Mini book review: Books of Blood: Volumes One to Three by Clive Barker

I thought I was a Clive Barker fan but as it turns out, I haven't consumed enough of his output to count.  Sure, I've seen and quite liked Hellraiser (and Nightbreed is on my list of to-sees).  But I also thought I'd read some of his books and, scanning his bibliography, I guess I was wrong about that.  Because I thought I was a fan, I was surprised whenI didn't like his short story collection, Books of Blood, better.  I do like horror shorts a lot and thankfully, this collection has a lot to indulge in.  I found a few stories that I did like: the battle of wills in "The Yattering and Jack," the theatre's immortality in "Sex, Death and Starshine,"  "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," when movies take form in "Son of Celluloid," the worst island in the world in "Scape-Goats."  Again, however, many of the characters felt thin and I had difficulty connecting with the little worlds created in each story - which, again, I don't have any trouble with in the short stories of King, Hill and Gaiman.