Clive Barker

For mainstream horror, he's not bad. He makes King seem almost family friendly. The Books of Blood are a pretty decent horror anthology. Imajica and Weaveworld are interesting in a weird magical way. The Hellbound Heart and Cabal have both been dramatized as Hell Raiser and Nightbreed respectively. The Thief of Always is decent too. He seems to be falling to the use of gimmicks in his old age though, check his earlier stuff.

>>8866693
I read The Great and Secret Show and it was the hackiest and most prentious crap Ive ever read. I dont think hes a good writer

>>8866950
he's not a great writer, by any means or yardstick, but his quest to grotesque when he was younger sure did hit a nerve in my middle and high school years. rereading his work as an adult and you notice there isn't much depth there. however, some of those Books of Blood shorts really do give me a chill. i also can't be bothered with his children's stuff. they're okay but not for me. i also heard rumor his last novel was partly ghost-written due to his ill health. hope he recovers soon.

I like him but of course very much as 'just' a genre writer. I'd like to talk to him when he was young and drum it into his head that brevity is a fucking virtue. The Books of Blood are my fave horror I've read and his novels have, to quote DFW, cool parts, but why the F did he at some point decide all of his books were going to be 900 pages?! Each one of those doorstoppers could have been a nice normal length novel.

>>8866997
haha, indeed. from what i recall of Imajica, I think that's the only one that actually benefited from its length. however, i could be confabulating pleasant memories of reading it in high school and avoiding such curriculum assigned tripe as The Great Gatsby, Cather in the Rye, and As I Lay Dying.

recommendations?
I like: The Yattering and the Jack
The Midnight Meat Train
Hellbound Heart
Any longer novels I'd enjoy?

Mister B. Gone was a fun read. Though it's just a gimmick