The characters in the Books of Blood are as diverse and colorful as the stories themselves. Because they inhabit the world of shorter fictions, they lack somewhat the depth and roundness of development one might expect of novel-length protagonists and antagonists, but within these limitations Barker is able to achieve some startling and memorable characterizations. The protagonists in these stories come from all social strata and represent a widely divergent number of personality types: what they share in common is the concept of unfulfillment in their lives; it is the purpose of the plot to bring them to the point of fruitful transformation through their respective encounters with the horrific. Of even greater interest in some ways are Barker's nonhuman antagonists, bringing to mind Macaulay's comment upon Milton: "His fiends, in particular, are wonderful creations." Among the more striking of these, exhibiting as well somewhat of the extraordinary...