Clive Barker's Hellraiser Dark Holiday Special #1

In Clive Barker’s "A Christmas Puzzle," three Cenobites arrive at a snow-dusted soup kitchen on Christmas Eve to investigate a violent, unsanctioned attack on humanity. As Face studies a Lament Configuration puzzle box, the story fractures into three intertwined tales, each probing the dark intersections of faith, desire, and sacrifice—set against the eerie stillness of the holiday night.

In "Child's Play," a desperate marketing executive named Steve strikes a chilling bargain with two Cenobites, offering to deliver LeMarchand Boxes to children as toys in exchange for their promise to find innocent souls. The story unfolds with a creeping dread as the line between play and torment blurs, leaving the fate of those children—and Steve himself—hanging in the balance.

In "Nursery Crime," a reclusive Oxford folklore scholar becomes consumed by a mysterious 19th-century nursery rhyme he believes holds forgotten secrets, driving him to unravel its hidden meaning at the cost of his already strained relationship with his young son. As the boy’s unsettling calm and knowing silence grow more unnerving, the professor finds himself drawn deeper into a mystery that blurs the line between scholarly pursuit and something far darker.