Some more horror for Hallowe'en... Hellraiser: The Book of the Damned

[icon_uk]

The following post is not for the squeamish, it's not gory visually, but there are certain concepts which, whilst not requiring a trigger warning (I don't think) deal with some of the less pleasant aspects of human behaviour.

Clive Barker's Hellraiser series has a lot of appeal to me, not the kinky aspects of it, that's usually way beyond my comfort zone (but that's what horror should be about of course), but because of the simplicity and complexity of it's "hook" (no pun intended), LeMarchand's Box, the Rubik's Cube from Hell itself.... The Lament Configuration.



As any good Hellraiser fan knows, the Lament Configuration appears to be a small, beautifully intricate puzzle box, an almost irresistible toy to play with, to try and solve, it's all but challenging you to open it to see what's inside....


Something the comics focussed on more than the movies (particularly the latter ones) was the notion of the obsession being the key to the puzzle, that it was the obsession which proved ones worth to, if you were lucky (and I use the term loosely), become a Cenobite yourself.

(Please ignore elements of the movies you might have seen, especially "Hellraiser: Bloodline" for the purposes of this posting, the comics did it better IMHO)

The comics also produced "Hellraiser: Book of the Damned", which sort of supplied a little bit of background to the Lament Configurations creation, and featured some "edited highlights" from the comics too, expanding on the concepts of the Cenobites processes.

The conceit of "Book of the Damned" #'1 (There ended up being 4) was that Clive Barker had had a bunch of papers delivered to him anonymously, and he was publishing them for our edifictation



The TRUE beauty of the Lament Configuration was not it's attractiveness as a fascinating looking puzzle box,  but that it's not enough to just try and open the box, it's the obsession that drives you to want to solve it, the all consuming fascination with it, the lengths you will go to, and the sacrifices (figurative and literal) you will make to get the thing open. THOSE are what call it's masters of the Configurations, the Cenobites, and their leader, one of the most memorable looking monsters of any movie in the last 30 years... Pinhead.



And yet, for all their powers, neither Pinhead, nor any other Cenobite, CREATED the Lament Configuration, that dubious honour belonged to another, a mortal, a genius, and like most geniuses, more than a little... unbalanced. 18th Century architect and craftsman (in the mode of Faberge), Philip LeMarchand.

You make like to listen to this, whilst reading the following, it's a track from "Hellbound: Hellraiser II", which has the right sort of queasy, "demented music box meets circus parade of the damned" sound to it IMHO.



Yup, he's someone I'd trust to deisgn kiddies toys and no mistake!



The pages of the book are more than a little disjointed, interrupting the narrative with what MIGHT be unconnected concepts, but which, taking everything else into account, are not...





If solving a puzzle box opens the gates of hell, why not another ordered sequence of movements and progressions?





(The reason I suggest ignoring the movies is that "Bloodlines" has it be impossible for LeMarchand to have created more puzzles after the Lament Configuration, the notion that he was prolific is far more disturbing IMHO.

Another case in point, this puzzle, The Genesis Revelation, appeared in one of the comic stories in "The Devil's Brigade"





This is, of course, deeply blasphemous to any Christian, but that's sort of the point.

Another, and perhaps the most disturbing is this one, which also featured in the comic...





That's just... ICK!

And the puzzles, in all their varieties





Hmm, something tells me Dr Strange may have some problems with the local buskers...

And the concept has certainly inspired creative types to make their own designs for "lost" LeMarchand puzzles...

An excellent site is that of art dealers; The Pyramid Gallery

And for some video creations of them, THIS is a terrific youtube account, with this as an example...

So next time you realised that the crossword puzzle you're working on has a lot of words like "Cenobite", "Leviathan" in it's answers, or that Sudoku you're working on just seems... wrong, even though you've filled in the numbers correctly, just remember that puzzles are fun, but any obsession take too far... that's a whole different type of "fun", and it might not even be a human one.

Happy Hallowe'en!
 

Comments

[shadowpsykie]

NOOOO Don't read it! the comic IS a LAMENT CONFIGURATION! you don't know what you are doing!?!?!?!?!

[icon_uk]

Win! :)

[shadowpsykie]

Thank you, thank you? I'll be here all night! (well not really i am off to get my hair cut after work... then read watchmen for class)

seriously though, the fact that the book itself seems to be off makes me think that it is intended to be a Lament configuration. READ AT YOUR OWN RSIK!

[cainofdreaming]

When the slightly off feeling hairdresser asks if you'd like to try something a little different, maybe something in geometric shapes, you might want to remember your own advice.

;)

[icon_uk]

"Hang on a moment, those aren't 'micro-curlers', they're NAILS!!"

[shadowpsykie]

"You like I do nice shapes in head? you head make shapes look nice!"

....Umm... no.... i would not like a lamentation configuration on my head thank you very much nice korean lady....

(i kid you not, she actually talks like that... she constantly wants to try new things on me.... on my hair i mean ....)

[cainofdreaming]

My favorite Lament Configuration in the comics wasn't actually LeMarchand's design at all. It was a melody, made by a composer that was going deaf (iirc) and had had his fingers cut when a competing composer had sabotaged his instrument.

He made it by putting sheets paper all around his room, getting naked and then rolling around in broken glass and/or barbed wire. With the splashes of blood making for the composition of the song.

The comic series had its fair share of high points. And it's aged quite a lot better than the movies (well, the first one is still a classic but the rest... ehh). Maybe the most chilling part for me was their total undivided devotion to order. And the fact that I sometimes saw their point. Fortunately, at least for my self-esteem as a human being, there weren't too many of those. But still.

[icon_uk]

That's a deeply freaky one, and I did think about trying to scan it, but couldn't work out how to cut it down to 1/3 without destroying it.

[shadowpsykie]

this is the one series i refuse to read, or watch... this series SERIOUSLY scares the crap out of me... not in goods ways...

[shadowpsykie]

that said.... i respect it's ingenuity. the idea of obsession leading a path to hell is very poetic.

[leikomgwtfbbq]

Huzzah! Thank you! I've been requesting Hellraiser comics for awhile and I'm glad to finally see 'em :D

[icon_uk]

The disconnect between the subject of this post and that icon is... most disconcerting!

[leikomgwtfbbq]

For being such a huge horror fan (and amateur horror writer), I notice that all of my icons are super-cute and happy. XP

[icon_uk]

Yup, that's Cenobite material right there folks!

[leikomgwtfbbq]

Aw, man, I love Hellraiser, but I don't wanna be a Cenobite! D: I like my hair too much, and leather is too squeaky and sweaty!

[icon_uk]

Oh I don't know... My Little Pinhead: Torment is Magic, has a certain ring to it!

And believe it or not, not two seconds googling got me this and this.

[leikomgwtfbbq]

That second one is bizarrely adorable. I'd totally put it on my shelf to hang out next to my Stephen King collection.

[darkblade]

I read that in Rarity's voice...

[leikomgwtfbbq]

Honestly, darling, their fashion sense is simply barbaric! Their makeup is too grotesque! I could never join part in such a mass crime against fabulosity!

[darkblade]

The more I see of Rarity the more I want to see her team up with Edna from the Incredibles (and maybe Tim Gunn but he's not as important) to take apart bad costumes designs.

[big_daddy_d]

Never got the appeal of Hellraiser.

[icon_uk]

I'm the same with zombies.

Aside from the cool (and beautiful) puzzle box and the concept of obsessing with finding order being the key to the gates of hell (humans are usually a fairly even balance of order and chaotic thinking) it's perhaps to do with the Cenobites being demons, but they were all human at some point in their lives. They CHOSE to become what they are by their actions as humans and their choices with the puzzles the obsessed over.

They embraced the twin concepts of pleasure and pain taken to such extremes that they become hard to tell apart, so there's an S/M vibe, and a certain degree of piercing/body-horror thing going for them, so visually they are unique and disturbing.

[thehefner]

While I don't expect you to change your view, because your tastes are your own and all, this strip does neatly shed some light on many of the various reasons why zombie fans love the genre. The one big factor that she missed, for my money, is that human beings are the real monsters. That element, and the social commentary in general, appeals to the Twilight Zone fan in me.

[icon_uk]

Excellent strip there! :)

[nezchan]

I totally get the appeal of zombies, but I am utterly unable to watch (let alone enjoy) zombie movies. Even zombie comics can really bother me to the point that I have trouble sleeping, so don't expect me to fill up on Walking Dead regardless of quality.

Zombie games are a different thing, of course. Zombies then become an endless supply of disposable mooks, and you can actively destroy them rather than dwelling on pain and gore.

Haven't risked the Hellraiser stuff, but it does look intriguing from the designs alone.

[shadowpsykie]

have you played resident evil? that shit is TERRIFYING! i was up in corner hearing the zombies bleeding, out of bullets with only a Military knife in my hands and no save point in sight..... (it didn't help i purposefully played with the lights off in the dark, a night...)

[nezchan]

I played the original Silent Hill alone in an empty apartment, with my back to a darkened room. Whatever else you might say about that game, the sound was chilling!

I played the beginning of Amnesia, but haven't got to the actually scary bits (pretty much all mysterious noises and one "boo"), but I guess that's a different thing entirely.

[superfangirl1]

Hellraiser 2 always scares the heck out of me and can't watch it alone.

[icon_uk]

It's always been my favourite of the movies too.

[proteus_lives]

I can't decide whither I like 1 or 2 better.

One has Garek! "Jesus Wept".

2 has the best Pinhead snark.

Tough call.

[brilliantnova]

I enjoyed this very much <<< btw never seen any of the hellraiser films through and stayed away from the books cause I'm to superstitious. But damn this was just to interesting to pass up.

Im screwed now.

[icon_uk]

Ah, the trap is laid, now we just wait for "interesting" to become "obsessed"

[omimouse]

My introduction to the Hellraiser series was actually the song "Hellraiser' by Tom Smith. -provides link-

http://tomsmith.bandcamp.com/track/hellraiser

I strongly recommend it to any fans of the series.

[icon_uk]

Heh, thanks. I forgot about that and I actually have a copy of that album! ;)

[mrosa]

I'm sorry, what IS a Lament Configuration? I never saw the Hellraiser movies or read the books.

[icon_uk]

The Lament Configuration is the formal name given to the first puzzle box made by Philip LeMarchand in the 18th Century. It can only be opened in a certain way, with a precise series of by people of a certain mindset, those whose obsession with order, and control, and the concept of obsession itself, make them susceptible to it's influence.

Solving it (Not one to watch at work, especially if your computer has speakers) opens a schism between our world, and the world of the Cenobites, who are sort of priests to Leviathan, a vast, inhuman, geometric... thing. They have a VERY perverse approach to existence, seeking to spread the concept of torment, and pain, and theytake pain and pleasure to be the same thing when taken to extremes... and their extremes go way beyond what normal human biology will withstand, so they... modify themselves to better appreciate it.

Pinhead (the Cenobite High Priest) and his associates comes to collect those who open the box, to take them with them back to their Realm, but they are open to bargaining, if you have a tempting enough offer (they understand temptation after all).

[valtyr]

Wow, that video is amazing, thanks very much! I read The Hellbound Heart and tbh I didn't find it that good, but the descriptions of the guy working on the box were creepy as all get-out.

[proteus_lives]

Excellent video!

[darkblade]

The more I think about the concept of the Lament Configuration the more I want to see Edward Nigma get a crack at it.

[icon_uk]

And when he solves it, what emerges is... The CenoBat! and his sidekick (who isn't an acrobat, but wears a cape made out of the skin of one!)

[proteus_lives]

Ahh, I have a deep, dark corner of heart reserved for Hellraiser. I first saw the film when I was waayyy too young and it scared the jeepers out of me. I was too young to hook on to the sexual side of it but what caught me was that the Cenobites used to be human and that people sought out the Box.

I read the original novella when I was older and grew to like the concept more and more.

I have a stack of the comics but my favorite LC comes from Hellbound Hearts, a collection of Hellraiser short stories.

A film fanatic finds a still from a old, forgotten movie and he goes on a quest to find a print of the film and discovers something...more.

[icon_uk]

I always meant to say thank you for letting me know that that books exists, it's great, though I like the one about the professional puzzle solver who finds an online competition to solve a certain puzzle box.

[proteus_lives]

Look what shot back up the memory hole!

I'm glad you liked it. The puzzle solver one was one of my favorites too.