Hellraiser: The Toll

Kirsty Singer has been on the run for years, changing identities while trying to evade the insidious supernatural reach of the Cenobites, the twisted pain-loving demons released by solving a puzzle box known as the Lament Configuration. But when a college professor contacts Kirsty with the hopes of stopping Pinhead once and for all, she undertakes a journey to an island with a monstrous history.

At first, Hellraiser: The Toll appears to be a simple bridge between other stories, a gap-filler that gives you a bit more time with one of horror’s most famous final girls. But in reality, The Toll is a story about how we find closure, how we deal with traumatic events, and how, even when Hell on Earth is looming, we control our destinies.

It’s a dark story, to be sure, one that spends an ample amount of time reminding the reader of the events that led to Kirsty’s nomadic life, but it feels much lighter than traditional Barker tales. There’s surprisingly little gore here, and it feels more like a preamble to a grander story than a finale.

Hellraiser: The Toll doesn’t answer many questions, but it does feel like an appropriate send-off for a beloved horror icon.