Fright Tomes: The Bloodline of Peter Atkins
By T.J. Tranchell
Creative people tend to gravitate to other creative people. We get to be alone together, for those of us who are introverts. We get to have a cheer squad for our accomplishments and, hopefully, understanding shoulder to cry one when things don’t go our way. Sometimes these friendships really are squad-like. Imagine the Beat generation: Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs are inseparable in many ways.
The Dog Company, a late 1970s-early-80s theatre group, is similar. Anyone familiar with Clive Barker should know about the Dog Company. But just like the Beats, Barker isn’t the only creative force to come from the group. Actor Doug Bradley was there. So was writer Peter Atkins. It is a strong bloodline and one that has allowed Atkins not only to delve into the worlds created by his friend but to also reach out on his own.
I would argue that any humor in the Hellraiser series belongs to Atkins. You’ve seen him, too. He’s the bartender who gets wrapped in barbed wire in Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth. All the wacky stuff in Hellraiser II: Hellbound…that came out of Atkins head. When Pinhead gets rolling in Bloodline and says, “Do I look like someone who cares what God thinks?” that is all Atkins.
Bloodline, the fourth installment of the franchise, is perhaps the most interesting. At that point, Barker was done with it as far as the films went, and one could argue that Atkins is the one responsible for keeping it alive. Not everyone thinks that is a good thing, but we can’t blame Atkins for studio editing and other interferences. And we have proof of it. Not long ago, Encyclopocalypse Publications published Atkins original Bloodline script. Basically, everything in the final movie is there, but it all seems to make more sense. Cenobite appearances are less random, and our beloved Hell Priest exhibits real power — power sown over generations.
Okay, I get that that is an issue. “Pinhead” as we are supposed to know, was the result of Captain Elliot Spencer opening the box in the early 1900s. That means that Pinhead couldn’t have been a thing during the French revolutionary period. Don’t worry, it all works because the Cenobites as a demonic religious order are much, much older.
The thing to take away is that Atkins was not only playing in Barker’s sandbox but taking over the entire playground. The playground is familiar and yet it’s so much different. There are new toys including humor that isn’t in much of Barker’s early work, a playfulness that Atkins brings to the table. Again, Pinhead gets cheeky under Atkins’ pen in a way he isn’t under Barker’s guidance. But unlike a character like Freddy Krueger, Pinhead doesn’t lose his mystique when gaining a sense of humor. He’s not more likeable, which is what happened to Kreuger. If anything, the humor (and Bradley’s delivery of Atkins’ lines) is so dry that it makes audiences dislike him more.
Over the course of decades, Atkins has had his short fiction regularly appear in annual “best of horror” and “best of dark fantasy” anthologies. His story “Prisoners of the Inferno” in the anthology Hellbound Hearts is one of the best in the book. His own 2022 collection All Our Hearts are Ghosts is a brutal selection of stories that feel like classics and also feel brand new at the same time. He’s like a time traveler covering old ground with new eyes and reporting back on what he’s seen.
Atkins appears to know this and to enjoy it. He often drops references to the past on his social media, including pointing out his acting work as “Barbie” in Hell on Earth. Even his social media handles reflect a self-deprecating joy in life. He runs under variations of “limey bastard” and reveals in both his current as mostly a short story writer and his past in which he was part of a classic horror squad.
Never truly the face of the franchise, but perhaps its greatest champion, Atkins fills a role that reflects the blasphemous nature of the work he’s been involved in. Yes, he wrote Pinhead’s taunting words to God in a cathedral: “I am the way!” Yet, if we look at the Barker-Bradley-Atkins trio as its own unholy Trinity, Atkins is the Holy Spirit. Barker, the creator; Bradley, the deliverer of the message; Atkins, the still, small voice who stayed with us to guide us after the Father and the Son returned to Heaven.
Comparing Atkins to a religious entity might seem sacrilegious to some people. I’d argue that it is indeed the perfect metaphor. It’s been so long since we’ve heard from our God (Barker), and the Son’s (Bradley) recent work is spotty at best. Atkins remains a consistent presence and one we can most easily commune with. There’s the body and the blood, sure. Atkins is the heart. 🩸
About
T.J. Tranchell was born on Halloween and grew up in Utah. He has published has published six books, including The Blackhawk Cycle, a hardcover omnibus. In October 2020, The New York Times called Cry Down Dark the scariest book set in Utah. He holds a Master’s degree in Literature from Central Washington University and is pursuing an MFA through the UCR-Palm Desert Low Residency program. Tranchell has also published work in Fangoria. He currently lives in Washington State with his wife and son and teaches at a community college.
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