... To avoid speculation, a suitable location is found in which Todd can recuperate – Coldheart Canyon. We are privy to his first encounter with the mysterious Katya, with whom Todd becomes obsessed. We just know that she isn’t quite what she seems* She introduces Todd to he ‘delights’ of the ... Read review
InColdheart Canyonacclaimed horror writer Clive Barker takes us to the dirty secret of ... more
ageless sexual power and half-understood contracts with evil that lies at the heart of Hollywood.In the 1920s, magnate Zeffer buys his mistress Katya a room decorate...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In Coldheart Canyon acclaimed horror writer Clive Barker takes us to the dirty secret of ... more
ageless sexual power and half-understood contracts with evil that lies at the heart of Hollywood. In the 1920s, magnate Zeffer buys his mistress Katya a room decor...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In Coldheart Canyon acclaimed horror writer Clive Barker takes us to the dirty secret of ... more
ageless sexual power and half-understood contracts with evil that lies at the heart of Hollywood. In the 1920s, magnate Zeffer buys his mistress Katya a room decor...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
...which Todd can recuperate – Coldheart Canyon. We are privy to his first encounter with the mysterious Katya, with whom Todd becomes obsessed. We just know that she isn’t quite what she seems* She introduces Todd to he ‘delights’ of the Devils Country, a strange reconstructed room originating from a strange east European monastery. This room has all sorts of strange powers. Katya also apparently hosted some pretty wild parties in the golden age of ... ...have remained as ghosts in Coldheart Canyon to continue their libidinous practices. The story progresses and gradually, after Barker has given full rein to his literary skill, filling page after page with some quite vivid and nauseatingly pretentious descriptive prose, we begin to learn the hideous secret of Coldheart Canyon and the mysterious Katya. I don’t want to give too much away - some of the protagonists who discover the truth live through ... more
I used to really enjoy reading Clive Barkers work, but gradually I feel myself slowly becoming more and more disillusioned with each book I read. I’m not quite sure why, although maybe penning this opinion may make it clearer to myself.
The Cast
Todd Pickett*, a heartthrob film star*, poor boy made good*, an ‘ageing’ film star*, adored by millions gradually becoming less and less bankable*. He’s represented by a shrew of an agent* Maxine, and lusted after by the head of his appreciation society (not a fan club!) Tammy, an overweight (his words, not mine) not particularly good looking lady with a heart of gold*, who’s married to the no-good layabout Arnie*. The final main character is Katya Lupi, former silent movie, who mysteriously retains the body, looks and appetites that drove her fans wild with desire in the early days of the movies*. Various other characters including Marco, a sort of bodyguard come minder come confidante with a suitably shady history* weave in and out of the story.
The Plot
Set in the present day, it tells the story of Todd Pickett, single, dashing, movie star whose contemporaries apparently include Cruise, Kidman, and Pitt amongst others. Todd loves his dog* and the lifestyle he leads, however his star is beginning to wane as age is catching up – his looks are going*. After some not so gentle prompting, Todd dithers about plastic surgery, and apparently the deciding factor is the death of his beloved canine companion, Dempsey (grief does funny things!), he visits a mysterious plastic surgeon*, who of course botches the job*, leaving our hero looking like he’s been hit in the face by a steam hammer. Not so good for the career then. To avoid speculation, a suitable location is found in which Todd can recuperate – Coldheart Canyon. We are privy to his first encounter with the mysterious Katya, with whom Todd becomes obsessed. We just know that she isn’t quite what she seems* She introduces Todd to he ‘delights’ of the Devils Country, a strange reconstructed room originating from a strange east European monastery. This room has all sorts of strange powers. Katya also apparently hosted some pretty wild parties in the golden age of Hollywood where anything, and I mean anything went*. I won’t go into too much detail but any of you into movies will recognise some of the late, great movie stars mentioned in here, although I guarantee you’ll not have seen them involved in such sordid, debauched behaviour* (In like Flynn?!) Incredibly (yawn,yawn) it seems that their carnal and often bestial desires survive after death, and they have remained as ghosts in Coldheart Canyon to continue their libidinous practices. The story progresses and gradually, after Barker has given full rein to his literary skill, filling page after page with some quite vivid and nauseatingly pretentious descriptive prose, we begin to learn the hideous secret of Coldheart Canyon and the mysterious Katya. I don’t want to give too much away - some of the protagonists who discover the truth live through the events, some don’t. I have to say that even on re-reading the ending of this novel, it is somewhat confusing and I’m not quite sure what (if?) there is some hidden pearl of wisdom in here or if he truly just wanted to get the writing of this novel over and done with – maybe this is just my cynicism shining through lol
The Summary
Has anyone been wondering why the asterisks or counting them?? Okay, I’ll tell you about them – they represent clichés and these are just the main ones! The book is full of them, the gay failed actor turned critic (a fabulous interior designer too dahling!), the ugliest but most powerful producer in Hollywood, latent lesbianism, sinister and greedy priests, they are all here. I think maybe, just maybe, this is my problem with the book – there’s nothing new in any of the characters, the plot or I just can’t actually ‘feel’ anything for either. I have considered whether Barker means this novel as joke at the publics expense, if not, I really can’t understand how it came to be published – maybe it’s a case of I’m established, my public will buy anything I churn out? If you like Clive Barker, give this one a miss or buy it when it gets remaindered.
Now I see why I disliked this effort from somebody for whom, beforehand, I had a lot of respect and time.
Advantages: An interesting mix of themes, dark and over the top Disadvantages: Not one of Barker's most original books
The main character Clive Barker's Coldheart Canyon is Todd Pickett, a fading Hollywood film star who undergoes a plastic surgery operation to improve his declining good looks only for the procedure to go horribly wrong, leaving him disfigured and his career in ruins. He buys a secluded house in a little-known place of Coldheart Canyon, hidden amongst the lavish estates of the Hollywood stars, and it is here that he becomes embroiled in a turbulent ... ...not as it seems at Coldheart Canyon, with the ghosts of long-dead stars from Hollywood's golden age congregating there to engage in wild drunken orgies throughout the night as the rest of Hollywood sleeps on, oblivious. Pickett must discover the true nature of Katya, as well as the significance and origin of the mysterious room, whilst avoiding the temptations of the wild and uncontrolled movie star spirits that surround him. Coldheart Canyon is ...
Burning_Darkness 01.08.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coldheart Canyon - Clive Barker
Following extensive cosmetic surgery, Hollywood superstar Todd Pickett needs somewhere to hide away while his scars heal. His manager finds the ideal location, Coldheart Canyon - a dream-palace hidden away in a corner of the city so secret it doesn't even appear on a map. In the 20s, 'A' list stars came to the Canyon to have the kind of parties nobody was supposed to know about. It wasn't just the wild sex and the drugs that made Amorette's parties so memorable. There was a door in the bowels of the dream-palace, which reputedly opened onto another world - the Devils' Country - where nothing was forbidden. Nothing...As a Hollywood insider with a keen eye for its idiocies and horrors Clive Barker is uniquely positioned to write this vitriolic Tinseltown ghost story. Coldheart Canyon is an irresistible and unmerciful picture of Hollywood and its demons, told with all the style and raw narrative power that have made Barker's books and films a worldwide phenomenon.
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