Saturday, November 3, 2018

COENOBIUM: WHEN YOURS TRULY COMPOSED HELLRAISER FAN FICTION


In the early 90s, I gave the Clive Barker/fan-fiction scene a whirl. I hadn't reflected much on it until a few days ago when I stumbled upon Hellbound Web's acknowledgement of Coenobium # 4. 


The site doesn't offer much on the Coenobium series, detailing the content for only seven of the fifteen-issue, Diane Keating-edited/produced series. Nevertheless, #4's ingredients do, indeed, acknowledge "Mistress...by Mike Housel". (For what it's worth, the Official Clive Barker Resource Website {Clive Barker - Revelations} also references #4, but ignores my contribution. Damn it. Guess "fan fiction" isn't considered prestigious enough...)


In case you're wonderin' (and how couldn't you be?), "Mistress" describes how its titular character was summoned through (what else?) a Lament Configuration. I styled the character's dominatrix semblance after Diana Rigg's Emma Peel and Tura Satana's Varla. I believe there's a healthy smidgen of Maila Nurmi's Vampira in there, as well. (Mistress' body is roughened...darkened to resemble a catsuit; her pretty, pale head tacked with leather strips: a crown of whips, if one will.) Before her demonic alteration, Mistress was a geisha, but then...well, let's just say my wee yarn harbors a "feminist" slant, though I doubt Gloria Steinem would ever endorse it. 


The story is more in sync with Marvel Epic's offshoots than "Hellbound Heart" or the novella's related movies, but then, the comic-book content owes everything to those emanating elements, even if Pinhead is at most a recurring guest. 


"Mistress" was (as I recall) reprinted by the Clive Barker Appreciation Society around the time I penned its sequel. Alas, I can't say which Coenobium includes "The Ecstasy of Amorphousness". It's not referenced by either Hellbound Web or Revelations. "Ecstasy" was also as much a sequel to my Herschell Gordon Lewis-inspired, self-published Wonderful, Magical, Literary Elixirs story, "Of Summer Urges and Sweet, Balmy Blood". 

(For better or worse, "Summer Urges" has since turned controversial. The absurd cause I won't reveal here, but it's suffice to say that it connects to our current, censorious times. I'm certain "Ecstasy" would offend the same hypocritical hyenas if it were re-circulated. "Mistress" probably would, too, along with those plans Barker had for a lascivious Universal Mummy "remake". Same ol' song and dance, no matter what the atmosphere...)


In addition to the "Mistress/Ecstasy" set, I composed the Cenobite narrative, "Let There Be Laughter in Shame" (I favored long, pretentious titles back then; so sue me), which mates the ol' ventriloquist-dummy theme with "The Amazing Colossal Man", per puzzle-box tinkering. 

The story exists exclusively on compact cassette. I performed it, with the electronic assistance of my friend, Kenneth Santitoro, for a Coenobium contest and won Grand Prize: a "Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth" press kit, signed by Barker.


Ah well...thought I'd share these hellraisin' tidbits, since my friends and followers do on occasion inquire about my early work. 

For a curious hoot, check out the Coenobium scoop at ... http://www.cenobite.com/collect/coen.htm.  


(Too bad the fanzine didn't last longer and that an online edition hasn't surfaced with accessible reprints and recent movie/book reviews. There's a huge "Hellraiser"/Barker audience out there. The effort wouldn't be in vain.)

No comments:

Post a Comment