“My grandfather was a ship's cook, and he came back from the Far East very often with strange little toys. One of the things he brought back was a puzzle box, which obsessed me for a long time.”

British writer, filmmaker, and visual artist

Clive Barker is a British writer, filmmaker, and visual artist who rose to prominence in the 1980s. He became widely known for the Books of Blood and for work that helped establish him as a leading horror author. His stories and ideas have been adapted for film, especially through the Hellraiser and Candyman series. Across his work, he is associated with horror in literature and on screen, and with a creative practice that extends beyond writing into filmmaking and visual art.