Happy Birthday Clive Barker!!!
Here at the @Barkercast, we’d like to wish Clive Barker a Happy Birthday! With a career spanning decades, millions of books sold, hundreds (possibly thousands) of paintings done, he’s a true Artist, Filmmaker, Author, Playwright, Painter, a true Renaissance man with a finger in every pie. He’s brought the Worlds born of his imagination to generations of readers and enthusiasts of his work and beyond. His characters have become cultural icons, his movies have become cult classics like Nightbreed, still drawing viewers who demanded more of it after 25 years.
Please leave us a comment on this post saying what particular piece of art, movie or book has changed you forever. We’ll be sure to forward this post to the @RealCliveBarker crew! For me, Hellraiser changed my perception of Horror and how it is a deeply subversive genre, that can empower women more than turn them into slasher fodder. Hellraiser drew me into Clive’s works and showed me how original and fascinating a trio of demons could be when stripped of the usual clichés and re-imagined from the inside out. Another work of art that changed me was IMAJICA. A truly magnificent adventure, written in 14 months from the time he put pen to paper until he turned it into his editor. The scope of it is enormous, and it’s a place I return to all the time because it’s a world of constant miracle and change, spread out through Five Dominions.
Be sure to continue supporting our Kickstarter (19 days to go!), and follow us on YouTube and Twitter, and stay connected to the @RealCliveBarker crew through the RealCliveBarker store, Revelations and Clive’s Official Facebook page.
I had lived with the worlds and creatures of Clive Barker even before I was ever conscious or aware of his name. Literally all of my childhood was permeated with Mr. Barker’s work, long before I would discover that he was the mastermind behind some of my most cherished and distinguished of childhood memories.
Growing up, all we watched in my household were horror movies. It was a ritual of renting and watching them with my mom and sisters, not scared, but fascinated by them, and most especially, by the monsters and creatures that inhabited them. But my most distinct and favorite of times, from these rituals of renting-and-watching, however, was when a new Hellraiser movie would hit the shelf at our local Blockbuster Video. My mother and I would rent and watch them together (no matter how bad the actual quality of the films were) simply to see the Pinheaded Hell Priest, along with his fellow Cenobites, in their sexy, elegant, gory glory.
Moreover, aside from the Hellraiser movies, my other truly distinct childhood memory (and the one that had the most affect upon me) was of a night when my babysitter took my sister and me to the drive-ins to watch Candyman. That was truly the first film I had ever witnessed up to that point, that had had such a profound effect upon me, that it in fact still affects me to this day. It was a day in which I realized that Horror wasn’t just ‘Horror’, but a deeper, truer, beautiful and evocative thing. It connected and resonated with me more than any other piece of art or emotion ever had previously. It made me want to, no, need to tell stories such as this, to help evoke in others what feelings the film had brought into me. And I’ve never left horror, dark fantasy, or the fantastique ever since. As well, I’ve never left the worlds of Clive Barker.
It was when I got a bit older that I realized that the same brilliant mind which had invented the Cenobites was the same mind that invented Candyman. It was at this moment that I knew I had to discover more, and delve and immerse myself in the work of Mr. Barker. Since that moment, I’ve never turned back. From the Books of Blood, to Weaveworld, the Books of the Art, Imajica, Abarat and the dozens more, I’ve literally devoured every single thing his name has graced, and that I’ve been able to get my hands on. And, from this self-immersion of all things ‘Barker’, his mind, his craft, his characters and worlds, images and texts, have influenced me, inspired me and shaped me into the person that I am now.
Clive’s work, both consciously and unconsciously, has formed and shaped me nearly all of my life; from childhood to adulthood, he truly has always ‘darkened my days and brightened my nights’. He is the biggest light and inspiration in my life, and I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for his work permeating into me throughout the course of my existence. Through his books, his movies, paintings, poetry, plays, all of it, he has provided worlds and characters that I joyously live with, have lived with, and them lived in me, for virtually for all of my life.
Thus, in an essence, I owe Mr. Barker my life, for without him, I would not be the self that I know today. So, Mr. Barker, on behalf of myself and all of my fellow ‘Barker Enthusiasts’, thank you for sharing your mind and vision with us. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing us all to be a part of your worlds, words, creatures and characters, for without them, our lives would not be nearly as rich, as magical, or as wonderful as they are with you, and with thanks to your art. Happy birthday, Maestro Barker, and much, much love.
Markus J. Williams