The Return of Clive Barker

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more enthusiastic Clive Barker fan than I was. In the beginning, at least.

The Books of Blood hit the shores of America like a bloody explosion. To horror fans, it was like the coming of The Beatles. Nearly everyone was blown away, and there was that famous Stephen King quote about the Future of Horror Fiction.

Barker followed up his landmark collections with a novel called The Damnation Game, perfectly making the transition from short story author to novelist. The future was indeed here.

If that wasn’t enough, Clive Barker entered the world of motion pictures when he wrote and directed the mind-blowing Hellraisor in 1987. Barker was on top of the world of horror and like Stephen King he was breaking away from the hermetic world of the genre.

Barker showed little regard for conventions of taste or restraint. However, unlike many writers of explicit horror fiction who’ve come along since those days, he displayed dazzling literary merit. Clive Barker was like a baroque figure from another time and place than the rest of the world.

At some point, in the early nineties I believe, Charles L. Grant was interviewed in the pages of Fangoria. Clive Barker came up and Grant stated that Clive was spreading himself out too thin and that he needed to rein himself in or take the chance of burning out.

I laughed. I was all about hard-hitting horror in those days, and I was reading a lot fewer books by Grant and Ramsey Campbell. I bet someone told Leonardo da Vinci to restrain himself! Phooey on Charles Grant and his quiet horror doldrums.

Now I read more Charles Grant than the extreme writers. In retrospect it seems like Grant was correct.

Clive Barker was on a roll for a while. He unleashed book after book on the public and they were enormously successful. Even while my interest began to wane.

I never made it through Weaveworld. I struggled through The Great and Secret Show and Everville. I even made my way through the laborious Imajica.

Barker’s language was always rich and beautiful, but the stories were too drawn out for me.

As for the movies, I liked Nightbreed, even if it was slightly disappointing after Hellraiser. I never took to Lord of Illusions, despite a lot of wonderful material in the film.

At some point I lost all interest in Clive Barker. It made me sad. I started but didn’t finish Coldheart Canyon, Mr. B. Gone, and The Scarlet Gospels. I felt that Clive had spent his creativity and was flailing along with books that were sad reflections of his former dark glory.

Then there were the rumors about his personal life and health. No, I’m not passing any of them along here. I try to avoid spreading speculation and half-truths about the lives of celebrities. That stuff isn’t my business, but the books I bought with my hard-won money were my business.

I spoke up about my dissatisfaction with the material Clive was publishing. Some agreed, some vehemently disagreed. It certainly wasn’t like the early days of unanimous praise for Barker and his writing.

There were tastes of the old Clive here and there. I liked "Haeckel’s Tale," from the Dark Delicacies anthology, which was made into an episode of Masters of Horror.

I maintained fond feelings about Clive Barker, but I felt his day was done. It was one hell of a day, but each day must pass on to a new one.

There were some proclamations of a return to publishing for Clive Barker, but I held out little hope. If something were to come out, I’d surely get the book from the library.

Now we have a new announcement of a big return for Clive Barker, but I won’t be able to borrow the books from any library.

Three new books were just announced. The kicker? They are being released exclusively through Kickstarter. That’s certainly disconcerting.

I initially liked the idea of Kickstarter. Let the fans fund projects and leave the money suits out of the equation. The reality of the situation is less than satisfying.

I am currently waiting for a few Kickstarter drives to deliver. They are late, very late. One cannot help but wonder if the creators would be more diligent if they were waiting to be paid. It’s like the first rule when you hire a contractor: Do not pay in advance.

Plus the deals usually suck. Back this project and sign up for a DVD or Blu-ray at the eighty dollar tier. Or, wait until it comes out through conventional circuits and pay twenty or thirty for it.

Plus, I get it when it comes to filmmaking. Movies cost a lot of money. Anyone can write a book. Few can write a good one, but it doesn’t take financial backing.

Plus, if Clive Barker wrote something, pretty much anything, most major publishers would be thrilled to put it out.

It’s called Library of the Dead and there will be three volumes. Fear Eternal, Pyres of Bedlam, and Dark Descents. Three books consisting of new material, old rarities, poems, and illustrations.

I fear it could be some nice editions with a lot of filler and inferior writing. Perhaps, hopefully, I am wrong.

I have to say no to this endeavor. I’m not paying $120.00 plus shipping to find out I don’t care for the books. I’m still wincing over The Scarlet Gospels, which was heralded as a return to the delirious heights, or perhaps depths, of Hellraiser.

All that said, I wish the greatest success for Clive Barker. He doesn’t need my blessings. The drive is already well above the pledge goal.

I also wish success for the fans who are signing up for it. I hope they are all happy and satisfied with their investment. My guess is, if nothing else the books will be collector’s items. I’d participate for that reason alone, but I simply do not have the capital for that sort of thing these days.

I was reading, or trying to read Christopher Buhlman’s popular Between Two Fires recently. People love this book, but I cannot count myself as one of its fans. The whole time I was reading it, my thoughts went to Clive Barker. If only this were written by Clive, especially in his most fertile years. How much better, more authentic, more penetrating the book would be.

Written by Mark Sieber