Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English author, film director, video game designer and visual artist known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. He is best-known for his short stories which were adapted for film as the Hellraiser and Candyman series. He has also written 18 novels.
Eight quotes about writing:
- I firmly believe that a story is only as good as the villain.
- Books should make somebody look at how they feel, be honest with themselves.
- Nothing ever begins. There is no first moment; no single word or place from which this or any other story springs.
- Gather experience… Look at what you should not look at. A feeling of anxiety is the sure and certain evidence that you should do this.
- Horror fiction shows us that the control we believe we have is purely illusory, and that every moment we teeter on chaos and oblivion.
- By and large, horror fiction is the most difficult to domesticate because part of the point is that it’s one step ahead – or behind – everybody else’s taste. And I’m not really convinced I’d like it to change. There’s something very healthy about horror fiction being always a little bit on the outside. It’s the wild-dog genre.
- One of the things I’m trying to do over and over again in my books is create new mythologies, create new ways to understand the complexity of the world. I think what mythology does is impress upon chaotic experience the patterns, hierarchies and shapes which allow us to interpret the chaos and make fresh sense of it.
- Movies are much more fascist than books. They tell you what to feel, when to feel it. Popular movies manipulate you. Music tells you when it’s a sad part and when it’s a happy part. You’re obliged to watch them at the speed the filmmaker has created for you. That, I think, is one of the reasons why they’re so popular – because you don’t have to think very hard. The filmmaker has done all the thinking for you.
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