annoying.
Because the actual story itself is so slight, most of the characterizations are, too. Almost cartoon characters.
So.... one and a half stars, which I'll round up to two because I've enjoyed Barker's past work so much. Pretty generous of me, frankly.
Don't forget to burn this review when you're done reading it.
 Out of Hell and into Amazon October 3, 2008
22 out of 27 found this review helpful
(Hardcover version)
When you read this review can you hear my voice in your head? How does it sound like? Is it someone you know? Well that is what I thought. You know you shouldn't read this review, but there you go doing it anyway, don't tell me I didn't warn you.
This unique book is both a story about a demon and a conversation with that demon all at once. My first paragraph is my feeble attempt at imitating what goes on in the book. In the book there are several requests to stop reading the book and burn it instead, and some of these requests are threats of torture and threats of eternal damnation if you don't burn the book. This gets a little tired after a while, but I found the concept of a demon both telling his gruesome life story and talking to you and threatening you all at the same time quite innovative and creepy.
The name of the demon is Jakabok Botch. He escaped the ninth circle of Hell in the 14th century. He has been with us ever since and if you buy this book he will be living with you too. He is ugly, severely burned, has two tails, he is hateful, and he likes to take warm baths in the fresh blood of infants.
I admit I did not think the book was very scary, but for me it was still a page turner. I found the book to be interesting and creative. I found the comparisons between the heartless barbarism of people in less enlightened times (as well as today) and that of demons in Hell enlightening. Earth looks a lot like just another circle of Hell in which we are our own demons. However, in this circle of Hell, there is a choice, a choice that the eternally damned demons do not have. Demons and Humans are so similar and yet so different.
An episode in the book that I found to be quite intriguing was the war and then the negotiation between the angels of heaven and the demons of hell over the written word at the time and place of Gutenberg's invention. This event determined our future and this book had a very peculiar place in this history.
With regards to Clive Barker I am a first time reader and contrary to what Publishers Weekly told me I still liked it. I should say that I have seen the Hellraiser movies and I've bought a pinhead mask for Halloween so I am not totally unfamiliar with Clive Barker, but I have never read a book of his before. If this book was among Clive Barker's worst then I cannot wait to check out the other books (I'll go for Hellbound Heart next). I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something different and odd, but not as a good horror book.
Wish I truly could burn this book... December 9, 2007
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
but, unfortunately, I got it from the library. I was suckered in by the blurb on the jacket, promising a return to "bone-chilling horror," but all I got instead was a quirky, autobiographical story of a minor demon, escaped from Hell, to wreak chaos on Earth. As others have mentioned, the whole "please burn this book" thing gets really old, really fast. And the unusually high number of grammatical and typographical errors is astounding, since they obviously took great care in other aspects of the design and binding of the book. I know others are suggesting these mistakes are a deliberate thing on the part of the author, but I don't think so. They really give the whole thing a slapdash air that isn't worthy of Mr. Barker. I wish he'd get back to his other adult series and leave trifles like this behind. If you really must read this, get it from a library or buy it from a remainder table in a few months' time. Disappointing.
 Burn, baby BURN! November 6, 2007
7 out of 13 found this review helpful
Wow, what a trippy little read of a novella!
I finshed it in a snap!
I hope this book wins some sort of award for best design. It looks like it came from the 14th century. The font, page wear, cover/binding. What a great looking book.
As far as the story goes, it initially reads like an extended short story. I'm aware that Clive was/is working on his new epic "The Scarlet Gospels", and just had to take a brief break and whip this beauty up.
It's a very interactive read with the demon (book itself) taunting, cursing, daring you to burn him. You must resist and get to the very end. I hope this story gets optioned and made into a film, or part of a horror anthology type show.
Clive is my favorite horror writer of all time, so my opinion is a biased one. ;)
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