I know that Stephen King is great at horror and all, but I’ve never seen a thread for Clive Barker.
I’ve read books like “The Great and Secret Show” and “Imajica” to tatters. I love his take on fantasy. Anyone else love his writing as much as I do?
I liked Undying…
Weaveworld.that’s a novel by Clive Barker. Pretty cool. Check it out.
I really enjoyed Weaveworld, I read it twice. Imajica was good too, and I ended up reading that one twice as well excpet when I bought it the second time it was in two parts. I just bought his new book Sunday at Borders for 40% off.
His new book (Abarat, if you don’t already know) is fantastic; the best thing he’s written in years, and the illustrations accompanying it are nothing short of stunning. You got a bargain at 40% off. I paid full-price for it and feel I got every penny’s worth… and more.
I’m a huge fan of Barker’s. I started reading him because of the comic adaptations that were done in the early '90’s (starting with Tapping the Vein), and never turned back. I sent a drawing to him, which I had extrapolated from the description of Ephemeris in The Great and Secret Show, and received a letter back from him a few weeks later. I met him a few years later, and he was easily the nicest author I ever met. We chatted about filmmaking and comics. At the convention I was attending, he quickly won over a crowd of comic geeks who didn’t know him from Adam with a story about the games Reed and Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four could have played (Reed could strecth parts of his body, Sue could be invisible… you put it together). For the creator of some of the most twisted and strange horror fiction I know of, he has a remarkably bright and likable personality.
Though he is usually pigeonholed into the horror genre (which is often appropriate), I think Barker is a fantasist with a particularly dark but vivid imagination. His work goes well beyond the usual constraints of horror, creating new worlds and creatures the likes of which one usually finds in a good fantasy novel, but with Barker’s own unique twists. I wouldn’t say his books are for everyone, but for those who can deal with the darker half of fantasy, Barker’s worlds are very rich and gorgeously-drawn.
Add to this my admiration of the man himself… he’s a great writer who has some very original ideas, but he’s also an accomplished filmmaker and a great artist. His illustrations for his books, as well as many of his stand-alone works, are sometimes beautiful, sometimes terrible, but always well-made.
I don’t always enjoy Barker’s books. Recently, Sacrament was pretty poor, Galilee only a little better, and Coldheart Canyon was so-so. Abarat, however, is one of his finest to date. He has his slumps, but when Barker is good, he’s one of the best.
Some of my favorites of his are Abarat, Imajica, Weaveworld, The Thief of Always, and the short story “In the Hills, the Cities.”
Oh, and Silentgoldfish pointed out Undying, the FPS computer game he had a hand in making. Hands-down one of the scariest games I’ve ever played. Play it at night, with the lights out, and then see how eager you are to go to bed when you’re done.
I love his short fiction, his novels haven’t grabbed me that much.
Cabal, and the movie that he made of it, Nightbreed, is my favorite thing he’s done.
I actually did really like The Great and Secret Show, that’s the only novel of his I’ve found interesting.
Cool! I didn’t even know he had a new book out. I loved Weaveworld and the game Undying. Sacrament did seem pretty weak, though. I tend to like his fantasy more than his horror. But I did enjoy Cabal.
Clive Barker rocks!
Damnation Game and Weaveworld are my favorites.
I’ve read both several times… I want a Weaveworld carpet, dammit!
Fan.
Love Galilee and Imajica, in particular.
Just read the Winters bio, it is super. I plowed through it in about three hours.
I gave Coldheart Canyon as a gift this week. It was rough giving it away. I read it at the library. Still want a copy, though 
I was a big Stephen King fan (still am) but the first time I read Clive Barker I was just blown away. Weaveworld, The Great and Secret Show, and Imajica are my favorites, with props to The Damnation Game. Sacrament was awful, though–kinda turned me off of Barker for a while, so I haven’t read his stuff since. Can anyone tell me about Everville? It’s a sequel of sorts to The Great and Secret Show, right?
Yeah, Everville is a sequel. I actually read it before I read The Great and Secret Show. It’s a great book in its own right. You get to learn more about Quiddity. And Tesla Bombeck is the main character, which makes me happy. She’s such a badass.
I’m a big Barker fan, but you ever notice how blase his characters are about discovering that the world as they understand it has nothing to do with the situations that they find themselves in?
King’s characters struggle with their sanity to come to terms with the extraordinary and often supernatural circumstances in which they find themselves.
Barker’s characters are like, “There’s a parallel universe enclosed within the fabric of my living room throw rug? Fascinating! Let’s have a look around!”
I suspect Barker has heard this criticism from others because Coldheart Canyon (his best in years IMHO, at least for the first 400 pages) actually has this exchange between two characters:
“I’m in another world”
“Good,” she said.
“And it’s real.”
“Again, good. And does it trouble you, to be in the middle of such a mystery?”
“No,” he said. “I don’t know why and I’m not sure I care.”
I read Weaveworld , Imajica, The Great and Secret Show, The Thief of Always, and
Another plug for Cold Heart Canyon, which I think is just about his best novel.
Dang, I was typing my reply, turned around, and bumped my keyboard which forced me to hit the submit before I was ready to…
At any rate, I’ve read all the books mentioned Weaveworld, The Great and Secret Show, Everville, The Thief of Always, and most recently read Abarat.
I actually bought the last book for my 13 year old daughter. She read it, loved it and asked me to read it. I then told her to read Weaveworld and she is loving it.
I see that Abarat is a series and am looking forward to the next installation. I also read Imajica.