Clive Barker

Includes subcategories relating to Clive Barker.


Clive Barker
Gender:	Male
Medium(s):	Novels; Film; Television; Video games
Roles:	Writer; Director; Actor; Executive producer
Born:	October 5th, 1952
Birthplace:	Liverpool, England
1st Sci-Fi:	Books of Blood, Volume I

Clive Barker is a British author, film director, producer, actor and visual artist. He was born in Liverpool, England on October 5th, 1952. Barker is best known for specializing in the genres of horror and dark fantasy. Several of his creation have been adapted into film franchises, most notably the Hellraiser and Candyman series of films. As a youth, Clive attended school at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School. He then attended Liverpool University where he majored in Philosophy and English.

As a writer, Barker began writing horror short stories, many of which were collected in volumes one through six of the Books of Blood series of novels. His first full-length novel was The Damnation Game, which was first published in 1985. This was followed up in 1986 with a novella titled The Hellbound Heart, which was later brought to life as the film Hellraiser. Hellraiser however, was not Barker's first foray into film. His film roots go back to 1973 when he directed the horror short Salome, which was based on a play by Oscar Wilde.

In 1988, Barker wrote the novella Cabal, which was published by HarperCollins and included with several other short stories. The story was adapted into the 1990 film Nightbreed, which Barker directed. It was his fourth time behind the director's chair. The video release of Nightbreed included an introduction by Barker (surrounded by dimly lit prop masks from the film) in which he described his efforts to create a world where "...monsters are beautiful".

Sexuality[]

Clive Barker is also noted for being openly homosexual. He revealed himself as gay in the early 1990s, first mentioning his dating life to US audiences in the pages of The Advocate magazine. He was living in Los Angeles, California, with his partner, photographer David Armstrong, and Armstrong's daughter from a previous relationship, Nicole. In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities".^[1] While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.^[2]