Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is a British writer, filmmaker, and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1980s with a series of short stories collectively named the Books of Blood, which established him as a leading horror author. His work has been adapted into films, notably the Hellraiser series (the first installment of which he also wrote and directed) and the Candyman series.
Barker's paintings and illustrations have been shown in galleries in the United States, and have appeared in his books. He has also created characters and series for comic books, and some of his more popular horror stories have been featured in ongoing comics series.
Early life
Barker was born in Liverpool on 5 October 1952. His mother, Joan Ruby (née Revill), was a painter and school welfare officer; his father, Leonard Barker, worked as the personnel director for an industrial relations firm. He was educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool before joining the University of Liverpool, where he studied English and philosophy. At the age of three, he witnessed the infamous death of French skydiver Léo Valentin, who plummeted to the ground during a performance at an air show in Liverpool. He would later allude to Valentin in many of his stories.
Theatrical work
Barker's involvement in live theatre began while still in school with productions of Voodoo and Inferno in 1967. He collaborated on six plays with Theatre of the Imagination in 1974 and two more that he was the sole writer of, A Clowns' Sodom and Day of the Dog, for The Mute Pantomime Theatre in 1976 and 1977.
Barker co-founded the avant-garde theatrical troupe The Dog Company in 1978 with former schoolmates and up-and-coming actors, many of whom would go on to become key collaborators in his film work; Doug Bradley, his long-time friend and former classmate at Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool, took on the now-iconic role of Pinhead in the Hellraiser series while Peter Atkins wrote the scripts for the first three Hellraiser sequels. Over the next five years Barker wrote nine plays, often serving as director, including some of his best-known stage productions, The History of The Devil, Frankenstein in Love, and The Secret Life of Cartoons.
From 1982 to 1983, he wrote Crazyface, Subtle Bodies, and Colossus for the Cockpit Youth Theatre.
His theatrical work came to a close as he shifted focus to writing the Books of Blood.
Writing career
Barker is an author of horror and fantasy, although he has said that he thinks of his writing less and less as horror. He began writing early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1–6) and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved toward modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991), and Sacrament (1996).
He is the writer of the best-selling Abarat series.
In early 2024, he announced he would stop attending conventions and public events so he could focus more on his writing, as he was working on the manuscripts for 31 different projects, some closer to completion than others.
On 18 August 2026, he announced his return to short fiction with three new fiction anthologies, collectively referred to as "Library of the Dead". They were intended to be a "spiritual successor" to The Books of Blood, and would be financed via Kickstarter. The campaign reached its financing goal within one hour, with the first volume expected to be released in Spring of 2027. The collection will include both new and out-of-print material that received limited exposure upon its original publication.
Personal life
Barker stated on Loveline in 1996 that he had several relationships with older women during his teenage years, but realised he was gay when he was around 18 or 19 years old. He dated John Gregson from 1975 to 1986, and was later in a relationship from 1996 to 2009 with photographer David Armstrong, who was described as his husband in the introduction to Coldheart Canyon.
During his early years as a writer, Barker occasionally worked as an escort when his writing did not provide sufficient income. He has been open about his experiences with sadomasochism, calling himself a "six" on its "sliding scale".
Barker is critical of organised religion, but has said that the Bible influences his work and spirituality. In 2017, he clarified on Facebook that he did not identify as a Christian.
Barker said in a December 2008 online interview (published in March 2009) that he had throat polyps which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in only 10% of the air he was supposed to. He has had two surgical procedures to remove them and believes his voice has improved as a result. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars.
In 2012, Barker fell into a coma for several days after contracting toxic shock syndrome, triggered by a visit to a dentist where a spillage of poisonous bacteria entered his bloodstream and almost killed him. Realising he might have just a short time to live, he decided to put his personal concerns about the world and society into the novel Deep Hill, which he thought could be his final book.
As of 2015, Barker is a member of the board of advisers for the Hollywood Horror Museum.
In August 2026, Barker announced on his Kickstarter project that he was returning to fiction after a period of ill health.
Film work
Barker wrote the screenplays for Underworld (1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. After his film Nightbreed (1990) flopped, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions (1995). The short story "The Forbidden", from Barker's Books of Blood, provided the basis for the 1992 film Candyman and its three sequels. He had been working on a series of film adaptations of his The Abarat Quintet books under The Walt Disney Company's management, but due to creative differences, the project was cancelled.
He served as an executive producer for the 1998 film Gods and Monsters, a semi-fictional tale of Frankenstein director James Whale's later years, which won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Barker said of his interest in the project: "Whale was gay, I'm gay; Whale was English, I'm English…Whale made some horror movies, and I've made some horror movies. It seemed as if I should be helping to tell this story." Barker also provided the foreword on the published shooting script.
In 2005, Barker and horror film producer Jorge Saralegui created the film production company Midnight Picture Show with the intent of producing two horror films per year.
In October 2006, Barker announced through his website that he will be writing the script to a forthcoming remake of the original Hellraiser film. He was developing a film based on his Tortured Souls line of toys from McFarlane Toys. In 2020, Barker regained control of the Hellraiser franchise, and served as executive producer on a 2022 reboot film for the streaming service Hulu.
Barker is a prolific visual artist, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early 1990s; on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996); and on the second printing of the original British publications of his Books of Blood series. Barker also provided the artwork for his young adult novel The Thief of Always and for the Abarat series. His artwork has been exhibited at Bert Green Fine Art in Los Angeles and Chicago, at the Bess Cutler Gallery in New York and La Luz De Jesus in Los Angeles. Many of his sketches and paintings can be found in the collection Clive Barker, Illustrator, published in 1990 by Arcane/Eclipse Books, and in Visions of Heaven and Hell, published in 2005 by Rizzoli Books.
Barker horror adaptations and spin-offs in comics include the Marvel/Epic Comics series Hellraiser, Nightbreed, Pinhead, The Harrowers, Book of the Damned, and Jihad; Eclipse Books' series and graphic novelsTapping The Vein, Dread, Son of Celluloid, Revelations, The Life of Death, Rawhead Rex and The Yattering and Jack, and Dark Horse Comics' Primal, among others. Barker served as a consultant and wrote issues of the Hellraiser anthology comic book.
In 2005, IDW published a three-issue adaptation of Barker's children's fantasy novel The Thief of Always, written and painted by Kris Oprisko and Gabriel Hernandez. IDW is publishing a 12 issue adaptation of Barker's novel The Great and Secret Show.
In December 2007, Chris Ryall and Clive Barker announced an upcoming collaboration of an original comic book series, Torakator, to be published by IDW.
In 2008, Barker authored a foreword for the first volume of the DEMONICSEX comic series by Chuck Conner and Sean Platter.
In October 2009, IDW published Seduth, co-written by Barker. The work was released with three variant covers.
In 2011, Boom! Studios began publishing an original Hellraiser comic book series.
In 2013, Boom! Studios announced Next Testament, the first original story by Barker to be published in comic book format.
Tortured Souls (2001). Novelette starring the characters of the series of first six action figures of Tortured Souls. In 2015 it was published with title Tortured Souls: The Legend of Primordium.
The Infernal Parade (2004). Novelette detailing the backstories of the characters of the series of six action figures of The Infernal Parade. In 2017 it was published with title Infernal Parade.
Hellraiser: The Toll (2018) (Story credit; Barker's unfinished short story "Heaven's Reply" served as a basis for the novella, which was authored by Mark Alan Miller)
Books of Blood: Volume One (1984), ISBN978-0-425-08389-5, collection of 1 short story and 5 novelettes:
"The Book of Blood", "The Midnight Meat Train" (novelette), "The Yattering and Jack" (novelette), "Pig Blood Blues" (novelette), "Sex, Death and Starshine" (novelette), "In the Hills, the Cities" (novelette)
Books of Blood, Volume Two, or Books of Blood, Volume II (1984), ISBN978-0-7221-1413-1, collection of 5 novelettes:
"Dread", "Hell's Event", "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will And Testament", "The Skins of the Fathers", "New Murders in the Rue Morgue"
Books of Blood, Volume Three, or Books of Blood 3 (1984), ISBN978-0-7515-1169-7, collection of 5 novelettes:
"Son of Celluloid", "Rawhead Rex", "Confessions of a (Pornographer's) Shroud", "Scape-Goats", "Human Remains"
Books of Blood: Volume IV, or The Inhuman Condition (1985), ISBN978-0-7221-1373-8, collection of 1 short story and 4 novelettes/novellas:
"The Body Politic" (novelette), "The Inhuman Condition" (novelette), "Revelations" (novella), "Down, Satan!", "The Age of Desire" (novella)
Books of Blood: Volume V, or In the Flesh (1985), ISBN978-0-7221-1374-5, collection of 4 novelettes/novellas:
"The Forbidden" (novelette), "The Madonna" (novelette), "Babel's Children" (novelette), "In the Flesh" (novella)
Books of Blood: Volume VI, or Books of Blood 6 (1985), ISBN978-0-7221-1375-2, collection of 1 short story and 4 novelettes/novellas:
"The Life of Death" (novelette), "How Spoilers Bleed" (novelette), "Twilight at the Towers" (novelette), "The Last Illusion" (novella), "On Jerusalem Street"
The Essential Clive Barker: Selected Fiction (1999), ISBN978-0-06-019529-8, collection of more than seventy excerpts from novels and plays and four full-length stories (1 short story and 3 novelettes):
"The Departed", "The Forbidden" (novelette), "In the Hills, the Cities" (novelette), "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament" (novelette)
Clive Barker's First Tales (2013), ISBN978-1-311-69351-8, collection of 1 short story and 1 novella:
"The Wood on the Hill", "The Candle in the Cloud" (novella)
Tonight, Again: Tales of Love, Lust and Everything in Between (2015), ISBN978-1-59606-694-6, collection of 24 short stories and 7 poems:
"Tonight, Again", "I Love You" (poem), "Craw: A Fable", "Afraid", "Moved", "I Imagine You", "If the Pen Is the Penis" (poem), "Touch the Rod" (poem), "Martha", "Tit", "The Freaks", "Cruelty" (poem), "Dollie", "The Collection", "What May Not Be Shown", "Two Views from a Window", "Men in the Aisles of Supermarkets" (poem), "A Blessing", "Unrequited", "Another Genesis", "Inside Out (Wasteland)", "I Have My Art" (poem), "Aurora", "Whistling in the Dark", "The Common Flesh", "Mr. Fred Coady Professes His Undying Love for His Little Sylvia", "The Phone Call", "The Multitude", "A Monster Lies in Wait" (poem), "An Incident at the Nunnery", "The Genius of Denny Dan"
Fear Eternal (2027)
Pyres of Bedlam (2027)
Dark Descents (2027)
Uncollected short stories:
"Lost Souls" (1986)
"Coming to Grief" (1988), novelette
"The Rhapsodist" (1988)
"Nightbreed" (1990), screenplay for the film, based on novel Cabal
"Pidgin and Theresa" (1993)
"Animal Life" (1994)
"Sacrament" (1996), novelette
"Haeckel's Tale" (2005)
"How Mr. Maximillian Bacchus' Travelling Circus Reached Cathay, and Entertained the Court of the Khan Called Kublai In Xanadu, How They Sought the Bearded Bird, and How, At Last, Angelo Was Lost" (2009)
"How the Clown Domingo de Y Barrondo Fell Over the Edge of the World" (2009)
"The Face of the Flying Fish and Why Docor Jozabiah Bentham's Theatre of Tears Sailed North" (2009)
"The Wedding of Indigo Murphy To the Duke Lorenzo de Medici and How Angelo Was Discovered in an Orchard" (2009)
"And So with Cries" (2009)
"A Night's Work" (2013)
Plays
Collections:
Incarnations: Three Plays (1995), collection of 3 plays:
"Colossus", "Frankenstein in love or The Life of death", "The History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life"
Forms of Heaven: Three Plays (1996), collection of 3 plays:
"Crazyface", "Paradise Street", "Subtle Bodies"
All plays:
A Clowns' Sodom (The Mute Pantomime Theatre, 1976)
Day of the Dog (The Mute Pantomime Theatre, 1977)
The Sack (The Dog Company, 1978)
The Magician (The Dog Company, 1978)
Dog (The Dog Company, 1979)
Nightlives (The Dog Company, 1979)
History of the Devil (The Dog Company, 1980)
Dangerous World (The Dog Company, 1981)
Paradise Street (The Dog Company, 1981)
Frankenstein in Love (The Dog Company, 1982)
The Secret Life of Cartoons (The Dog Company, 1982)
Crazyface (Cockpit Youth Theatre, 1982)
Subtle Bodies (Cockpit Youth Theatre, 1983)
Colossus (Cockpit Youth Theatre, 1983)
Poems
Uncollected poems:
"Six Commonplaces (from Weaveworld)" (1987), published in Fantasy Tales, V9n17, Summer 1987
"There Was A Time" (2010), published in Multiverses by Preston Grassmann, ed.
"The Hour" (2021), published in Out of the Ruins by Preston Grassmann, ed.
"The Presence of This Breath" (TBA)
"Upon A Warm Milk Dawn" (2024), published in The Mad Butterfly's Ball by Preston Grassmann and Chris Kelso, ed.
Tortured Souls (2001–2002). Series of 12 action figures (six designed in 2001 and six in 2002) and a novelette starring the characters of the first six action figures
The Infernal Parade (2004) Co-created with Todd McFarlane, series of six action figures and a novelette detailing the backstories of the characters.
↑"Clive Barker". Classic Loveline. Episode 233. Los Angeles, California, United States. 20 August 1996. KROQ-FM. Archived from the original on 26 May 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
Andrew Smith, "Worlds That Creep upon You: Postmodern Illusions in the Work of Clive Barker". In Clive Bloom, ed., Creepers: British Horror and Fantasy in the Twentieth Century. London and Boulder, CO: Pluto Press, 1993, pp.176–86.
Suzanne J. Barbieri, Clive Barker: Mythmaker for the Millennium. Stockport, UK: British Fantasy Society, 1994, ISBN0-9524153-0-5. OCLC32131027.
Gary Hoppenstand, Clive Barker's Short Stories: Imagination as Metaphor in the Books of Blood and Other Works. (With a foreword by Clive Barker). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1994, ISBN0-89950-984-3.
Linda Badley, Writing Horror and the Body: The Fiction of Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Anne Rice. London: Greenwood Press, 1996, ISBN0-313-29716-9.
Chris Morgan, "Barker, Clive", in David Pringle, ed., St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers. London: St. James Press, 1998, ISBN1-55862-206-3
Edwin F. Casebeer, "Clive Barker (1952–)" in: Darren Harris-Fain (ed.) British Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers Since 1960. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson/Gale, 2002, ISBN0-7876-6005-1.
K. A. Laity, "Clive Barker" in: Richard Bleiler, ed. Supernatural Fiction Writers: Contemporary Fantasy and Horror. New York: Thomson/Gale, 2003, ISBN0-684-31250-6.
