Clive Barker: The Dark Fantastic - Softcover

Douglas E Winter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000715092X ISBN 13: 9780007150922

Publisher: Harper Collins Pb, 2002

Synopsis

The authorized biography of the man who created "The Books of Blood" and "Weaveworld". Barker: a contemporary myth-maker, explorer of our darkest instincts and ultimate fears - the writer who, more than any other contemporary figure, has shaped our nightmares through diverse media. Novelist, playwright, scriptwriter and director, he is a master at twisting the mundane to make it fantastic and frightening. In this detailed biography, enabled through unprecedented access to Barker and his closest friends and family, Douglas Winter reveals at last what haunts the man who haunts us all.

About this title

Review

Douglas E. Winter, author of Stephen King: The Art of Darkness and editor of two major dark-fiction anthologies (Prime Evil and Revelations), may be the reigning expert on modern horror. If his book Clive Barker: The Dark Fantastic is not the definitive biography of that polymathic author-playwright-auteur, it is only because the volume appeared when its subject was still in his late forties.

At 501 pages, plus 50 pages of endnotes and nearly 100 pages of Primary and Secondary Bibliography, The Dark Fantastic is an impressively thorough document. It covers Clive Barker's life from before birth (giving background on his parents, grandparents, and the hometown he shares with the Beatles) through the early years of struggle to his successes as an internationally bestselling author, Hollywood screenwriter-producer-director, and family man. The biography makes it clear that Barker has always had exceptional talent. (The Dark Fantastic includes, as an appendix, a previously unpublished story, written in Barker's early teens, "The Wood on the Hill." This uneven but fully developed fable of hubris is a tale authors twice as old would be proud to have written.)

Readers expecting a tell-all biography will be disappointed. A good portion of The Dark Fantastic is devoted to summaries and assessments of Barker's creations in many media. However, Winter's critical examinations are interesting, sympathetic, and honest. The Dark Fantastic is a must for all Barker fans and all serious scholars of horror and the fantastic. --Cynthia Ward

About the Author

Douglas E. Winter has been hailed as "the conscience of horror and dark fantasy." His books include the critically acclaimed novel Run; the anthologies Prime Evil and Revelations; and the authorized biography Stephen King: The Heart of Darkness. An attorney with the internationally based law firm Bryan Cave LLP, Mr. Winter is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. He lives near Washington, D.C.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper Collins Pb
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 000715092X
• ISBN 13: 9780007150922
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 688