A visionary, fantasist, poet and painter, Clive Barker has expanded the reaches of human imagination as a novelist, director, screenwriter and dramatist who generally describes himself as "an Imaginer." Stephen King once described Barker as "The future of horror." Clive Barker's Books of Blood were quickly followed by a string of successful novellas and novels and several movie adaptations including the Hellraiser series, Nightbreed and The Midnight Meat Train, which is considered among the best adaptations from his short stories. Others inspired by his seminal collection of short stories include The Book of Blood; Dread; Rawhead Rex; Lord of Illusions; and the Candyman series. Clive's most recent work includes The Scarlet Gospels, and a series of illustrated novels ostensibly aimed at children, the Abarat series, three of which have been published and a further two he has been working on in visual and written form for several years. In 2012, Barker was given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writer's Association, for his outstanding contribution to the genre.
