Author. Painter. Movie Director. All titles which could be used to describe Clive Barker.
He set the horror literature world ablaze in 1984 with a series of short stories, later collected in The Books of Blood, and his first full length novel in 1985, The Damnation Game (a tale about selling souls to evil in return for great wealth and immortality). He's continued ever since writing several fantasy-horror themed novels, short stories, plays, scripts, graphic novels, and video games.
In 1987 Barker got a chance to direct Hellraiser, based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. A new horror movie icon was born in Pinhead and a franchise began. He's adapted a couple of other of his works to feature films including Nightbreed, based on the novella Cabel, and Lords of Illusion, based on the short story "The Last Illusion". He had produced several other flicks based on his material as well.
In addition to that Clive also keeps occupied with the visual arts. He collected several paintings over the years. Over the years, he's illustrated many of the covers for his own materials.
Clive Barker is one of my favorite in all of horror entertainment. The stories in Books of Blood blew me away with their imaginative content. I try to keep up on a lot of his books since they rarely disappoint me. And the movies he's directed are fantastic. It's a shame he hasn't been allowed to direct more. He has a unique eye for the medium. His artwork is the stuff nightmares are made of.
The world of horror is a much more frightening place because of Clive Barker. I am glad for it.
For more Clive Barker and all of work, check out his website www.clivebarker.info
1 comment:
Barker is truly a master! I've got a good collection of his stuff, been reading him since the mid-'80s! I think he's just given up on directing movies anymore because producers don't like his visionary ideas. Alas.
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