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Mister B. Gone

3.27 of 5 stars 3.27 · rating details · 5,784 ratings · 604 reviews

The Mister B. of the title is Jakabob Botch, a demon whose ghastly past could make even the most merciless sociopath whimper in sympathy. Born in the deepest regions of hell, the spawn of an abusive drunkard and his whorish wife, Jakabob escapes to the world above after suffering fiendish torture. Once topside, he lands conveniently in 15th-century Mainz, the home of print...more

Hardcover, 248 pages

Published October 30th 2007 by Harper (first published October 23rd 2007)

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Mar 28, 2013 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: pyromaniacs

Shelves: bookcrossing-books, brain-fluff, read-in-2013, so-right-but-so-wrong

This book lured me in with its appealingly gothic cover and a blurb on the back which described it as a terrifying insight into the earthbound battle between good and evil, narrated by the alternatively malignant and seductive voice of a medieval demon.

What I was hoping for was a sort of satanic antithesis to CS Lewis' devilish epistle The Screwtape Letters where a senior devil exhorts a junior devil to greater levels of malignant mischief via a series of detailed letters. What I got was less de...more

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Jan 29, 2008 Bishop Bishop rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fluff, 21st-century

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I haven't read a Clive Barker book for about 10 years, so I was pretty excited to read this one when I saw it on the shelf. Unfortunately, the book didn't live up to my expectations.

I felt that Barker's vision of hell and the demons who populate it was a bit superficial and ill-concieved, leaving the reader with more questions than answers. Jakobok Botch (a minor demon who occupies the pages we read), who begs the reader to kill him by burning the book, ranges infrom a petulant child to a ragin...more I haven't read a Clive Barker book for about 10 years, so I was pretty excited to read this one when I saw it on the shelf. Unfortunately, the book didn't live up to my expectations.

I felt that Barker's vision of hell and the demons who populate it was a bit superficial and ill-concieved, leaving the reader with more questions than answers. Jakobok Botch (a minor demon who occupies the pages we read), who begs the reader to kill him by burning the book, ranges infrom a petulant child to a raging blowhard. Unfortunately, neither approach really felt real. Essentially, the book is 200 pages of the demon alternating between persuading the reader to kill him and telling the reader of his life here on earth. Only the sections about his life are even remotely interesting and even that story isn't all that interesting.

The demon's constant begging for death gets old fast. Even as the demon is threatening the reader (who continues to read), I felt not the slightest twinge of fear or apprehension. Not even a goosebump. I just kept thinking, "Ok, I get it. Get on with it." The asides served more to annoy than they did to build suspense. In fact, the opposite was true. As Botch warns that with each page he is a step closer to slicing my throat (over and again), I really questioned how Barker could go from the likes of Imajica to this.

The bulk of the plot deals of an escape from hell that is pretty stupid, a relationship with another demon that goes absolutely nowhere, and his encounter with Gutenberg and his press. The story does not build. Most of the violence and gore is pretty juvenile and contrived. As the demon drains the corpses of babies, I thought, "Clive, you're trying too hard (or not hard enough)." It read like it was written as a scary story for middle-school kids. The last couple of pages are the only ones that are even remotely insightful or thought provoking. I enjoyed the concept of the negotiations surrounding the printing press and of demons and angels angling for a satisfactory arrangement of things. However, beyond that, the book was fluff.

In the future, if I wanted to read a book dealing with the Christian conception of demons and angels, I'll read C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters. Clive Barker doesn't even come close.

I gave it two stars only because at times, I found it mildly entertaining.(less)

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Nov 15, 2007 Tommy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I liked the simplicity of this novel. It reads more as fairytale than horror, although there are echoes back to the excellent short story The Yattering And Jack . I really enjoy the artificial aging of the paper. It adds to the novels device of having the demonic narrator trapped inside the pages, begging you to burn the book. I wish I could take the dust jacket off, remove the copyright page and any mention of title or author, distress the cover until it looks ancient, than plant it in a used...more

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Jul 12, 2008 Alice Lee rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

It was atrocious. I was so excited to find that Clive Barker came out with a new book too, especially what with the fancy packaging. The very juvenile bit of "don't read this, burn this book" repetition got tiresome really fast. His writing was horrible, it's like he didn't even try... like he just sat down at a computer after a few drinks and dumped whatever he wanted on it and called it a book. While some points of the book were mildly interesting (I liked the idea of the demon and Quintoon's...more

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Mar 05, 2008 Trevor rated it 3 of 5 stars

I suppose it is tempting to call Mister B. Gone the long-awaited return of Clive Barker to horror, as many are doing (hell, even the inside jacket says so). But, after reading it, I'm not sure that's 100% accurate. Sure, it's about a demon, and has quite a few gruesome moments. But, overall, it's never really terrifying, and its whimisical nature actually has more in common with Barker's more recent fantasy work than with his Books of Blood days, in my opinion. That's not a criticism, though - j...more

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Nov 05, 2007 Mark R. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Mister B. Gone" is rather unique in that it goes beyond the normal first person narrative, stating clearly that not only is Mr. B the story-teller, he is actually the book itself. Mr B (also known as Jakobak Botch) is a minor demon who tells a tale of coming up from Hell and dealing with humans, angels, and other demons on Earth.

Most of the story takes place in the 14th and 15th centuries, leading to the town of Maize, where heavenly and demonic forces are focused on the new invention of Germa...more

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Dec 24, 2007 R. rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of "Good Omens"

Shelves: 2007

Definitely "earns its R", as well as your heart.

*
There's A Monster at the End of this Book, 'cept it's This Book is a Bound Demon.
*
Is "Clive Barker" a pseudonym for Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman? Seriously, though, I'm getting a Good Omens vibe, here. Perhaps it will become movie directed by Terry Gilliam, featuring the work of Jim Henson's, uh, people.
*
The demon-catchers scene was tedious. For me, at least. I suppose a bunch of idiots unable to get their shit together to contain one, small...more

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Nov 08, 2009 Patrick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

This book is intimate and intimidating at the same time. In it, the demon is speaking in the first person voice, sometimes railing against you for reading on instead of burning the book. At first I was frightened but still caught up in the fine tale by Clive Barker. It was like 'Don't Look Behind You', another story that the narrator goes out of his way to threaten the reader. It is an dark enchanting book filled with the best and the worst of humanity. The writing is very easy to follow and not...more

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Sep 16, 2010 Alex Telander rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2007

MISTER B. GONE BY CLIVER BARKER: The moment you pick up this book, you know you’re in for a treat. It’s small and compact, inviting, around 200 pages long. On the front black cover is the title in Gothic type: Mister B. Gone, with Clive Barker carved in rough letters beneath. Between the two lines is a strange pictograph making one curious and interested. On the back is the same symbol and not another word. Turn the cover and there is a strange marble page design, which kind of looks like a webb...more MISTER B. GONE BY CLIVER BARKER: The moment you pick up this book, you know you’re in for a treat. It’s small and compact, inviting, around 200 pages long. On the front black cover is the title in Gothic type: Mister B. Gone, with Clive Barker carved in rough letters beneath. Between the two lines is a strange pictograph making one curious and interested. On the back is the same symbol and not another word. Turn the cover and there is a strange marble page design, which kind of looks like a webbing of veins and arteries, followed by two title pages, then the book begins with these words: “BURN THIS BOOK.”

Bestselling author Clive Barker hasn’t released a book in some time, and is currently in the middle of his four-book Abarat series, as well as the third book in the Art trilogy due sometime this decade. And yet the concept for Mister B. Gone suddenly occurred to Barker one day and he was supposedly unable to do anything else until he got this book out of his head.

The is a book about a demon. In fact, it’s a book written by a demon; it’s his story, because he’s trapped in the book. He has but one request for the reader: to burn the book and free the demon by killing it, presumably sending it back to the ninth level of hell. His name is Jakabok Botch, and as he continuously tries to convince the reader to burn the book, he reveals more of his life story.

It is the sixteenth century, and when the demon is trapped and scooped from the ninth level of hell to the surface by a group of people looking to make a profit from selling demon skins, Jakabok’s adventure begins. He soon befriends another demon, Quitoon, of a much greater size and power than him, and their friendship lasts over a hundred years, as they spend their time terrorizing and demonizing the world. The story builds and builds to a crescendo involving Joahnnes Gutenberg and the invention of his revolutionizing printing press which will irrevocably change the world.

While Mister B. Gone lacks the depth, development and sheer incredulity that one is used to with Barker’s work, it is nevertheless a great little horror story. And each time Jakabok threatens on the page that he is coming up behind you with a knife, the reader can’t help but reflexively stop and look behind them.

For more book reviews, and author interviews, go to BookBanter.(less)

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Dec 29, 2007 James Millen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am a huge Clive Barker fan, and this is the first book of his I've been dissapointed by.

There is no hint of the depth of imagination found in books such as Imagica or The Great and Secret Show, or really any of the charming fantasy found in his Abarat series.

I attribute this to the fact that he's been working on the Abarat series for so long, it's suitable for kids as well as adults and has a hefty Disney backing, that he realised he needed to release a patented Clive Barker style "adult" book...more

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Jan 16, 2009 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: tori

Shelves: scifi-fantasy

I think people are far too harsh in their reviews of this book. This may not be Barker's most enlightening, mind-boggling book, but it is amusing. And sufficiently creepy/gross. It was evil and heatheny and full of atrocities. I liked it. However, the climax was lacking..I kind of expected something more exciting. To be fair, the demon kind of admits that. And every few pages the demon narrator, Jabok, goes on and on about how you should BURN THIS BOOK as an act of mercy and how he's gonna total...more

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Jul 11, 2011 Leonie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: "somebody I hate, somebody I'd be happy to hear had been cut to pieces the way a page is read.

Recommended to Leonie by: Justin (apparently he hates me or would be happy to hear I had been cut to pieces the way a page is read.

Shelves: read-in-2011, fantasy, fiction, humor, supernatural-creatures, supernatural, horror, dark-fantasy

Scary, when a book talks to you. Even scarier when it threathens to cut you into pieces. The whole concept was new and interesting. This book seemed a lot of pages to turn, but I finished it during 3 baths and a few hours of bedreading. I give it 3,5 star.
Mr. Jakabok Botch is a poor thing, being all burned. I liked the concepts of the circles of Hell. My thoughts about what would happen when I would do what the book asked me to do, turned out to be correct. I can give myself +1 credit for plot-g...more

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Jun 05, 2008 Julie rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: homosexual demons who need an anti-hero to relate to

I saw Clive Barker's Mister B. Gone on the "new books" shelf at my local library. The cover looked wicked and I was in the mood for some blood and gore. I peeked inside and the book's pages are aged since it's written by an ancient demon. I was compelled to toss up the horns to other drivers \m/ \m/ when it was on the seat next to me driving home. It looked THAT cool and evil.

Then I read it and it sucked. There were two or three bits worthy of Barker. I liked the scene involving glass shards,...more

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Mar 27, 2009 David Agranoff rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Horror fans

Shelves: surreal-horror

New Clive Barker novels are always a cause for celebration, and considering the Halloween release of Mister B.Gone we horror geeks were stoked. If the Harper Collins marketing is to be trusted Mister B.Gone would hail the return of Clive Barker to horror. This is a dark and brutal book but if you were looking for the more straight forward style and tone of the Books of Blood this new book is not what you are looking for.
I should be clear, I enjoyed Mister B.Gone and yes the book is indeed horror...more New Clive Barker novels are always a cause for celebration, and considering the Halloween release of Mister B.Gone we horror geeks were stoked. If the Harper Collins marketing is to be trusted Mister B.Gone would hail the return of Clive Barker to horror. This is a dark and brutal book but if you were looking for the more straight forward style and tone of the Books of Blood this new book is not what you are looking for.
I should be clear, I enjoyed Mister B.Gone and yes the book is indeed horror. So were most of the books Clive had written since the Books of Blood. The Great and Secret Show and Everville had metaphysical fantastic elements but were certainly horror. What genre would Coldheart Canyon and Sacrament be if they were not horror?

Many traditional horror geeks have been turned off by Barker’s recent novels because he charted a more fantastic path since he published Weaveworld. While Mister B.Gone is a great little novel it is more of a horrific dark fantasy than Coldheart Canyon or Sacrament.

Those two novels have much more to do with the Books of Blood than this new novel that starts out in hell itself and is narrated by a lower class demon.
Mister B.Gone is worth your time, it’s beautifully packaged to resemble an old rotting book with an interactive narrative that jumps from first to second person and makes the reader themselves a character in the story. At first the repetitive warnings to the reader to burn the book got annoying but in the end the pay-off Barker was building to made it all worth it.

I think the return to form many fans are drooling over is still yet to come. After years of teasing us in interviews the latest rumor is that Barker will release the Scarlet Gospels in August 2008. the rumors began with Barker hinting in interviews that recent Asian horror films had inspired him to gone back to writing short horror fiction. We were told to expect a new collection whose title short story would be the Scarlet Gospels a story said to include the death of Pinhead.
Barker annoyed by the unending pillage of this character in endless Hellraiser sequels decided killing his abused creation seemed like a fun project. That would be cool enough but then he told us that the story would include Harry D’Amour who appeared in the art novels as well as his last film Lord of illusions. This deepening of the Barker mythos is very exciting for his fans who have stuck with him.

Considering the intersection of all these elements it shouldn’t be a surprise that this short story got out in front of him and ended up as a 230,000 word novel. Word! Come Clive I love Mister B.Gone but we need the gospel according to Clive!

Lets not forget the Book of blood and Midnight Meat Train are before cameras right now. Welcome back Clive...even though I know you never left. (less)

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Jan 28, 2009 Haunted_Nostril rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, dark-fantasy

Let's face it Mr. Barker has never been one to follow typical story arcs and this is definitely one of his more way out efforts. Maybe it's a natural progression after Abarat, being one of the most brilliant and bonkers ideas penned by the master of the metaphysical since Cabal and Weaveworld, but at times I felt that the bizarre adventures of Jakabok Botch, our demonic narrator, where more than a little too far flung in terms of ideas from one minuet to the next to work 100% of the time. This i...more Let's face it Mr. Barker has never been one to follow typical story arcs and this is definitely one of his more way out efforts. Maybe it's a natural progression after Abarat, being one of the most brilliant and bonkers ideas penned by the master of the metaphysical since Cabal and Weaveworld, but at times I felt that the bizarre adventures of Jakabok Botch, our demonic narrator, where more than a little too far flung in terms of ideas from one minuet to the next to work 100% of the time. This isn't the longest book, I read it in one relatively short sitting, and it was never ever going to be able to explain itself fully, but some the ideas within just come across as half-cocked curiosities written just for the sake of being strange.

Having said all this though I was hooked from the get go and the reason I didn't put it down was mostly due to the bizarrely endearing character of Mr. B himself, who Throughout the book begs you to burn it as a warning of the ensuing corruption on your soul as he is embedded in the very pages themselves. I found this direct interaction with the reader to be hugely refreshing and I think it ultimately made you feel more fondly for what is essentially a murderous agent of hell, or the Demonation as he calls it, than you normally would have just hearing of his wicked deeds third hand. As the yarn unfurls it's blackened leathery wings you are treated to what equates to the literary equivalent of a Hieronymus Bosch painting, and it has to be said, apart from the afore mentioned dips in clarity, I enjoyed the twisted journey immensely.

I think when any artist in any arena takes a short hiatus then returns to their chosen medium they will inevitably take some flack, but with so many more exciting and long awaited projects winding their dark and slithering way from the mind of Mr. Barker, The Scarlet Gospels and Abarat 3 to name just a few, I think a quirky little tale like this is the perfect defense against the naysayers who expect a short break to garner unbelievable results or artist be damned.

All in all I recommend this book as a nice trip into the peculiar and a little taste of what I'm sure will be the brilliance to come from one of today's strongest literary imaginations. (less)

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Feb 12, 2013 Jodi Clager rated it 1 of 5 stars

The Monster at the End of This Book is awesome. In it, Grover the furry blue monster begs you not to turn another page, lest you bring him face-to-face with the monster waiting with the last words. Ropes are tied, walls are built, begging is employed, but all to no avail. You reach the end of the book only to find that lovable, furry Grover was the monster at the end of the book. Read that book instead.

I really like the idea of a book that is a demon speaking to you by rearranging his being into...more The Monster at the End of This Book is awesome. In it, Grover the furry blue monster begs you not to turn another page, lest you bring him face-to-face with the monster waiting with the last words. Ropes are tied, walls are built, begging is employed, but all to no avail. You reach the end of the book only to find that lovable, furry Grover was the monster at the end of the book. Read that book instead.

I really like the idea of a book that is a demon speaking to you by rearranging his being into the words on the page. It sounds really interesting and frightening. It was neither for me. I can appreciate the immense undertaking that this book must have been. I can grasp the concepts of good and evil being less about warring with each other and more about business transactions on behalf of the things mankind creates. I just didn't like this book. I told The Husband that I might be frightened if words disappeared or appeared while I was reading, but that can't be done. WHICH is why it would scare the ever-loving poops out of me. It would also help if the aged-look to the pages weren't uniform throughout the book.

Jakabok Botch is the demon that is the book. (The name Jakabok takes me entirely out of the story since my cousin, Cock Vulture, and I used to use that name years ago for stupid things). Botch was raised in the Ninth Circle of Hell by an abusive father and mother. One day, Botch's Momma finds his writings of revenge against his father and others who have wronged him. She makes him burn the pages in a blaze fueled by her phlegm. Botch ends up falling into the fire and burning his face and the entire front of his body. His father realizes that Botch had written about him and gives chase to Botch with an intent to kill him. Then Botch and his father are captured by demon fisherman and Botch makes it to the surface of our world. From there, Botch meets another demon named Quitoon and travels through the century at his side. Botch and Quitoon do evil things for fun, like climb into the wombs of women about to give birth so that they might scare the infant to death. They also travel to see new machines that are endlessly created by mankind.

Throughout the book, you are beseeched by Botch to burn him/it. You are also insulted, bribed, threatened, and promised a Secret. I could not wait to finish this book and move on to the next one. I was underwhelmed and bored, though I guess I shouldn't expect much from a demon that's been trapped in a book for so long.(less)

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Oct 27, 2012 Zeo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: gods-and-accomplices, gore, medieval, spec-fic, to-see-the-world-and-beyond, books, on-arguments, humor

Doug Bradley's reading of this book brings out its best and makes the "burn this book!" repetitiveness work (although, don't misunderstand, it's still repetitive). It's not a horror novel so much as a humorous fantasy with gorey trimmings. This is my first Barker novel so I was a bit confused until I found out that it's very different from his usual style.

Does Barker usually focus on high-friction relationships? Botsch and Quitoon's relationship was the primary direct focus, and Botsch and the r...more Doug Bradley's reading of this book brings out its best and makes the "burn this book!" repetitiveness work (although, don't misunderstand, it's still repetitive). It's not a horror novel so much as a humorous fantasy with gorey trimmings. This is my first Barker novel so I was a bit confused until I found out that it's very different from his usual style.

Does Barker usually focus on high-friction relationships? Botsch and Quitoon's relationship was the primary direct focus, and Botsch and the reader the primary indirect one, for much of the book. The former was charming if a bit difficult to follow at times, and I enjoyed it for attempting the question of what it looked like for demons to fall in a long-term relationship and express their desires of each other. It was interesting to me that their relationship was framed as a homosexual romance without the sex: was Barker trying to avoid fueling the sodomy-as-sin fire that the religious human figures in the story were pitching, was this a personal limit of his, or perhaps he was trying to emphasize that Botsch's perception of their relationship was not the same as Quitoon's? Maybe all three.

Botsch's relationship with the reader is entertaining if far less complicated, with the demon speculating on the reader's experience of reading the book, tapping into such details as the voice the reader is imagining its characters to take. This relationship is the heart of the "burn this book" portions and is maybe the best expression of Botsch's demonic behaviors, as he attempts to lie, manipulate, and goad to get his way or at least get some entertainment of his own.

The leadup to the climax involves the consummation of another relationship that, Botsch's relationship with the reader as well as with his parents as seeded in the beginning of the story in mind, gets to the root of this book: an exploration of what the written word is, if good or evil play a part, and who controls it: Barker suggests instead that (view spoiler). This book is in many ways a response to arguments that literature about Bad Things encourages readers to do Bad Things themselves. Christianity as a crutch for such arguments is particularly harshly attacked: it's used by the humans in the novel as a costume of righteousness to legitimize use of the same horrible behaviors they are condemning. Botsch and Quitoon early on spend time admiring the artfulness of the devices humans use to torture each other for sinning. Interestingly, Barker has Botsch frame himself and Quitoon with a sort of anti-hypocrisy ethic: they would torture and kill figures of authority who demanded high tithes and then lived well off that money, for example, which may have simply been a suggestion that as demons they were going to torture and kill regardless but at least sometimes they were going to legitimize it, using the most accessible avenue of human ethics. Barker seems to suggest that demons (at least, these demons) may bathe in baby blood and enjoy the smell of burning human flesh, but would never abide hypocrisy the way humans do.

It's not a perfect book, but as a gay love/hate gore-filled romance novel about people's reactions to the written word and desire to control it, I found it fascinating, pointed and endearing even at its weakest points. Just, you know, don't read it to be scared by anyone but the real-life humans it's about.(less)

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Sep 24, 2012 Martin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, fantasy

Once a great promise is handed to the reader in the first utterances of a text it must be fulfilled, even if it does turn out to be a threat. If the author promises suspense then we must find ourselves suspended. If a mystery is insinuated then a reveal is in order. Failing to do so can render an otherwise brilliant book disappointing. In Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker we have such a problem. From the very first page, and from then on every other page, we are informed we are going to regret read...more Once a great promise is handed to the reader in the first utterances of a text it must be fulfilled, even if it does turn out to be a threat. If the author promises suspense then we must find ourselves suspended. If a mystery is insinuated then a reveal is in order. Failing to do so can render an otherwise brilliant book disappointing. In Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker we have such a problem. From the very first page, and from then on every other page, we are informed we are going to regret reading the story and that we must burn the book immediately. We will not even reach the end of the text because we will find out how the demon addressing us has come to be captured in our particular copy and how that might have consequences for us. A bold statement you think. Everyone knows the text can't harm us but we might at least expect a remarkable tale that explains how this all came to be. The point the first person author tries to make is completely wasted since It would be equally silly to claim King Kong will snatch us from our theater seats because he can see us trembling from beyond the white screen. Yet every page of this novel plays upon this very concept, the repetition of which becomes annoying. Then again all this is told by a demon and perhaps that's what they do down there.

It must be said that Barker is a good storyteller with a rich and rather disturbing imagination. Especially the first chapters where our protagonist demon is dragged from the ninth level of damnation up to our own not so innocent plateau is rendered quite believably. But do we feel sorry for the young abused demon? Or should we not care since this innocent victimized character behaves just as abominable as you might expect? Barker creates constant confusion as to how we should regard about the characters and their fates. The result is that by the time we arrive at the much anticipated ending we don't care either way and we find we've focused mainly on narrative. As in: the interesting events and tidbits from a brief alternative history. Clive Barker is rather good at this weaving of facts and fictions and it is the immersive properties of the story that makes the book worth the read.

There is one aspect of the book that is rather excruciating and unnecessary, besides the broken promise that is. If you happen to buy the book new, then at first you might think the pages are made from recycled paper and that the publisher had made the wonderful decision to cast the book in the same disheveled fabric as the story. There are some subtle markings on the paper that suggest a slight burning or careless disuse. To my utter astonishment I realized that these blemishes and paper discolorations were the effect of the printing process and effectively every page contains a background image roughly repeated every 4 pages.(less)

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Sep 21, 2012 Lindsay Pittman rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love Clive Barker for his Abarat series. That's what made me a fan of his (if you haven't read it, I definitely recommend—try to get a copy with his original drawings in them. They're amazing). But I digress—I started this post to talk about another of his books, Mister B. Gone.

I received it as a gift the Christmas of '08. My aunt knows I am a fan of his. Yet, sadly, for over a year, it sat collecting dust on my shelf. I'd like to pretend that I simply had too many books but not enough time to...more I love Clive Barker for his Abarat series. That's what made me a fan of his (if you haven't read it, I definitely recommend—try to get a copy with his original drawings in them. They're amazing). But I digress—I started this post to talk about another of his books, Mister B. Gone.

I received it as a gift the Christmas of '08. My aunt knows I am a fan of his. Yet, sadly, for over a year, it sat collecting dust on my shelf. I'd like to pretend that I simply had too many books but not enough time to read them. It is true, to an extent. I'm a chronic bibliophile. It doesn't even matter if I like the books, if they're cheap (or better, free), I latch onto them and keep them for my own personal library. "So that everyone will have something to read." That's my excuse, anyway. But again, I digress. If I had really wanted to read this book, I would have done so long before today.

Of course, the real reason I didn't pick it up probably had something to do with the inside flap. "A classic horror story," it reads. That, of course, brings to mind a whole list of horrible movies I don't really care to watch. Why would I read something in the same vein? So it sat on my shelf until I randomly picked it up today and decided to read the first sentence.

The book immediately tells me not to read on, to burn it instead. My first thought was: cliché. But there was something that also sparked my interest, enough for me to read on. I wanted to know exactly what was so terrible I would be better off not reading the book. By the time I discovered that the main character was a demon, I was hooked.

Within these pages, Barker shows a masterful use of both first person and second person accounts. Not only is the demon telling his life story, but he is also speaking through the book to the reader. Quite literally—he claims to be trapped between the pages. I laughed out loud when he threatened to hit me over the head with the book if I didn't strike a match to it immediately. Now that I have read it, I almost want to buy another copy simply to fulfill the poor character's last wish.

I also love Barker's use of the word "Demonation." The first time I glanced over it, I misread the word as damnation. Mostly because it was proceeded by: Hell and. Once I realized that I had not, in fact, read the word correctly, I had to smile at Barker's wit.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has certainly ranked high on my mental list of favourite books.

And I didn't find it that scary, after all. (less)

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Feb 06, 2012 Donovan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, fantasy

A fun read. Not over the top and not lame either as you read this sorry tale as told 'directly' to you by an unfortunate demon.

Plot ***Spoilers***
The story begins by immediately breaking the fourth wall, telling the reader to "Burn this book!" It is revealed that the narrator is some sort of presence trapped within the novel. The presence understands that the reader isn't going to burn the book without hearing some sort of story, and so it begins to tell its tale.

The narrator reveals himself as...more A fun read. Not over the top and not lame either as you read this sorry tale as told 'directly' to you by an unfortunate demon.

Plot ***Spoilers***
The story begins by immediately breaking the fourth wall, telling the reader to "Burn this book!" It is revealed that the narrator is some sort of presence trapped within the novel. The presence understands that the reader isn't going to burn the book without hearing some sort of story, and so it begins to tell its tale.

The narrator reveals himself as a lesser demon named Jakabok Botch, who lived a traumatized childhood in Hell, especially due to his brutish, physically abusive demon of a father. To prevent himself from losing his mind, Jakabok decides to write violent, hate-filled papers in which he commits torture and patricide. Eventually, his mother comes across these papers, and confronts Jakabok, telling him that she wishes he was never born. She commands that he burn the papers immediately, and Jakabok reluctantly obeys.

While watching the papers burn, Jakabok passes out and lands face down in the fire. His father either fails to notice or simply ignores his son's anguish, choosing to beat his mother instead. Jakabok is later dragged from the flames by his father, severely burnt and disfigured. Fearing further abuse, Jakabok seizes a knife and flees, eventually coming across a peculiar sight: raw steak and beer, hanging as though it is on a fishing wire. The sight causes Jakabok's pursuing father to forget about inflicting pain on his son, approaching the free meal. It is revealed that the steak and beer is hanging from fishing wire, and Jakabok and his father are caught in the trap. They are "reeled" out of Hell. While ascending, Jakabok's father threatens and curses his son as Jakabok starts cutting away at his father's net, attempting to make it so his father, Pappy Gatmuss, will fall to his death (for if Gatmuss and Jakabok is brought to wherever it is they are being dragged, Gatmuss will kill Jakabok for sure.) Seeing Jakabok attempt to kill him, Gatmuss tries to play for sympathy, lying about his love for his son in order to gain pity. As they breach the first circle of hell, they see the crack they are being dragged into, which causes Gatmuss to panic and become hysteric (he seems to fear the light.) He struggles in his nets, which causes the already weakened ropes to snap, and Jakabok's father fatally falls back into Hell while Jakabok is dragged into the realm of the living.

Emerging, Jakabok finds himself in the 14th century, under the captivity of a corrupt priest and his partners. They begin to "judge Jakabok's worth", when he decides to run off into the forest. He approaches a young girl - one of the partners' daughters - in the midst of unholy ground, which is covered in demonic gore. He instantly falls in love, and asks if she would like to run off with him. She defies him, and so he smacks her face into the burning cauldron which she is working by. The priests' partners, who had been chasing him, see the girl and are distracted as Jakabok runs off.

Jakabok then encounters a naked couple in the grass. Jakabok is forced to kill the hostile male counterpart, taking his clothes. He wanders into a crowd trying to blend in as a peasant, but his inhuman feet give his disguise away. As the crowd approaches to massacre him, a pair of soldiers decide to take him away to be judged by an Archbishop. While being escorted away, one of the men kills the other. After horrendously slaughtering the crowd, the man reveals himself to Jakabok - now referred to as "Mister B." - as a powerful demon known as Quitoon.

Quitoon and Mister B. head off, and for the next one hundred years cause a great deal of calamity in the countryside. Eventually, the two find themselves in disagreement of each other, and separate after Quitoon threatens Jakabok. Jakabok takes refuge in the German town of Mainz, where he believes Quitoon has headed to, in order to reconcile his differences.

He stumbles across Johannes Gutenberg and his company - including the Archbishop and Quitoon - who claims to possess a secret so powerful that it could rock the foundations of even Heaven and Hell. The secret turns out to be the first printing press, over which a large battle soon erupts between the celestial and the infernal. Gutenberg's wife is revealed to be an angel. Jakabok is wounded and passes out. When he comes to, he discovers the conflict has ended.

Jakabok enters a room in which he sees the angels and demons conversing over the secret, where the Archbishop reveals himself to be a demon. They spot Jakabok, and argue over how to keep him silent about the secret. Instead of destroying him, they turn his very essence into words, and embed him onto paper.

At this point, Jakabok - after several persuading attempts throughout the story - threatens the reader one final time to burn the book and set him free. After realizing that the reader is heartless and cold, he gives up on asking. He decides to stop telling the story, and instead chooses to wait for another person to open the book and obey his demands to set the book ablaze. After all, he concludes, "words know how to wait."(less)

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Jan 10, 2012 Michael Foley rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-barker, fiction-dark-fantasy, fiction-horror

The story reads as a first-person account of a demon, called Jakabok Botch. He is trapped within the pages of the novel and trying to convince the reader to burn this book. Barker's story traces more like dark humor as we are guided through Mr. B's life and how he eventually ends up trapped within the pages. The the premise has vast potential, but the story felt quite dry. There weren't enough of the twists and turns that we have come to expect from Barker's classic horror tales. Furthermore, Mi...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Akasha rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, falls-short, meh

Well, I picked this book up by chance at a thrift store that had it in, and figured no harm in attempting to read it. Quick read, and wasn't bad, past the time pretty well while traveling. My main issue's is nothing in it left my horrified, disturbed or thinking this was some awful demon.

The parts of him threatening to kill you, begging you to kill him and acting like he was there came off rather bland. It didn't leave me feeling or caring anything. Nothing was ever truly threaten that made me f...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great to see Clive Barker coming back to the horror genre and even better to see it happen in the from of a work as entertaining as this. In a nutshell, Mister B. Gone is the story of a demon, Jakabok Botch, (The titular "Mister B.") who has become trapped in the very book you hold in your hands. Barker uses that device well, telling the story as a first person narrative with the demon directly addressing the reader as, well, a reader, detailing the account of what brought him to his present sta...more

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Apr 24, 2011 John rated it 3 of 5 stars

Barker, as I recall, received a lot of flak when this book came out, and it's easy to see why: his publisher marketed it as his grand return to straightforward horror, whereas really it's a dark comedy -- nothing like thwarted expectations to annoy one's readers! The eponymous character and narrator is a demon who escapes a ghastly fate in Hell by coming to the surface and the 15th century, where, after teaming up with another demon in like circumstances, he eventually finds himself in Mainz. Th...more

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Jan 07, 2011 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who loves bizarre and bewitching stories

Recommended to Amanda by: It called to me from the shelf

Shelves: favorites

I know not to judge a book by its cover, but the cover certainly helped in this case. So did the decrepit looking brownish pages. I don't know why I was particularly drawn to it, but after looking at the book jacket summary I decided to give it a whirl.

I can't help but be one of the sorts of people that's drawn in by a book that opens with "Burn this book" and then continues to be narrated in the first person. Being the cruel sort, I didn't grant the book's wish, because I prefer to read books...more

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Apr 05, 2010 Hydra Star rated it 1 of 5 stars

I’ll open this review with a confession. I am a Clive Barker fanatic. I’ve at this point read nearly all his published works and by and large have loved them all. Even his movies, often adaptations of his written work, are favorites of mine. I’ve seen “Candyman” and read “Imajica” so many times over I feel confident that I could, if compelled for some reason to do so, act out scenes from either word for word. His stories aren’t for me mere sources of entertainment they are a treasured part of my...more I’ll open this review with a confession. I am a Clive Barker fanatic. I’ve at this point read nearly all his published works and by and large have loved them all. Even his movies, often adaptations of his written work, are favorites of mine. I’ve seen “Candyman” and read “Imajica” so many times over I feel confident that I could, if compelled for some reason to do so, act out scenes from either word for word. His stories aren’t for me mere sources of entertainment they are a treasured part of my life.

And then there is “Mister B. Gone”.

I can sum up my feelings about this book, which was hailed by some as Barker’s return to his horror roots, with one word; disappointment. This book has no depth or spirit, which is quite the shortcoming in a book that is suppose to be demon possessed.

This storyline, if you want to call it that, follows the Earthly life of a demon named Jakabok Botch but who prefers to be called Mr. B.. Jakabok is both the narrator and prisoner of the book and fancies himself quite the writer. He couldn’t be further off base. Written with out chapters the book reads like the journal of an individual only casually interested in documenting their life and with only a vague memory of important events.

Nearly every other page or “entry” ends with Jakabok speaking directly to the reader, pleading with them to burn the book and end his imprisonment and presumably his life. This was kooky and fun at first, but quickly became annoying, repetitive, and in this reader’s opinion a very cheap way to fill up pages and stretch out the book’s length. By the time the pleas became threats and was clearly meant to carry a creep out factor the whole affair was just boring. The only readers I could see this tactic even remotely working on are the highly religious and/or superstitious, because simply no one else is going to be frightened by a paper demon saying he’s standing behind them with a knife posed to torture and kill them.

There are a handful of scenes throughout the book that are gruesome and violent enough to remind the reader they are reading a Clive Barker story. I also appreciate the fact that Mr. Barker saw fit to address the popular misconception that the Bible was the first book to be published via the printing press, it was in fact a grammar text book that was first reproduced in this manner, but these scenes far from redeem this particular book and as much as it pains me to say it the only thing in my opinion that would redeem it would be to follow the wishes of its main character and burn it. (less)

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Dec 20, 2009 Adair rated it 5 of 5 stars

My very first introduction to Clive Barker's fiction. The first line made me purchase the novel ("Burn this book") because I've never encountered a narrator who commanded me.

The novel is a confession from a demon who unwittingly finds himself on earth. As the novel unfolds, you learn how Jakabok Botch received his psychological and physical scars. Underneath this, Barker explores interesting ideas about forbidden knowledge, the power of language, and truth. Barker plays around, too, with that un...more

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Nov 27, 2009 Schmacko rated it 2 of 5 stars

The book you’re reading is possessed by a demon. The gimmick is that this minion of Hell is telling you his story, and as you read the book, he takes more and more control of your soul.

Shyeah, that parlor trick only works if the story is engaging and believable enough that it feels that the book is really taking the reader over.

Or it could work if it were funny, or clever, or unusually engaging.
Mister B. Gone is a middling experience, one I started speed-reading just to get through. It’s an appr...more The book you’re reading is possessed by a demon. The gimmick is that this minion of Hell is telling you his story, and as you read the book, he takes more and more control of your soul.

Shyeah, that parlor trick only works if the story is engaging and believable enough that it feels that the book is really taking the reader over.

Or it could work if it were funny, or clever, or unusually engaging.
Mister B. Gone is a middling experience, one I started speed-reading just to get through. It’s an appropriate title, because I needed the book to be gone.

Normally, I appreciate the work of gay writer Clive Barker; he’s largely brought fantasy and gothic themes back into horror. (He wrote the supremely creepy book The Damnation Game, as well as Weaveworld, Imajica, The Great & Secret Show, and the Books of Blood series. He also wrote and directed the Hellraiser movies.) Barker’s works create whole worlds filled with fantasy, sexuality, and nightmares. Barker also loves blurring our preconceived ideas – of pleasure and pain, of Heaven and Hell, of good and bad. Mister B. Gone is no different. The circles of damnation, the courts of Heaven, and the goodness of man are all rendered in unexpected ways.

That is the good aspect of this book. In Mr. B. Gone, evil humans pull a minor demon out of Hell, like catching a deep-sea fish. The demon narrator then escapes, for over a hundred years, to torture maim humans. The supernatural Mister B. Gone hooks up with a more dynamic demon and finally meets his magical fate in a significant historical event we all learned about in school, the invention of the printing press.

Barker uses this invention to talk about how new technology might be perceived spiritually, how it added to our knowledge, how it simultaneously started the dissemination and destruction of old Medieval faith. In creating worlds, adding to our own mythologies, and posing historical questions, Barker does a commendable job.

Ultimately, despite some good qualities, Mister B. Gone fails because the protagonist devil lacks the ability to take possession of reader’s interest. The demon is not smart enough, elegant enough or sufficiently captivating to the readers. His story is lackadaisical, clumsily violent and long-winded. He doesn’t raise sympathy, nor does he fascinate with his heinous crimes. And since the demon is the book, the book is also mediocre, ungainly and a smidge dull in character.
(less)

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Jul 03, 2009 Bren rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: unfinished

"Burn this book," insists the narrator of this particular book.

Being a demon of some effect, narrator Jakabok Botch demands that the reader cease reading his memoir - or else. You see, the words within go far beyond telling tales of damaging proportion. The words are, in actuality, Jakabok himself, the demon having been trapped within the literal pages since the fifteenth century.

Pure gimmickry.

The book begins as a somewhat amusing romp through the mind of a "demon." And then the reader is bro...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Kimberlee rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kimberlee-s-home-library

I should have burnt the book.

I would have, if I hadn't spent money on it. No, that's not true; I'm a book hoarder, I don't burn books.

The frequent breaks in the narrative urging me to do this very thing quickly became tedious. Later they would be less so, but because I was so fed up with them from the beginning, I would still feel an enormous sense of irritation every time I was forced to stop the story to read them.

Furthermore, I think the editors were asleep at the wheel. Why have them if they...more

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About Clive Barker

Clive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It...more Clive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It was in Liverpool in 1975 that he met his first partner, John Gregson, with whom he lived until 1986. Barker's second long-term relationship with photographer David Armstrong, ended in 2009.

In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.

Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.

Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.

Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.

Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.

A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid, (less)

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“Walk with care in dark places, and do not put your faith in anyone who promises you the forgiveness of the Lord or a certain place in Paradise.” — 28 people liked it

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