Clive Barker-Author,Director and playwright.
Created | Updated Dec 22, 2005
"I have seen the future of horror and his name is Clive Barker"-Stephen King
A background
Born near Penny Lane, Liverpool, UK on 5th October 1952, Clive Barker realised early on he had a way with words, when by the tender age of 10 he was terrifying fellow BoyScouts with his stories by the campfire.
His early writing was mainly for the London fringe theatre company he founded and he has produced several succesful plays* including 'The history of the Devil', 'Subtle Bodies', 'Frankenstein in Love ' and 'The secret life of cartoons'. The plays often delved into the horrific, the fantastical and the darkly erotic..these themes echoing his later literary work and being that which he would become best known for.
Barkers' true love, however, was horror and he spent his evenings away from the theatre writing short stories, which he did not at the time hope to sell. In 1984 however, he approached publishing company Sphere Books ltd, who were very excited by what they saw and published the best of his 18 months of work(Barker's own choices) in 6 volumes entitled 'Clive Barker's Books of Blood'.
The books were greeted with very high acclaim from readers, critics and fellow authors in the genre alike, particularly in the United States. They now appear in over a dozen languages world wide.Barker's first novel published in 1985, 'The Damnation Game', went on to win similar acclaim and also the prestigious world fantasy award a year later.
As is often the case with popular authors, film adaptations soon began to follow. By 1987 two films had been made*'Rawhide Rex' and 'Underworld'. Barker was so disillusioned with both films that he decided to direct one himself and had begun adapting his story'The Hellbound Heart' for the screen. The result was the seminal horror movie 'Hellraiser'*,about a mysterious puzzle box which opens a gateway to the realm of th cenobites, angels to some,demons to others and the difference between pleasure and pain is unrecognisable.
Since then Barker has penned numerous successful novels and graphic novels, including 'The great and secret show', 'Weaveworld', 'Tapping the Vein', 'Everville', 'The Thief of Always' and more recently 'Cold Heart Canyon'.
He has also spent more time in the directors chair for movies such as'Nightbreed'* and 'Lord of Illusions' as well as writing the screenplay for 'Candyman'.
The present.
Today Barker owns the production company Seraphim Films and is involved in numerous projects including art,live theatre, CD-ROMS, television and film production.He also has his own line of superhero comics published by 'Marvel' under the title 'Razorline' and the 'Tortured Souls' range of action figures.
There is little doubt that Barker has achieved great success with his work and perhaps, dare I say hopefully?, he will continue to do so for many years to come, continuing to fascinate ,stimulate and horrify with his inimitable style and talent for terror.As powerfully visionary as he is gruesome you read his books at the risk of spraining your imagination as he can and will take the reader to the very limits of the psyche time and again. His work is certainly not for the faint of heart or those who like to turn off the light reassured in the knowledge that their nightmares are safely put to sleep.