Question: I was wondering what age you started writing seriously?
CliveBr: Hi everyone! Glad you could make it. Great to be here. I didn't publish my first book until 31 but I was writing for the theatre in England from my late teens onwards. So I guess 18 or 19. This last Christmas, I published my first plays in a collection Incarnations.
Question: Are there any particular people or things that inspire you to write?
CliveBr: A contract!!! Heh. All joking aside, I have to write every day...it's an obsession to me. The only time I don't put pen to paper is when I'm making a movie. Otherwise I will work seven days a week from 8 in the morning through middle of the evening. I know that Stephen King has said that if he doesn't write in a day he feels sick. I'm not that extreme, but I certainly don't feel that a day is complete until I have done a sizable amount of work.
Question: I'd like to thank Mr. Barker for coming to the Quantum Leap Convention last month. You mentioned that perhaps the sequel to Lord of Illusions might be done on cable. Do you feel horror translates better to the small screen as opposed to the large screen?
CliveBr: Good question! Firstly, let me say how great a welcome I had at the convention -- and I enjoyed it! I think its more difficult to scare people on the small screen than the large screen. The fact that we are in familiar surroundings on television makes it far more difficult to scare an audience. On the other hand, there are examples of TV that is really scary...in the 70's, there were a "Trilogy of terror" which is still very scary after twenty something years. And I still have very vivid memories of The Night Stalker. I think "The Stand" was very successful, particularly in the early phases.
Question: Clive Barker, do you have any new books coming out?
CliveBr: Yes, in July I publish a new novel called Sacrament, and will be going on tour across the country supporting the book. I want to tell everybody where I'll be going: Toronto, New York, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, and some others starting the 9th of July through the 15th of August. If you want to know where I will be, check out my Web of Lost Souls which will have everything listed. About the novel, its an independent novel. It's not a sequel. Its a very intimate work about a wildlife photographer who photographs animals and species driven to extinction. He encounters people in his travels people who try to do the opposite of preserving these animals -- making them extinct.
Question: Clive gave a fascinating account of the Director's Cut of Lord of Illusions at LeapCon. Has there been any progress in getting this version released in Europe? Are the video rentals still doing well here?
CliveBr: The video and laser rentals are doing extraordinarily well. A couple days ago, I stopped into a laser store and saw the laser is #3 on the rental list. We are currently trying to get the Director's Cut into the cinemas in Europe. The theatrical cut of Lord of Illusions is not my preferred cut. There is a longer and better version called the Director's cut, which has 12 minutes of additional material in it that is simply not in the theatrical cut. The Director's Cut is on both laser and video. I'm hoping that that version is the one that will find its way into European theatres.
Question: So Clive, what was the first movie you directed?
CliveBr: The first two movies have just been released on video. A ten minute version of Salome, the other is a short film called The Forbidden. It's about 14 minutes long. They are VERY avant garde, abstract and sexual...so don't think they are going to be mainstream movies. They are not. They are black and white, 16 millimeters, and were actually developed in my bath. Both of them together probably cost about 500 dollars to make.
Question: I've heard you are putting out a third "Book of the Art" -- What is it called?
CliveBr: I don't have a title as yet. The last book took 15 months to write. You could produce 1 2/3 babies in that time.
Question: What is your inspiration for the "Hellraiser" series?
CliveBr: You know, the series has, in a sense, just grown organic. I've remained startled at how Pinhead has become so popular. It was genuinely surreal for me to watch Pinhead and Mel Gibson on the Tonight Show!! That said there are certain elements of the series that were present in the initial novel. That book contains references to Pinhead, the puzzle box, to the whole system of seduction and damnation which is a part of all the movies. What has happened over the years is that Pinhead has become a kind of icon. This is outside my control. It's really in the hands of audiences. I have theories on why that is everybody does and they are all different.
Question: Mr. Barker, have you written any books under another name?
CliveBr: No, I haven't. Everything by me is proudly by me. I would love to be able to admit that there were some obscure pieces, but no.
Question: Clive, several people are requesting autographed photos. Is there an address they can write to request one?
CliveBr: Yes, of course. My PO Box; it is: Clive Barker, PO Box 691885 Los Angeles, CA 90069
Question: How do you get to publish your books and illustrations
CliveBr: THAT'S a big question! I began writing short stories, which is very problematical. There isn't a large market for short stories right now, so start off with a novel. I found an editor, Barbara Boote, who saw my stories and wanted to publish them. If you have a vision, if you have some particular angle on the world -- artistic or sexual -- something that is true to you and can find a way of expressing that, then people will want to listen. I think getting up in the morning and wanting to be the new Stephen King, Clive Barker or whoever is counter-productive.
Question: What is your next upcoming project?
CliveBr: We mentioned Sacrament. There will be a book of plays in December called Forms of Heaven, and I am writing another screenplay for myself to direct, science-fiction.
EXTRApr: From Burncycle:
Question: When did you start directing
CliveBr: I directed, well, we talked about the ones I made when I was 18 as a director who actually has a cameraman in 1986.
EXTRApr: From Morrine:
Question: Who is your favorite horror writer? Do you have one?
CliveBr: Edgar Allan Poe, no question.
EXTRApr: From Mamma Of:
Question: Mr. Barker are you going to make another Nightbreed movie? I loved that movie so much. I really like to see another one. and even play a gory part, too.
CliveBr: I would LOVE to make a sequel to Nightbreed. The rights reside with 20th Century Fox, not with me. So, unfortunately, I don't really have control over the project. What I CAN tell you is, we are preparing the Director's Cut of Nightbreed which will reinstate a lot of cut material from the movie which will come out on laser. We will also be releasing a cut of the first "Hellraiser" movie with a script, 2 disc edition sometime in May.
EXTRApr: From Bill Capp:
Question: What was your inspiration for the movie Candyman? I have to say that it was one of the only films that ever scared me.
CliveBr: This is a true story. When I was a child, my grandmother was Irish and a very good storyteller. Scared the bejeezus out me! She told me there was a man who cut off certain body parts of boys when they went to the lavatories. Not surprisingly, the story lingered. I eventually turned it into a tale called "The Forbidden," which is about a figure called "The Candyman".
EXTRApr: From GTANKER10:
Question: Clive, your imagery is so frightening. What scares you?
CliveBr: Very little. I don't like flying or being stuck in elevators. The kind of fiction that is being written in the area right now tends not to scare me. I think the last book was Red Dragon that intimidated me.
EXTRApr: From Mamma Of:
Question: Mr. Barker, how is it that you come up with these stories? Do you dream about them or they just come up in your head?
CliveBr: Stories come from a variety of sources. I keep a dream journal beside my bead and find that images in dreams have been developed into stories or images in stories. A story teller is constantly sniffing the air, figuratively speaking, waiting for the scent of some new tale. I have found stories at dinner parties, in newspapers, on the bus, everywhere.
EXTRApr: From KAT122396:
Question: Clive I saw you in Highpoint, NC. What do you think about Hellraiser III...better or worse than the rest? I was an extra in it.
CliveBr: I never actually went to Highpoint, NC, so there was somebody there impersonating me!! I enjoyed Hellraiser III, but Hellraiser IV is a better movie. Let me add this as well. I feel very protective over the "Hellraiser" series, and I would hate to see the whole thing lose the essential darkness. But movies are made by a lot of people, not by only an Executive producer.
EXTRApr: From GTanker10:
Question: How do you see the future of the horror film? They seem to have dwindled off in the past year.
CliveBr: It has whittled away. I think there is a reluctance among studios to make these kind of movies. There have been a few very expensive horror movies recently, Interview with a Vampire, Dracula, Frankenstein. I personally prefer the smaller pictures. I enjoy Lynch...filmmakers whose personal vision is very intense and very particular to them
EXTRApr: From Burncycle:
Question: Do you like to draw pictures, I have seen some in your book, The Thief of Always.
CliveBr: I LOVE making pictures! I have an exhibition at the Laguna Art Museum through the summer. Large oil paintings and black/white work. I have a gallery in New York which represents my work. It always has many pieces on display. For anybody interested, its called the Bess Cutler Gallery. You can call them at 212-219-1577 for more information. When the snows in New York have cleared, you might want to drop in and see some Barkers up close.
EXTRApr: From MDC15:
Question: I read in Hollywood Reporter about another one of your books -- Imagica that's being filmed. Any details? Did you write the screenplay as well?
CliveBr: I don't know anything about a film on that. Weaveworld? It is being made as a mini-series for Showtime.
EXTRApr: From Bloodline:
Question: Mr. Barker, how do you feel about the "Hellraiser" movies, and Pinhead himself, becoming quite a mainstream horror icon?
CliveBr: I feel great about the series. Back in the 1930's, Universal Studios was popular because of a series of monster movies. There's nothing wrong with telling the ongoing story of a monster if the audience is interested. Pinhead has found his way into America's hearts. Now that Pat Buchanan is about to drop out of the Republican race. I'd really like to see Pinhead standing up for family values! He's so much charismatic than Bob Dole.
EXTRApr: From Truckcat:
Question: Any chance of a sequel to Lord of Illusions?
CliveBr: We do have a script. It will probably be made for Showtime. And of course, the adventures exist on the page as well as on the screen.
Question: Your bio says you have transferred to the States. Do you miss England?
CliveBr: I miss some of my friends. I miss my family. And there are some atmospheres which, as a writer, I respond to which are particular to England. For instance, the smell of rain on a London street, thunder clouds, all of the Scottish mountains, the smell of the river Mersey -- the river upon which my hometown of Liverpool lies.
EXTRApr: From GT:
Question: Would you like to renew your stage directing work and how do you see it taking shape?
CliveBr: I certainly want to write for the theatre. It's been very satisfying seeing how responsive people have been to my collection of plays. Production of the plays are now played for universities and colleges across America. Whether I would direct for the stage or not is really a matter of timing than anything else. I presently have so many demands upon my time as a writer/movie maker/painter. I'm not sure my present schedule would bear the demand. But I certainly don't discount the possibility.
EXTRApr: And one final question for Mr Barker from JJLUSA:
Question: Mr. Barker, I've been reading The Great And Secret Show and feel that the opening in the Dead Letter room is one of the most original ideas I've ever heard. Is this just pure imagination or do you have a method or way to unlock such creativity?
CliveBr: It's essentially pure imagination. Our imaginations are muscles -- the more we use them, the stronger they get. I would like to leave this thought -- that all the things we've been talking about, films, books, painting, plays, are all in service of expanding our imaginations. And the healthier our imaginations are the less the Pat Buchanans of the world will have control over us. Thank you and good night.
EXTRApr: Thank you for coming Clive, and to everyone for attending tonight's conference. Be sure to use keyword EXTRA or keyword HELLRAISER next week to check out Clive's great new movie, HELLRAISER: Bloodline.