Books of Blood 5

Clive Barker is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the Books of Blood, which established him as a leading horror writer. He has since written many novels and other works. His fiction has been adapted into films, notably the Hellraiser series, the first installment of which he also wrote and directed, and the Candyman series. He was also an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Barker began writing horror early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game. Later he moved toward modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld, The Great and Secret Show, the world-spanning Imajica, and Sacrament.

Barker was born in Liverpool (5 October 1952), the son of Joan Ruby, a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm.

Barker co-founded the avant-garde theatrical troupe The Dog Company in 1978 with former school friends and up and coming actors, many of which would go on to become key collaborators in Barker's film work. From 1982 to 1983, he also created three plays, including Crazyface, for the Cockpit Youth Theatre. His theatrical work would come to a close as he shifted focus to writing the Books of Blood.