Press ReleaseChecker Book Publishing Group has announced May, 2002 publication of Clive Barker's Tapping the Vein, an anthology of comicbook adaptions of horror master Barker's short stories. The book collects nine stories, adapted to the comics medium by such stars as P. Craig Russell, Klaus Janson, John Bolton and Scott Hampton among others.

All the anthologized stories come from Barker's bestselling 1984 short story collection, Books of Blood, and were adapted into comics for the Eclipse Comics series Tapping the Vein in 1989 and 1990. Checker's publication of Clive Barker's Tapping the Vein (ISBN 0-9710249-3-6, $24.95, 268 pp. full color) marks the first time the comics adaptations have been collected in book form.

Checker targeted book rights to the material due to its potential to appeal to both the comicbook direct market (through stellar comics talent) and the general booktrade, where Barker was an established star as a best-selling horror novelist even before his horror film Hellraiser became a runaway hit and made him a household name.

Barker has always been a fan and supporter of the comicbook medium, lending his name and talents to a variety of projects. Checker previously published Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Collected Best (ISBN 0-9710249-2-8, $21.95, 232 pp. full color), an anthology of stories based on the film and written and illustrated by top-shelf comics talent which originally appeared from Epic Comics between 1990 and 1993.

Clive Barker's Tapping the Vein will be listed by comics wholesalers/

distributors in September 2002 - including Diamond Comics, FM International, Cold Cut and Bulldog - for November shipment. It will be available to the booktrade through Midpoint Trade Books. It is also available at Checker's website.

Checker Book Publishing Group was established in 2000, and is located in Centerville, Ohio.