What is so frightning about Clive Barker?
Holger M.
This subject might soundd somewhat blasphemic to some of you, but don't worry, I'm a
CB-fan, too. I came to read CB because I was searching for real horror, not Dean
Koontz (which is good, too, but not frightning) and not Stephen King (he really
sucks). So, I read Weaveworld, and I'm currently reading Cabal. And, yes, Clive is an
outstanding writer, and one can't stop reading if begun, but this is definatly not
frightning... The storys are just great and fantastic, but that's all. I think I'll
have to search for the Books of Blood, because I read my first short-story (midnight
carnage or something like that, with an budger feeting NY-subway-monsters). That was
cool.
Holger
Chris J. P.
This subject might sound somewhat blasphemic to some of you, but don't
worry, I'm a
CB-fan, too. I came to read CB because I was searching for real horror, So,
I read Weaveworld, and I'm currently reading Cabal. And, yes, Clive is an
outstanding writer, and one can't stop reading if begun, but this is
that's all.
Holger
__________________________________________________________________________
This is a belief I have long held. Anyone who has not read Clive Barker's
work and just recently has been turned onto him will I think have this
misconception of him. I think it comes from his movie persona, because if
you look at his "Hollywood" movies, they are filled w/horrific images.
People come to assume his literature has the same imagery when nothing could
be further from the truth. See, my interpretation on this is that horror
will sell at the box office before fantasy will.
Here's a classic example of what I'm referring to. The translation from
printed word to Hollywood movie of The Last Illusion which became Lord of
Illusions. It's been a long time since I read the story, but I remember the
story being a lot more benign than the movie EVER was. I had extremely high
hopes going into the movie. I came out very disappointed. I think Clive
Barker's work suffers immensely when it is translated to the screen. Even
Nightbreed, though it retained much of the fantastical imagery from the
story still suffered in the end. Though it may not appear so from this
post, I WILL see Thief of Always and hope that the translation works better
this time.
--
Chris
weav...@iconn.net
Please visit:
www.iconn.net/weavewld
What can be imagined, need never be forgotten.
-- Clive Barker
Shane Speck
> This is a belief I have long held. Anyone who has not read Clive Barker's
> work and just recently has been turned onto him will I think have this
> misconception of him.
But Clive has always had this association with horror, even if it isn't
reflected in all his work. The Books Of Blood defined him as a horror
writer, and the oh-so-great Stephen King is plastered all over the
British versions as saying 'I have seen the future of horror and his
name is Clive Barker'.
More recent projects have also reinforced this relationship with horror
- the BBC series 'Clive Barker's A-Z Of Horror' and accompanying book
merely serve to associate Clive with the horror genre, even if his work
isn't always horror.
He does describe himself as a fabulist and says that he removes his book
from the horror section when he finds them there, but on the other hand
he hardly takes an active role in disassociating himself from horror. So
if it is a misconception, I think it must be one that Clive is happy
with.
--
.-ARMY-OF-LOVERS-/-VACUUM------------------------------------.
| L i f e I s F a n t a s t i c |
| http://www.btinternet.com/~xwizard |
'------------------------------------------------------------'
Dan Ness
worry, I'm a
>CB-fan, too. I came to read CB because I was searching for real horror, not
Dean
>Koontz (which is good, too, but not frightning) and not Stephen King (he
really
Clive is an
>outstanding writer, and one can't stop reading if begun, but this is
definatly not
think I'll
>have to search for the Books of Blood, because I read my first short-story
(midnight
>carnage or something like that, with an budger feeting NY-subway-monsters).
That was
>cool.
I read some of the Books of Blood years ago, and I really didn't like them.
I've got a couple of short stories taken from them, and I still don't like
them much. I consider them horror, and even though I'm a horror fan, I don't
like them.
Last year someone recommended The Great And Secret Show to me, and after a
lot of imming and amming I decided to give it a go. I liked it. I bought
Weaveworld and I liked that one, too. But Imjica - I love it! I'm currently
rereading Part One, and I'm going to read Part Two for the first time when I
finish it.
It seems to me that Barker injects a lot of sex into his horror, and for me,
sex and horror don't mix. I don't see what is so thrilling about having your
head bitten off, or whatever, so his horror stuff has left me cold. But the
fantasy stuff is great.
Final things: I am a Barker fan and a King fan, but neither of them scare
me. If it's a good book, does it matter?
All the best,
Daniel Ness
MidMTrain
<Peer...@netscape.net> wrote:
>Hey all!
>
>This subject might soundd somewhat blasphemic to some of you, but don't worry, I'm a
>CB-fan, too. I came to read CB because I was searching for real horror, not Dean
>Koontz (which is good, too, but not frightning) and not Stephen King (he really
>sucks). So, I read Weaveworld, and I'm currently reading Cabal. And, yes, Clive is an
>outstanding writer, and one can't stop reading if begun, but this is definatly not
>frightning... The storys are just great and fantastic, but that's all. I think I'll
>have to search for the Books of Blood, because I read my first short-story (midnight
>carnage or something like that, with an budger feeting NY-subway-monsters). That was
>cool.
>
>Holger
>
Just for the record.
It was called "Midnight Meat Train". Great story.
ADenis
in the eye and mind of the beholder.
To answer the question though, for me personally, not in any particular order.
The regeneration through the old floor boards of the skinned lover in "Hellbound Heart"
"Hellraiser"
Pretty well all of "The Damnation Game"
Immocolata and her brood from Weaveworld, who always reminded me of the wicked queen from " Snow
White". (scared the crap out of me when I was about seven years old, I guess old frights die hard )
Andre
Colin Neilson
wrote:
>
>Here's a classic example of what I'm referring to. The translation from
>printed word to Hollywood movie of The Last Illusion which became Lord of
>Illusions. It's been a long time since I read the story, but I remember the
>story being a lot more benign than the movie EVER was. I had extremely high
>hopes going into the movie. I came out very disappointed. I think Clive
>Barker's work suffers immensely when it is translated to the screen. Even
>Nightbreed, though it retained much of the fantastical imagery from the
>story still suffered in the end. Though it may not appear so from this
>post, I WILL see Thief of Always and hope that the translation works better
>this time.
I don't think Benign would be a word I would use to describe The Last
Illusion. The movie version was much more human oriented (all the
characters, good, evil and indifferent were just people, some of them
were just tapping power greater than themselves) while the short story
dealt with infernal powers (the powers of the Gulfs). As suh, the
movie just didn't work for me.
Galilee
Bob
("Horror Writer") and the unwillingness of many to take another look
and do a reclassification.
Mr. Barker's earliest works, such as The Books of Blood and The
Hellbound Heart, were nicely done tales of terror. Flesh was flailed
and blood was poured; souls wailed in agony. How very delightful.
The Hellraiser movies convinced the large non-reading public that his
name was synonymous with buckets of gore being tossed about with gay
abandon. His very name has come to symbolize "Entrails-R-Us."
His later novels show that he is a master of fantasy fiction; the
small horror content just sort of spices up the story a bit.
You have read Weaveworld, so you have seen how he can paint his works
on a large canvas. I might suggest that you pick up Imagica; it's two
or three times the length of most novels but I would be hard pressed
to delete a single paragraph.
Bob
"Galilee" <weakan...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Holger M. wrote in message <36CF1AB8...@netscape.net>...
>>Hey all!
>>This subject might sound somewhat blasphemic to some of you, but don't