History Creator / CliveBarker

* {{Antihero}}: Most of his protagonists are flawed.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Barbarossas and The Gearys in ''Galilee''
* TheBlank: The Engineer in ''The Hellbound Heart''.

* BodyHorror: So, so much Body Horror.

* {{Doorstopper}}: ''Weaveworld'', ''Imajica'', ''The Great and Secret Show'', and ''Everville''.
* FantasticNoir: His films ''Film/{{Candyman}}'' (which was based off Barker's short story "The Forbidden") and ''Film/LordOfIllusions'' qualify, however, the latter really falls into the FilmNoir territory in comparison to the former.
* GenderBender: Happens to the protagonist of [[spoiler:"The Madonna"]].

* OccultDetective: Literature/HarryDamour.

* PurpleProse
* SealedEvilInACan: In the ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'' movies, as well as the novella that they are based upon, ''The Hellbound Heart'' the only way the Cenobites will come after you is if you open the puzzle box known as Lemarchand's Box.
** So much so, in fact, that, at least in the novella, the Cenobites [[spoiler: make and honor a deal with the protagonist (who has accidentally opened the box, and has no idea what it is or does) to spare her if she can lead them to the novella's REAL villain, who has escaped their clutches]].

* SummoningArtifact: The Lemarchand's Boxes, and especially the Lament Configuration.

* TheVerse: "Literature/TheLastIllusion," ''Literature/TheHellboundHeart'', ''Weaveworld'', ''The Great and Secret Show'', "The Lost Souls", ''Everville'' and ''Literature/TheScarletGospels'' all take place in the same universe due to the crossover between Harry D'Amour and the Cenobites in the latter work and the prominence or cameos of either in all of the others. Other works may also share the universe, though this is not confirmed.

* PsychosexualHorror: A lot of Clive Barker's stories involve the darker or more sordid aspects of sex; such as BDSM, prostitution, sexual misconduct, [=STD=]s, and the male sex drive. These stories were inspired by Barker's own experiences as a male prostitute.

** "Literature/TheLastIllusion" (the novella on which ''Film/LordOfIllusions'' was based)

** "Literature/TheLastIllusion" (the novella on which ''Film/LordOfIllusion'' was based)

** "Literature/TheLastIllusion"

* BodyHorror: So, so much BodyHorror.

Clive Barker (born October 5, 1952) is a British horror and dark fantasy author responsible for over a dozen novels, several movies, a few graphic novels, some artwork, and a couple of video games as well.

%%* HornyDevils

Clive Barker (born October 5, 1952) is a British horror and dark fantasy author responsible for over a dozen novels, several movies, a few graphic novels, some artwork, and a couple of video games as well. His works almost always feature sexual overtones that are graphic, disturbing, and disgusting in nature. His stories are usually set in a contemporary urban setting, but with AnotherDimension or many dimensions. On the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, his stories lie pretty far on the cynical side, with heavily flawed but sympathetic protagonists and an overall dark and gritty tone, although some of his novels have had [[EarnYourHappyEnding happy and magically enchanting endings]], and have featured themes such as love and [[HeelFaceTurn redemption]].

** Made [[{{Anvilicious}} much more explicit]] in ''Film/{{Nightbreed}}'', where humans are the monsters who have hunted the monstrous "tribes of the moon" to near-extinction.

* OlderThanTheyLook: He's nearing seventy and looks about younger than that. Of course, if you go back and look at photos when he was younger, he always looked older than he was, so it's starting to even out. His infirmities have definitely taken their toll on him, though.

** "Literature/TheForbidden"

* ''Cabal'' (the book on which ''Nightbreed'' was based)