Before Hellraiser came The Hellbound Heart, Clive Barker’s horror novella that ultimately laid the foundations for Pinhead and his army of Cenobites.
Initially released in 1986, the spine-chilling yarn was actually the third installment in the Night Visions anthology series, and it wasn’t until the following year that Barker and Doug Bradley (Pinhead) began formulating an idea for a live-action adaptation. And with that, Hellraiser was born.
But in light of Judgment‘s release, Bafflegab Productions has announced plans to circle back to the very beginning and release an audio drama adaptation of The Hellbound Heart. As reported by Bloody Disgusting, it’ll hit store shelves on April 27th, and feature the voices of Alice Lowe (Prevenge), Tom Meeten, and Neve McIntosh of Doctor Who fame. Here’s a rundown of what to expect:
When Frank Cotton (Tom Meeten) finally acquires a fabled puzzle box, he gets more than he bargained for. Because the box is a doorway to another world, to Hell and its dubious pleasures, ruled over by the sadistic Cenobites. And Frank’s reward for opening the box is an eternity of pain beyond imagining.
The description continues:
But when his brother, Rory, and his wife Julia (Neve McIntosh) move into the house where Frank conducted the ritual, he sees a means of escape. For Julia was once Frank’s lover and swore to do anything for him… even kill, if it would make Frank whole again. Julia will stop at nothing to bring her lover back from Hell, and only Rory’s friend Kirsty (Alice Lowe) unwittingly stands in their way…
As for the future of Hellraiser, now that Judgment has come and gone and wormed its way into our subconscious, Barker is reportedly tossing around ideas for a possible sequel. But at least for now, Pinhead has been placed on ice, after Judgment left him facing a fate worse than death: to live out his days as a cripplingly average human on Earth.