Tales from the Barker: "Books of Blood" offers enough twisted, bite-sized goodies in a mixed bag

Books of Blood (2020)

Loosely based on Clive Barker’s 1984 short story collection, “Books of Blood” is a horror anthology bent on unlocking Barker’s twisted mind again since 2008's "The Midnight Meat Train." Admittedly, it would seem to have been more successful as the extended pilot for a series than a one-off feature, making a case for some projects being better off as episodic TV. Director Brannon Braga and teleplay writing partner Adam Simon also put on the child gloves a little too often—it might have one more slashed throat and more skin carvings than an “Eerie, Indiana”/“Goosebumps”/“Are You Afraid of the Dark?” episode ever did—but “Books of Blood” does still have enough bite-sized goodies to be entertained.

The framing device that links the tales of terror together involves a bookkeeper (Brett Rickaby) being killed right after giving loan shark Bennett (Yul Vazquez) an address for the location of a rare book called “The Books of Blood.” Why does Bennett need this book? It doesn’t matter, as the stories that follow are based on the names carved into the fleshy book. The most unsettling and ghoulishly satisfying tale is the first—or maybe it’s the only one, as it concludes the film as well. College student Jenna (Britt Robertson) suffers from misophonia, where sounds trigger emotional and psychological sensitivities (heightened chewing sounds comically come off like stock, royalty-free sound effects). When Jenna goes off her meds, much to the chagrin of her knows-best mother (Paige Turco), she runs away and hops on a bus to L.A., but on her journey, Jenna believes a man is following her. She gets off at a stop the next chance she gets, ending up in a small town and finding hot tea, cake, and a stiff bed to sleep in for the night under the roof of a couple of too-good-to-be-true B&B owners, Ellie (Freda Foh Shen) and Sam (Nicholas Campbell). Jenna will learn that the world really is an ugly and cruel place, or maybe she is right where she should be. There's such a creepy sense of comfort to this particular entry (and Ellie and Sam) that where it ends up going cannot be predicted. 

Sandwiched in the middle is the seemingly unrelated story of “Miles,” the 7-year-old boy who was survived by his mother, professor Mary Florensky (Anna Friel), after a battle with leukemia. Mary specializes in skepticism, her life’s work involving debunking chicanery. When she meets handsome psychic medium Simon (Raif Gavron), who convinces her he can speak to her son Miles, Mary falls into a relationship with Simon and has them perform convocations for the public. This is another interesting tale, but it is so rushed and truncated when it’s time to get back to the wraparound.

As macabre entertainment, “Books of Blood” can be freaky and moderately weird as a gateway for bona fide Clive Barker. The omnibus structure is a mixed bag, though, as the suspenseful “Jenna” tale abruptly stops to transition into the “Miles” tale. One almost wishes the film belonged entirely to Britt Robertson’s Jenna, as the film eventually returns to her, coming full-circle and shifting the viewer’s allegiances with her. “Books of Blood” isn't the consistently quality horror anthology it could have been, but in the spirit of seeing something Barker-adjacent, it’s a serviceable fix.

Grade: C +

Hulu released “Books of Blood” (107 min.) on October 7, 2020.