Earlier this year, Subterranean Press released limited editions of author Mark Alan Miller's novella Hellraiser: The Toll, which was based on a partially written story by Clive Barker, elements of which he had written into his unused script for a HELLRAISER reboot. The book featured interior illustrations by Barker, with Brandon Mahlberg handling the dust jacket art. Focusing on HELLRAISER heroine Kirsty Cotton, the story is meant to bridge the gap between Barker's 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart, which he later turned into the first HELLRAISER film, and his 2015 novel The Scarlet Gospels, in which LORD OF ILLUSIONS character Harry d'Amour delves into the HELLRAISER world.
Hellraiser: The Toll is now out of print, although hardcover copies can be found on Amazon starting at $79.
Now the story is being put out into the world in another way – an audio dramatization, narrated by FRIGHT NIGHT / CHILD'S PLAY director Tom Holland. The cast of the audio drama includes Mali Elfman as Kirsty Cotton, Peter Atkins as Dr. Joseph Lansing, Joshua Holland as Frank Cotton, Richard Ankles as The Runner, Robert Parigi as Walter, Justin Vonderach as Hans, Christian Francis as The Cold Man (a.k.a. Pinhead), and Kasey Lansdale as multiple characters: Miss Pryor, Stewardess, Secretary, and Madame Rembert.
The synopsis:
Thirty years after Kirsty escaped from the clutches of the Hell Priest, Pinhead, and lived to fight another day, her life has never been the same. Every few years she fashions a new name, a new identity, and a new home for herself. She is a woman who is running from her past at all costs, which is why it comes as such a surprise when she receives a mysterious letter in the mail, addressed to the identity she’s been running from over half her life.
Answering the letter’s query, she begins a descent down a rabbit hole to the ultimate confrontation. Her actions stir something unnameable in the ether and throw her into a game where nothing… not even what she sees in front of her very eyes… can be trusted.
With the book so hard to get and so expensive, it's great that we'll now have a chance to listen to this story being brought to life.
The Hellraiser: The Toll audio drama can be purchased through Tom Holland's Terror Time shop and is also available on Amazon.