Officially Licensed Models

McFarlane's Tortured Souls: Animae Damnatae

The International Toy Fair in New York in February 2001 saw the unveiling of a new set of McFarlane figures, or, "objects of veneration"! Packaged as Clive Barker's Tortured Souls, not the 'Toys From Hell' as speculated, the genius of Todd McFarlane for recreating figures from our favourite horror movies has struck again. Teaming up with the seamier side of Clive's imagination, McFarlane have produced six figures in this range: Venal Anatomica, The Scythe Meister, Lucidique, Mongroid, Agonistes and The Fix (aka Talisac). Released in July 2001, each figure is accompanied by a 1,000 - 2,000 word storyline which, when combined with the other five, creates a novella, 'Six Destinies', outlining the origin of the Tortured Souls.
Not for the fainthearted, these started some heated discussion around censorship and lawsuits on the Toy Fair message board hosted on McFarlane's site from the very first day they were unveiled. Spawn.com has an impressive section of its site devoted to images of the making of the Tortured Souls, together with snippets of Barker's back story for each character...

"People want to see the monsters. We supply the monsters.
"It's great dealing with Todd because you dispense with the middleman and talk directly to the creator, Todd is about making wonderful things, making things no one has ever seen before. He came along and said 'lets do something so scary, so extreme, it'll become a benchmark in horror toys.'
"These are the first toys I've had on the market. I've had model kits and whatnot, but this is a very different order of creation. These are technically amazing and the sheer level of detail is extraordinary. These figures represent the creature that both obsesses you and repulses you simultaneously. These are figures you put in a dark place in your house, probably with some votive candles, to haunt a corner in your home. We've really had fun pushing the envelope.
"Detail is the deal with monster making. The idea is that somehow or other the artist knows what all these details are. The Fix, the character hanging with the bloodbag, you will look at that thing for three hours and still find things that disgust you.
"On my own I could not have done this. On his own, Todd could not have done this. Together we can. People are grasping for imaginative extremes and they are appreciative of that."

Clive From New York

By [ ], McFarlane.com, 13 February 2001 (note - full text available at www.mcfarlane.com)

"There's no question that one of my preoccupations has always been the imagery of S/M. That's what I drew on when I created the Cenobites, that's what I decided to draw on when we created Tortured Souls. There's something quite exciting about the fact that these are much, much more extreme reconfigurations of flesh than anything that the Cenobites were. The Cenobites had a little bit of skin pulled here and a nail in there. What we've got is a guy hanging up with his guts hanging out and another guy with an entirely separate face, almost taking imagery from the beauty business, in the sense of the Hollywood change-your-face-and-look-different-tomorrow kind of business. So we're referencing that, we're referencing S/M, and of course, black leather is always sexy.
"These characters have been in their time both amongst the greatest and amongst the weakest powers of Primodian. Now we see tham transformed, and each of them has new functions. As they are physically transformed, so they are transformed within the world in which they find themselves. I suppose each story is a little morality tale, perhaps that would be the best way of putting it, connected by the theme of transformation.
"You definitely get a feeling of personality from each one. I think that will be strengthened when you have that little piece of back story because that will also strongly help you create an ambience around them."

The Damnation Gang

By Gina McIntyre, Wicked, Volume 3, No 2, May/June 2001

"Since Todd's toys started to come out and clearly the word 'toys' scarcely does them justice; they are something quite 'other', I mean, the detail in them, the richness of them... they're a kind of artform. Since he began to put these things out, I started to think it would be kind of fun to get into this area and make some characters of my own. Todd had been trying to get in contact with me, I'd been trying to get in contact with Todd and eventually we connected and it was really simple."

Clive's Busy, Busy, Busy, Busy Year

By Smilin' Jack Ruby, 13th Street, 12 July 2001 (note - full text online at www.13thstreet.com)

"[I want to] leave [people] with an impression, leave them with something they couldn't get anywhere else. I like messing with people's minds. Intensity messes with people's minds.
"It's going to be a test. My fan base and Todd's fan base overlap, [but] the people who like the big fancy novels, I think we're going to have to educate them a little bit.
"I think this is like the first time Hieronymous Bosch might have designed a toy, and I think it's neat, in its weird sort of twisted way. They're beautiful things, I mean, they're really elaborate, baroque sort of creations."

Toying With Torture: Clive Barker Wants To Play With You

By Luke Y. Thompson, online at newtimesla.com, 12 July 2001

Todd McFarlane : "Though I guess most people know him as a writer, Clive is quite a talented artist and had very strong ideas about the Tortured Souls line in a very visual sense. It was really a back-and-forth thing. He came up with some ideas, then I came back with some ideas, and it just worked out."

The Damnation Gang

By Gina McIntyre, Wicked, Volume 3, No 2, May/June 2001

Todd McFarlane : "We're getting a reaction to these toys. I don't care what the reaction is, we're getting a reaction. If Clive - who can be a little odd at times - and myself, the two odd boys, if we got together and couldn't get a reaction, we failed at our task. In the genre of horror, if you don't disturb people, you're not doing your job. There will be a number of people who will look at these and say 'yeah'. There will also be a group of folks who look at these and wonder why they have to exist. And that's fine. We'll deal with that.
"Ultimately one and one becomes three - the strength of Clive and his studio and the strength of me and my studio, it's an amalgamation, a hybrid of a bunch of good creative people working together.
"I am absolutely unconcerned about releasing figures this extreme. I've never apologized for a figure I've released. We will market these toys to appropriate venues for appropriate ages. Beyond that, it's up to parents to be the other half of the equation and control what comes into their home. Some people choose to see toys like this as a sign that society is falling; it's not, these are just an easy way to scare people."

Clive From New York

By [ ], McFarlane.com, 13 February 2001 (N.B. full text available at www.mcfarlane.com)

Todd McFarlane : "I believe... in a general sense that we live in a world that sometimes tries to be a little more politically correct than it should be and a lot of ideas have been so polished and so smooth. This country and the world are going to have to accept that there's still a huge volume of people that want a bit of an edge. We are not foolish enough to think that any one idea that we come up with, that any category at any time is going to appeal to everybody. I live by the philosophy ' You can't please all the people all the time' so once you accept that you don't worry about it. It's not going to appeal to everybody, just do the best job you can. There's a reason why people wear Yankees hats or walk around wearing Metallica shirts. They're trying to say what it is that they like, and I think that there comes a time in life where we just want to have stuff that's ours and it's ok if other people don't like it."

Tortured Souls Presentation

By Clive Barker & Todd McFarlane, Q&A moderated by Joe B. Mauceri at the International Toy Fair, February 2001 (Note - Variously reported as 'Toys For Torture' by Girlcreeture at www.creature-corner.com and as 'Dark of the Eye' by Joe Mauceri at www.fearsmag.com.)

McFarlane's Tortured Souls 12-inch Figures

April 2002 brought the announcement of a long-hoped-for 12" Series of Tortured Souls, created from the original sculpts for the 6" series. Five figures were ultimately released: Venal Anatomica, Agonistes, Scythmeister, Talisac and, additionally, Lucidique...

Brad Gould (McFarlane staff) : "We, here at the Daily Update, have been bombarded with requests to show the 12-inch Tortured Souls out of the packaging and standing next to each other, sort of mingling as if they were at a Tortured Souls cocktail party. You say you want this because, from the photos I posted of these bad boys in their packages, Talisac looked smaller than the others. You're partly right, and here's the catch. These are 12-inch figures, right? Thus the name, "Tortured Souls 12-inch Figures," and Talisac is 12 inches on the nose, from the top of his tortured head to the bottom of his tortured soles, so to speak. The illusion comes from the fact that, while Talisac is the required height for this series, the other Tortured Souls are, in reality, 15-inch Tortured Souls! Yes, the others turned out much larger than the one-foot we advertised...
"The question is, how will you look at this bonanza? Will you be happy that the others are larger than they should be? Or will you bemoan the fact that Talisac, while being the full 12 inches, is smaller? Think about it. It will say a lot about who you are. Is the glass half empty or half full? "

Daily Update

McFarlane message board announcement, by Brad Gould, 16 September 2002 (note - online at www.spawn.com)

Jeff Saylor (reviewing) : "Pulled from the small sculpt talently created by Kyle 'Tank-man' Windrix, McFarlane takes Venal's tiny brethren and enlarges him to a massive 14" tall. As you can see, the 12" mentioned above (and on the packaging) is a tad off, though you ain't gonna hear me complaining. In essence, Venal Anatomica (and all 12" figs in this limited series) are 2-Ups for the masses. If you're not familiar with the term 2-Up- it is a term used for an early prototype which is sculpted on a larger scale to ensure maxium detail on the toy when it is eventually shrunk down for production. Everything on the original Venal is here: same articulation (head, shoulders, upper forearms, thighs, and wrists), gory detail, and demented accessories. The latter being his real metal chains and detachable translucent head dome. Slight alterations include the chains (which have been placed in different locations) and the slick addition of a right shoulder pad (original's shoulder was bare and starred a steel spike embedded in it.) McFarlane also reports that 'extra bloody' versions of Venal and the gang have been released- in case the gore factor...isn't enough for ya."

Venal Anatomica

by Jeff Saylor, Figures.com, 4 December 2002 (note - online at www.figures.com)

Tortured Souls 2 : The Fallen

The sell-out success of the first set of Tortured Souls (together with the rising prices paid for them by collectors) has clearly spurred McFarlane to keep up the momentum with the production of a second series of six figures. Unfortunately there has not been time for Barker to complement 'The Fallen' with a sequel to the Six Destinies novella. Spawn.com is the must-see site where their TS2 feature has now gone online - including QuickTime VR movies, additional figure photography, packaging and early stage test shots, complete figure stats, character bios, screen savers... we could go on!
Although we were all made to wait a little longer than anticipated to see Camille Noire, Feverish, Suffering Bob, Szaltax and Zain in stores, due to untimely shipping problems, they made it in time for Christmas 2002...!

Brad Gould (McFarlane staff) : "Todd and Clive Barker are a pretty good match as evidenced by the fact that the figures and story for Tortured Souls was a pretty edgy, yet highly acclaimed series. Then there is the movie on which Todd and Clive are collaborating. And just to confirm the rumors, we ARE doing a Tortured Souls II, and I saw a sculpt from that series. If you liked the severity of series one, I think you'll enjoy these even more. If ripped flesh and impaled limbs are your cup of tea, this series will be right up your alley."

Daily Update

McFarlane message board announcement, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Brad Gould, 4 January 2002

McFarlane Press Release : "When two veritable masters in the worlds of horror and fantasy - Todd McFarlane and Clive Barker - team up, the results are nothing short of spectacular, as evidenced by 2001's Tortured Souls action figure line. The first series was optioned for film by Universal Studios. McFarlane and Barker went back to their drawing boards to come up with a new series of figures even more twisted than the first. The result? Tortured Souls 2, a further redefinition of human flesh as canvas."

Press Release

ToyFair 2002, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By [ ], 11 February 2002

Drew Hutchinson (McFarlane staff) : [Following questions about Moribundi being covered at Toyfair] "Moribundi is way too scary! That's the reason. 'Scary'... [But] this line is not for the 'masses'. There will be no 'toning-down'!"

Daily Update

McFarlane message board announcement, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Drew Hutchinson, 15 February 2002

Brad Gould (McFarlane staff) : "There's been a lot of speculation about Moribundi, the one figure from Tortured Souls 2 series that we don't have a picture of on spawn.com. Many of you view this omission as highly suspicious. The fact is, the toy creators in New Jersey do everything possible to have accurate representations of our figures ready for Toy Fair. Most of the prototypes we display in New York give a good picture of what the final product will look like. Even those that still need some work (like Alien) are accurate enough, providing attendees with a clear picture of what they can expect. There are times, however, that we know the prototype is going to go through several more revisions. In those rare cases, we don't mind showing the figure to people going through the showroom, but we don't want photos of a figure going out on the Web when what's displayed isn't true to what the toy will eventually look like. Such was the case with Moribundi. I'm not going to show you pictures of the figure yet. What I am going to display are pictures of the original sketches of Moribundi. Below are two sketches that are pretty representative of how the toy currently looks. The sketch on the right was done first, and the one on the left is a revised version. I've seen the figure as it is now, and the revision is very close to how the figure currently looks. It may not be a photo of the figure, but it's as close as I can get for now. As you can see, the most recent sketch is a bit more severe than the original. Are we moving in the right direction on this figure? I think we just might be. The moment we have a figure that Todd and Clive feel is disturbing enough, I'll show it to you. Until then, this will give you an idea of what the mysterious Moribundi looks like."

Daily Update

McFarlane message board announcement, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Brad Gould, 4 March 2002

Clive Barker's The Infernal Parade - Series One

A year on from the release of McFarlane's second series of Tortured Souls figures, early plans were being made for a third series of that line to be released August 2004, with McFarlane confirming that we could expect the sort of creative involvement which Barker invested in the first series to be repeated in the form of back-up character studies
However... maybe the focus of the carnival freak show characters (initially known as Beast Tamer, Iron Maiden, Oddities In A Jar, Ringmaster, Sword Swallower and Wildman), was a little too distinct from what had gone before, leading to the re-branding of the lineup of characters as Clive Barker's The Infernal Parade, sans the Tortured Souls tag...
To herald the release of the series McFarlane went the distance with online promotion, including carnival posters and studio and in-packaging photos for each character as well as an extensive online feature.
The figures take the form of carted sideshows for arrangement into a medieval freaks' circus under the stewardship of Tom Requiem. Head across to Spawn.com for all the infernal goodies...

"The figures are going to be amazing, and what I like about this project is it's a train - it is six figures all on these almost medieval kind of cart bases with wheels, which can be hooked to one another so you can have this infernal parade of monsters, and geeks and freaks... and dwarves and all of that good stuff. And I think that these are easily the most beautifully crafted - just on the level of sculpting - of the three sets that I've been involved with Todd on. They really are exclusive, and what's nice for me is they're a new thing; they're not really horror, it's something different... it really is that mixture of monsters - you know, it's what you would see at a freakshow. You would see the gorgeous girl doing the burlesque, but you'd also see the man who eats chickens, you know, the geek sitting in the cage - so we've got a nice mixture of the monstrous and the strangely beautiful. There's a character called Bethany Bled and - I don't want to give too much away, but there are some very cool things coming down the path. And what's fun is they have a different feel - even the colours are different. Whereas the Tortured Souls figures were black and white, and blue, these are much warmer, or the colours are much warmer; they're much more the colours of carnival - there's browns and reds and yellows... and dancing dwarves and all of that stuff - it's much more, it's a kind of Fellini-esque spectacle, if you will.
"Whereas in the Tortured Souls novella I was also describing a location - Primordium - I'm not describing a location here; I'm telling something much more like a little fable - [backstories] which are complete and unto themselves and not connected in quite the same way. These are the stories of who these people are.
"It goes back to me wanting to do circuses since the first time I ever saw a circus, which was when I was five, probably. They used to bring the circus to Sefton Park in Liverpool every, I guess, summer and it was the grand, old, probably Chipperfields. And the smell of it and this kind of scary ambience of it - the clowns used to freak the hell out of me. These are all very obvious things, but there's something quite powerful about those images and ideas and so we really tried to capture some of that and I think they've done a great job. Of the three sets, these are easily my favourites. Just because they seem to jump much more from a personal dreamscape than the others do."

In Anticipation Of The Deluge: A Moment At The River's Edge

By Phil and Sarah Stokes, 1 and 12 July 2004 (note - full text here)

Jon Goff (McFarlane staff) : "Yes, there are plans to release a third line of Tortured Souls figures.
"Will it be more like TS1 or TS2? I would say more similar to 1, but not necessarily indentical to 1, if that makes sense (which it probably doesn't). What I mean by that is: Tortured Souls 3 is shaping up to have more of the creepy-spooky feel of the first series as opposed to the gross-out nature of the second. At least that is how it is looking at this point. However, things could change one way or another or even head off in a totally different direction by the time all is said and done."

20 Answers

McFarlane message board announcement, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Brad Gould, 10 October 2003

Jon Goff (McFarlane staff) : "Yes, Clive Barker is planning on providing a story for the figures."

Update - 2/9

McFarlane message board announcement, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Jon Goff, 9 February 2004

Jon Goff (McFarlane staff) : "Todd and Clive had a meeting Thursday to discuss the newest line of figures they are collaborating on - Clive Barker's Infernal Parade. The initial thought was that these figures would fit into the world of Tortured Souls, but as the line evolved and the story began to form in Todd's and Clive's heads, it became a whole new entity. A similar, but seperate creation. Think of the Infernal Parade as the Nightbreed to Tortured Souls' Hellraiser - same creators, but with a new twist.
"But does this mean there will be no more TS lines?
"I would say it's a safe bet that there will be more Tortured Souls in the future. Look at it this way, from now on there will be multiple creations from the minds of Todd and Clive to help fill your horror needs."

Infernal Parade No Longer Part Of The Tortured Souls Series?

McFarlane message board post, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Jon Goff, 21 February 2004

Jon Goff (McFarlane staff) : "You now know that the silhouette I showed you a few weeks ago was indeed the 'wildman'. More importantly, you now know the actual names of the characters that will be making up this line...
Tom Requiem, the King of all Sh[owme]n, and Clovio
Bleb & the Sabbaticus & Heeler
Dr. Fetter's Family of Freaks
Mary Slaughter the Spike Swallower
Bethany Bled the Prisoner in the Iron Maiden (Excellent!)
And, of course...
...the Golem Elijah, who is pictured in the ad.
"Over the next two months or so leading up to the release of this line, you will learn more about each of the figures and the story behind them."

Update: 5/27 - The Infernal Parade - Monsters 3 Inserts

McFarlane message board post, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Jon Goff, 27 May 2004

Jon Goff (McFarlane staff) : "We also have a small teaser of an image to show you from the much-feared, much-loved strangeness that is Clive Barker's The Infernal Parade...
Bethany Bled, a prisoner - of her own making, mind you - in the torturous contraption known as the Iron Maiden, a claustrophobic device of sharp steel and impending doom. How, you may ask yourself... how, can such a lovely young lady put herself in harm's way in a manner such as this? How and why? The answers are unknown but to her and I have no doubt in my mind, as dark and twisted as it may be, that the reasoning behind such an act would only serve to increase the delirium you are now feeling.
"The Parade, my friends, does not stop there. Oh, no. Not quite. There is still more to show you, another fiendish freak with whom you are already slightly acquainted. The 'wildman'. The 'freak in a cage'. A beast who would just as easily rip your arms from your soft, weak, meaty body as opposed to being subjected to your gawking, probing eyes... The Golem Elijah, safely, or so we assume, contained within his circular cage."

Update: 5/28 - Welcome! Welcome! Step Inside!

McFarlane message board post, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Jon Goff, 28 May 2004

Jon Goff (McFarlane staff) : "I give you a wickedly demented individual who I have no doubt is up to no good... The King of All Showmen stands before you with a devilish grin and blackened heart and the twisted troupe of misguided souls which he leads on an Infernal Parade [which] will be coming your way."

Update: 6/1 - Alien Vs. Predator News - Infernal Parade

McFarlane message board post, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Jon Goff, 1 June 2004

Jon Goff (McFarlane staff) : "And the Parade rolls on... Last week I gave you a sneak peek at the lovely (take my word on it) Bethany Bled, who for reasons unbeknownst to anyone at this particular time and place, including men and women with intellects far superior to that of common man, has the unenviable task of being the prisoner in the Iron Maiden, a medieval torture device that seems to be nothing more than the statue of a woman. Unfortunately for anyone who falls victim to the cruel, painful, even deadly, punishment inflicted by the 'Maiden', looks can be very, very deceiving. In truth the Iron Maiden's unassuming façade hides a dank and dark secret. The contraption is actually hollow and just large enough for a human body to enter, not that you'd want to. The inner walls are lined with sharpened spikes which impale the occupant, or shall we say victim, as the doors are closed. A bloody and painful way to spend your last few moments on this Earth, wouldn't you say? But... and this is why the case of Bethany Bled, the prisoner in the Iron Maiden, is so intriguing, for some strange reason this beautiful young lady seems to relish her time inside the torturous inner sanctum of the Iron Maiden's death-black grip. Very intriguing indeed. Of course, once again, things may not be exactly as they seem.
"In addition to the brief appearance of Ms. Bled's toes in Friday's UPDATE, yesterday I shared an even bigger piece of the Infernal Parade puzzle with you when I introduced the world to the ringmaster of this twisted, vile, some might say spooky (maybe even villainous), collection of performers and attractions, Tom Requiem, also known as (or AKA, if you prefer) The King of All Showmen. Who is Tom Requiem? Who is the man behind that wicked smile and fiendish makeup? Is he really a King? If not, why does he claim to be? What secrets does he possess (for I'm sure there are many)? What wickedness lies beneath his skin, buried deep within his nightmarish soul, scratching, pleading, waiting to be unleashed on the world around him? What tales could he tell of days long gone and lives yet lived? Ask all the questions you'd like, these and many more, but maybe, quite possibly, you should question the questions themselves, because sometimes... sometimes, now... the answer to the riddle is the riddle itself.
"Truth be told, the reality of Clive Barker's The Infernal Parade will only be a secret for so long, because once these figures hit stores, everyone will have a chance to learn about the characters these fine, fantastic figures represent, thanks to Mr. Barker's widely imaginative and richly told novella which will accompany each individual figure.
"Speaking of 'each individual figure,' here now is another look behind the curtain at one of the as-yet-unseen mysteries you can expect to find when the Parade visits your town...

Update - 6/2 - The Parade Rolls On

McFarlane message board post, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Jon Goff, 2 June 2004

Jon Goff (McFarlane staff) : "As promised, I have a couple of in-package photos from our upcoming Clive Barker's Infernal Parade line to share with you today. First on the list is the ringleader of this twisted procession of freaks and deviants... Say hello to Tom Requiem, king of all showmen, and his right-hand man, Clovio... I guess, technically, Clovio should be referred to as Mr. Requiem's 'left-leg' man, but that just sounds strange, so we'll just stick with the common terminology, whatdoya say?
"Next in line, as the Parade continues to roll along, we have Dr. Fetter's Family of Freaks... This collection of oddities in various jars has a very strange, some might even say sad, history, the full details of which are unknown to anyone but the good Dr. Fetter himself. The particulars... the hows and whys these... these... creatures... these 'freaks' even exist, much less how they wound up as a featured attraction in the underworld's most infamous sideshow, may forever remain a mystery.
[In response to queries] "Yes, there is actually liquid in the 'Freaks' containers. I'm pretty sure the liquid in the final product will be much murkier.
"The Infernal Parade story is printed on the packaging in a manner similar to the Twisted Land of Oz."

Update - 8/5

McFarlane message board post, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Jon Goff, 5 August 2004

Jon Goff (McFarlane staff) : "If you don't have any big plans you can just sit in front of your computer all weekend and stare in shocked wonder at the following images of the mysterious and sickly twisted world of Clive Barker's Infernal Parade...
Bethany Bled, the beautiful prisoner in the iron maiden, is one attraction that never seems to have trouble gathering a crowd when the Infernal Parade rolls it fiendish wheels into town. Who wouldn't be at least a small bit curious to see a young lady who takes pleasure in being trapped inside an upright tomb, a handful of impossibly sharp blades poking and impaling her flesh. A feat such as this will only lead to death in the minds of the weak-hearted, but somehow, some way she always seems to make it through the ordeal with her life and limbs in place.
"And then, of course, there is the wildman in his cage... the Golem Elijah, a strange creature (aren't they all?) with a horrible past. A sad beast with unmatched strength and an inner rage that may be unleashed at any moment. Without notice. Without warning. Do not linger to close to his prison, for many have let curiosity get the better of them only too limp away with one less limb (if they limp away at all).
"So... Come one! Come all! Enjoy the show! See the sights! Stare in wonder! And awe! ...at this collection of misfits, but be wary and remain ever vigilant, because one false move, one mistaken step, could very well lead to the loss of blood and may well end with the loss of life.
"(As a side note to the madness that has been displayed here: The Golem Elijah's cage can be spun around when attached to its base.)"

Update - 8/6 - More Infernal Parade In-Package Photos

McFarlane message board post, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Jon Goff, 6 August 2004

Jon Goff (McFarlane staff) : "Step right up and welcome, welcome one and all to the final attractions in this, the strangest parade this or any other reality has to offer. Walk right in and see what so few have seen before you. Marvel and wonder... stare until your eyes bleed and your heart stops dead. Tremble in fear and disgust at the joy you feel deep down in your dirty little soul as you take in the most Infernal of sights... The Sabbaticus... A beast like no other, with a past we dare not speak of. Tamed by forces beyond your comprehension, but not as tame as some might believe. Just ask poor Bleb, who by all appearances is attempting the age-old feat of sticking his head between the 'lion's' gaping jaws (in this case 'the lion' is played by the Sabbaticus, a beast infinitely more fierce and unpredictable than your average, everyday lion). In reality there is much, much more to this situation than you know. After all, where is the Heeler and what part does he play in all of this?
"Finally, to end the show and send you home with a distinct, unforgettable feeling of shock and a newfound appreciation for the macabre, I give you the mysterious... the lovely... the troubled... Mary Slaughter, the spike swallower... What may at first seem like nothing more than the fantastically erotic display of a strangely gifted young woman, is soon revealed to be something quite dark. Quite unusual. Sword swallowers are nothing new, but to use a sword as twisted, sharp and long as the blade poor, beautiful Mary uses night in and night out to perform her one-woman act of self-mutilation, is all together different from the tricks and illusions used by carni-folk and sideshow freaks over the centuries. To succeed in such an act... to allow such an object to enter you esophagus... your stomach... to do this without causing a great, unbearable amount of harm to one's body... it's unbelievable. Unbelievable that is, unless certain deals have been made... Bargains with demons and dead men... Everything is not what it seems. The sooner you learn this, the better. Do not allow poor, sad Mary to entrance you with her feats, because chances are... something dark... something not of this plane, has a say in this poor, sad, lovely young woman's fate."

Update - 8/9 - Mary Slaughter And The Sabbaticus

McFarlane message board post, (note - online at www.spawn.com) By Jon Goff, 9 August 2004

McFarlane's Movie Maniacs

Although we once saw a prototype for the long-anticipated Pinhead figure for the Movie Maniacs range, we understand that legal problems meant he failed to materialise, with the licence to produce Hellraiser figures (and other merchandise) eventually being granted to NECA (see NECA models). Instead, we can content ourselves with the fact that the 2001 (fourth) Movie Maniacs range includes a Candyman figure from Day Of The Dead...