Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an author, artist, screenwriter and film director. He is well known for his work in the horror genre, prompting Stephen King to comment, “I think Clive Barker is so good that I am literally tongue-tied. He makes the rest of us look like we’ve been asleep for the past ten years.”
While he has written over 15 horror novels and numerous short stories and comic books, Clive Barker’s best-known creation may be the villainous Pinhead from the Hellraiser films. Barker also served as the director of the first Hellraiser film and produced parts two and three.
Clive Barker Bio
Clive Barker was born in Liverpool, England on October 5th, 1952. His mother worked as a school welfare officer and painter, and his father made a living as the personnel director of an industrial relations firm.
Clive Barker attended grammar school in Liverpool, then studied philosophy and English at Liverpool University. He then moved to London and worked in theatre as an actor, writer and director.
He began writing horror fiction in his late 20s. His popularity as a writer soared following the release of the Books of Blood (a collection of short stories). Stephen King said, “I have seen the future of horror, his name is Clive Barker.” This praise was added to the covers of the Books of Blood, greatly boosting sales.
After achieving success with tales of horror, Clive Barker began to move towards urban fantasy and modern fantasy with the release of books such as The Great and Secret Show and Imajica. He has also demonstrated his talents as an artist and director, and numerous films are in production based on his writings.
He currently resides in Los Angeles with his partner, David Emilian Armstrong, and Armstrong’s daughter from a prior marriage. Barker is considered one of the most successful openly gay authors alive today, and he has received recognition from GLADD for promoting both tolerance and understanding.
Clive Barker Books List
Clive Barker has worked as a novelist, comic book writer, director, artist and screenwriter. Often celebrated for the diversity of his work, director Quentin Tarantino once said about Barker, “Calling Clive Barker a ‘horror novelist’ is like calling The Beatles a ‘garage band.‘”
Clive Barker Novels
- The Damnation Game (1985)
- The Hellbound Heart (1986)
- Weaveworld (1987)
- Cabal (1988)
- The Great and Secret Show (1989)
- Imajica (1991)
- The Thief of Always (1992)
- Everville (1994)
- Sacrament (1996)
- Galilee (1998)
- Coldheart Canyon: A Hollywood Ghost Story (2001)
- Tortured Souls (2001)
- Abarat (2002)
- Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War (2004)
- Mister B. Gone (2004)
- Absolute Midnight (2008)
- The Scarlet Gospels (2008)
Clive Barker Collections
- Books of Blood (1984-1985)
- Cabal (1985)
- In the Flesh (1987)
- The Inhuman Condition (1987)
- Clive Barker, Illustrator (1990)
- Illustrator II: The Art of Clive Barker (1992)
- Incarnations: Three Plays (1995)
- Forms of Heaven: Three Plays (1996)
- The Essential Clive Barker: Selected Fiction (2000)
- Visions of Heaven and Hell (2005)
Clive Barker Nonfiction
The Painter, The Creature and The Father of Lies: Essays by Clive Barker (2008)
Clive Barker Comic Books
- Ectokid (Marvel - 1993)
- Hokum & Hex (Marvel - 1993)
- Hyperkind (Marvel - 1993)
- Saint Sinner (Marvel - 1993)
- Hellraiser (Marvel/Epic)
- Nightbreed (Marvel/Epic)
- Pinhead (Marvel/Epic)
- The Harrowers (Marvel/Epic)
- Book of the Damned (Marvel/Epic)
- Jihad (Marvel/Epic)
- Tapping the Vein (Eclipse)
- Dread (Eclipse)
- Son of Celluloid (Eclipse)
- Revelations (Eclipse)
- The Life of Death (Eclipse)
- Rawhead Rex (Eclipse)
- The Yattering and Jack (Eclipse)
- Primal (Dark Horse)
- Hellraiser anthology
- Torakator (IDW)
Clive Barker, Film Director
- Salome (1973)
- The Forbidden (1978)
- Hellraiser (1987)
- Nightbreed (1990)
- Lord of Illusions (1995)
- Tortured Souls: Animae Damnatae (2009)
Clive Barker, Film Producer
- Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
- Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
- Candyman (1992)
- The Plague (2006)
- The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
- Born
- Clive Barker Presents Hellraiser (2009)
Clive Barker Screenplays
- Rawhead Rex (1986)
- Transmutations (1987)
- Book of Blood
- Born
More Horror Writers
- Clive Barker
- Dennis Etchison
- Douglass Clegg
- H.P. Lovecraft
- Joe R. Lansdale
- Peter Straub
- Robert Bloch
- Robert R. McCammon
- Stephenie Meyer (author of Twilight books)
- Theodore Sturgeon