This splashy, high-concept book with glossy pages (designed to accompany a BBC-TV series) is not so much an encyclopedia, as a color scrapbook of Clive Barker's horror obsessions. After an introduction in which Barker examines such questions as "What is horror?" and "Why does it fascinate us?," the book takes the form of 26 heavily illustrated historical essays about assorted topics in the genre--one for each letter of the alphabet (e.g., "B is for Beelzebub". The pictures include numerous paintings and drawings by Barker, stills from movies, movie posters, author/director bio inserts, and photographs of all types. A partial list of the topics covered: serial killers, H. P. Lovecraft, Dennis Wheatley, John Carpenter, H. R. Giger, Grand Guignol, makeup, killer clowns, killer kids, body horror, Japanese monsters, Barbara Steele, Shirley Jackson, fairy tales, and sculptor Franz Messerschmidt. A fun toy for horror buffs!

Aello wrote:

I do own this, but I've yet to get through the whole thing.