The Essential Clive Barker: Selected Fictions
"I wonder if the reverse is not also in some way true. That the artist is constantly working on anelaborate and fantasticated self-portrait, but at the end has drawn, unbeknownst, a picture of the world." – Clive Barker, "Private Legends: An Introduction"
Clive Barker, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author, playwright, artist, producer, director, screenwriter, and one of the world's master storytellers, writing in the haunting and moving traditions of Poe and Dickens, invites us to join him on a dazzling, wondrous journey through the worlds of his imagination and to experience visions, dreams, love, terror, heaven and hell, and revenge.
As we read, we discover and explore the dream-sea Quiddity and the islands of Ephemeris; the five Dominions of the Imajica, of which the Earth is but an imperfect facet; the rapturous world woven into an ancient, threadbare carpet in a derelict house in Liverpool; Hood's Holiday House where each day contains four seasons and children's wishes may come true; the Sky Room of Galilee, where the creation of the universe may be witnessed; and the clubs and bars of San Francisco and New York, in which all manner of sexual adventures lie in wait.
In these stories, the real and the miraculous are within a breath of one another, life gives way to death, and death to life; doorways open into other states of existence, and each doorway leads us back to our own dreams and fears.
The Essential Clive Barker is an irresistible narrative compendium that superbly represents the impressive quality and range of Barker's fiction, spanning more than twenty years of writing. It contains more than seventy excerpts from novels and plays and four full-length short stories, all personally selected by Barker, and offers a privileged insight into a remarkable writer and his art.
Contents:
- Private Legends: an Introduction
- Doorways
- Journeys
- Visions and Dreams
- Lives
- Old Humanity
- Bestiary
- Love
- Terrors
- The Body
- Worlds
- Making and Unmaking
- Memory
- Art
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Clive Barker
Clive Barker is a name synonymous with boundary-pushing imagination and a mastery of blending horror with the fantastical. From his early days as a writer and artist in England, Barker's creative journey has been one marked by daring narratives that explore the darkest corners of the human psyche while celebrating the beauty of invention. His work is not just about fear—it's about transformation, the collision of desire and dread, and the uncharted territories of the mind.
Born in Liverpool in 1952, Barker’s love for storytelling began at a young age, where he would often turn to the gothic, the grotesque, and the mythical to feed his imagination. His early exposure to both the arts and the horror genre shaped the unique voice that would later captivate audiences worldwide. Drawing inspiration from his own experiences and his deep love for the supernatural, his stories offer a rich tapestry of vivid imagery and intense emotion. His novels, short stories, and plays all reflect a mind that refuses to be limited by genre conventions, instead choosing to blend the horrific with the beautiful in ways few authors dare.
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