''The Damnation Game'' is a horror novel by English writer

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

, published in 1985. It was written just after finishing the first trilogy of ''

Books of Blood ''Books of Blood'' is a series of six horror fiction anthologies collecting original stories written by British author, playwright, and filmmaker Clive Barker in 1984 and 1985. Known primarily for writing stage plays beforehand, Barker gained a ...

'', and tells a

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

ian story that touches on topics such as incest, cannibalism, and self-mutilation in a frank and detailed manner. It was his

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

Synopsis

Marty Strauss is a gambling addict recently released from prison. He is hired as the personal bodyguard of Joseph Whitehead, one of the wealthiest men in the world. The job is more complicated and dangerous than first he thought. He gets caught up in a series of supernatural events involving Whitehead, and a devilish man, Mamoulian, through whom Whitehead made a deal with the Devil during World War II. Whitehead is haunted with Mamoulian's supernatural powers (like raising the dead) to urge him to satisfy Mamoulian's pact. Whitehead decides to escape after several encounters with Mamoulian and after having his wife, his former bodyguard, and his daughter, Carys, taken away from him. With hope left to save Carys, Marty Strauss believes that Whitehead deserved his punishment after all and also decides to save the heroin addict from being another victim of the damnation game.

Characters

Marty Strauss: A man addicted to gambling and released from prison who works and lives on Joseph Whitehead's Estate as a personal bodyguard. Joseph Whitehead: An important, rich, famous, and eccentric man who is known as 'the thief' in the prologue: he is involved with the Faustian bargain with Mamoulian. Carys The daughter of Mr. Whitehead. She was intrigued by Martin Strauss, her runner, the second she saw him. She has a special gift, and battles addiction. Mamoulian: The main antagonist of the story, Mamoulian has the ability to give and take life. With a sense of death about him that give him a creepy disposition he has the demeanor of a devilish, almighty being. Anthony Breer: A serial child-killer who was resurrected after hanging himself by Mamoulian, in order to be his enforcer. Bill Toy: Joseph Whitehead's main assistant/right-hand man. Pearl: Joseph Whitehead's personal cook. Luther: Joseph Whitehead's personal limousine driver.

Reception

Algis Budrys Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...

praised ''The Damnation Game'' as "a masterly novel," saying that "it doesn't fail to deliver what a good horror story should," that "it delivers it elegantly," and that "come(s) to grip with the classic themes.""Books", ''

F&SF ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiva ...

'', August 1987, pp.36-38.

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

reviewed ''The Damnation Game'' for ''

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

'' magazine, and stated that "Quite simply the most literate and disturbing horror novel I have ever read. This is the place that nightmares are spawned - read it at your peril, but read it you must."

Dave Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for mos ...

reviewed ''The Damnation Game'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

'' #85, and stated that "Barker wrenches it with flamboyance and effective video-nasty imagery – but so violently that he strips the thread long before the book's over."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damnation Game, The 1985 British novels 1985 fantasy novels Novels by Clive Barker Works based on the Faust legend Debut fantasy novels Weidenfeld & Nicolson books Self-harm in fiction Novels about cannibalism Incest in fiction Weird fiction novels 1985 debut novels