Clive Barker story ?

Question

In the books of blood was there a story about a village. That the people tied themselves together to create a super human? Did they fight another village, or did they run through the hills?

Answer 1

I loved this story and am glad someone made me remember it! The story is called, "In the Hills, the Cities" from Clive Barker's Books of Blood series (volume one) and below is a summary-

In the Hills, the Cities

Two gay men, Mick and Judd, go on a romantic but strained vacation in Yugoslavia. In an isolated rural area, there happens an astounding event: two entire cities, Popolac and Podujevo, create massive communal creatures by binding together the bodies of their citizens, many thousands of people walking as the body of a single giant, as tall as a skyscraper. It's a ritual that occurs every ten years, but this time, things go wrong, and the Podujevo giant collapses, killing tens of thousands horribly. Mick and Judd come upon the smashed bodies of Podujevo and a ravine awash with blood, but at first do not see the City of Popolac walking behind nearby hills. Meanwhile, in shock, the entire population of Popolac goes mad, and in losing their individual minds actually become the giant they are strapped into. Popolac wanders the hills aimlessly. By nightfall many of the people who made up the giant die from exhaustion, but still it walks. Mick and Judd are told the truth about the giants by a local man who tried to steal their car, catch up with Popolac and reason with it before it collapses and destroys the people who compose it. But Mick and Judd at first do not believe his story. They seek shelter at a remote farm, but Popolac blunders right into the farmhouse that night. Its giant foot kills Judd by accident. The elderly farm couple who see Popolac go crazy with fear. Mick, seeing Popolac, goes insane too, but wants to join Popolac. He climbs up the tower of ropes and bodies, and is carried away as it walks into the hills to its fate. The story was written just a few years before Yugoslavia tore itself apart in civil war.

This story is often cited by critics as the best story in The Books of Blood.

Answer 2

So amazed that I found this topic already answered! Its like you read my mind!

Answer 3

Was going to ask this too