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First post - huzzah!

The first novel of Clive's that I read was The Damnation Game. This was after I'd read all six volumes of The Books Of Blood, stories which had knocked me sideways with their originality and daring - before Clive I'd been reading James Herbert, Stephen King, Guy N. Smith and Shaun Hutson. After The Books Of Blood everything that had gone before seemed tame and boring.

The Damnation Game seems to me something of a forgotten classic. A standalone novel, it's never been made into a film, although it could be argued that some of the elements of the story found their way into Hellraiser. It's the story of a prison convict who is made an offer he can't refuse, early release so he can work as a bodyguard to a powerful and wealthy man. But what is he guarding Mr Whitehead against?

Like The Books Of Blood, The Damnation Game isn't afraid to be daring, both sexually and horrifically, while at the same time taking the traditional horror tropes and addressing them in an intelligent and informed style. And Clive's love of the language is also in full display, making each sentence an absolute delight.

I've not read it in a few years - I must rescue it from the loft sometime - but I still regard it as one of Clive's absolute best works.