Cabal was the first Clive Barker book I ever read, and is definitely one of my favorites. I've been wishing for a sequel ever since, and according to Clive, there just may be one on the way. I've been a bit hesitant to see the film adaptation Nightbreed because after reading the book I already have images of all of the characters, scenarios and the mythical Midian firmly in my mind's eye. I'm afraid the movie will be a disappointment.
But anyway.
The story centres on Aaron Boone, a very troubled man who is having very gruesome and bizarre dreams which he discussed with his psychiatrist Dr Decker. But Decker convinces Boone that they are not dreams, but in fact memories of terrible murders he has committed. He even pulls some crime scene photographs from the police which match up to Boone's dreams.
After a bad trip, Boone throws himself in front of a truck and winds up in hospital where he encounters a patient who asks to be taken to Midian. Midian is a word Boone recognizes from his dreams, but before he can get any information, the patient takes some hooks and rips his face off.
Boone escapes from the hospital and goes looking for Midian, and he finds it. A cemetery, seemingly empty. Until he comes face to face with the Nightbreed.
Eventually Dr Decker arrives at the cemetery with the police, who shoot and kill Boone. He later awakens in a morgue with his gunshot healed, and flees.
Boone's girlfriend Lori makes a trip to Midian to see where he was killed, and to try and understand why. She doesn't believe that he could have done those terrible things. If only she could see Midian maybe she could get some answers. When she arrives she saves a young Nightbreed girl from the deadly sun and returns her to her mother. This is when she discovers what lies beneath the cemetery.
Cabal is definitely a satisfying read for Barker fans, and is written in his typical fashion, blending gore with fantasy. It explores his common themes, primarily of the darker urges of humanity and the seduction of the sinister.
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