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The Great and Secret Show (Book of the Art #1)

4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 · rating details · 14,154 ratings · 285 reviews

In the little town of Palomo Grove, two great armies are amassing; forces shaped from the hearts and souls of America. In this New York Times bestseller, Barker unveils one of the most ambitious imaginative landscapes in modern fiction, creating a new vocabulary for the age-old battle between good and evil. Carrying its readers from the first stirring of consciousness to a...more

Paperback, 658 pages

Published November 3rd 1999 by Harper Perennial (first published January 1st 1988)

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Nov 04, 2012 Wordsmith rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Open minded beings

Shelves: topfavorites, 1001, award-winning-book-or-author, lit-british, sex, lit-modern, read-years-ago, magical, literature, review-needed, ranking-2012-reads-processing, re-reading, lit-fantasy, fantasy, favorite-author, love, loss, linguistic-marksmanship, metaphysical, spirituality, faith, friendships, bestsellers, violence, california, over-500-pages, recommended, star-five, drugs-sex-rocknroll, death-violent

After reading "Everville" I'm fired up again. THAT'S Book II of The Art. A five BTW. This review is being cobbled out, line by line. So many transfogmurations I've lost count. Still kicking it around though. Ok, granted, the final result is slower than waiting for Christmas Day on a leap year, but even that day is finally reached.

I'm also sharing some relevant, revealing quotes given by Clive Barker relating not only to TGASS but to the nature of his general concepts of the dream state, the di...more

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Mar 21, 2008 Matt Nielsen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is a trip and a half. It is weird and visceral yet I couldn't put it down. The imagery in it is sometimes graphic and downright nasty (there is a scene where one of the main characters is fascinated with a back room sex show in a bar in Mexico where a woman is having sex with a dog... and it describes it in intimate detail) but it keeps your curiosity peaked and keeps you wondering what is going to happen...

Well I finished it last night and I gotta say... wow! This Clive Barker guy has...more

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Feb 14, 2008 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read this shortly after reading King's "The Stand." The book focuses on the idea of crossroads as a point of interest, and becomes the prevalent metaphor throughout the narrative. Quiddity, the dream sea between our world and another, is encountered three times by everyone who lives in our world: when we are born, when we die, and when we sleep for the first time next to our first love.

This is book one of "The Art" which is a familiar idea but one less explored in such terms as Barker explores...more

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Dec 23, 2012 Kristen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was so awesome. It is really intense and suspenseful, I couldn't put it down and ended up reading it in like three days.

The book is about a battle between good and evil, waged over possession of the dream sea called Quiddity which I guess is essentially the collective human subconscious. The battle is between two hyper-evolved humans who can raise their own soldiers from, respectively, the dreams and fears of humans. These soldiers are called terata (fears) and hallucingia (dreams). T...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Dark-Draco rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-series, favorites

Two identically matched enemies, The Jaff and Fletcher, are looked in mortal combat beneath the sleepy town of Palomo Grove. Both father children by a group of school friends and so their offspring are drawn into the war. The Jaff wants the Art, a doorway that can control the dreamscape of every person on Earth, a place only visited three times - on birth, the first night you sleep next to your first love, and on death. But there are things hidden there that would prefer to come through on their...more

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Feb 06, 2010 Jeff rated it 3 of 5 stars

In an exercise to get in touch with my deceased teenage self, I decided to read one of the books that really got me into reading and, incidentally, writing. Having noted already that as the palate of age matures, the enjoyment of things past lessens, I wanted the familiar nostalgia of a book from my shelf that had my old, perhaps slightly smaller, fingerprints.

The first of an incomplete trilogy, The Great and Secret Show is a novel of fantasy, horror, and sex. I must say that part of me was plea...more In an exercise to get in touch with my deceased teenage self, I decided to read one of the books that really got me into reading and, incidentally, writing. Having noted already that as the palate of age matures, the enjoyment of things past lessens, I wanted the familiar nostalgia of a book from my shelf that had my old, perhaps slightly smaller, fingerprints.

The first of an incomplete trilogy, The Great and Secret Show is a novel of fantasy, horror, and sex. I must say that part of me was pleasantly surprised when rereading this book, to the extent that Barker does have a great command of language, imagination, and descriptive prowess. Following in the vein of much of his work, Barker creates new worlds, new creatures, and a mythology that is as confusing as it is intriguing. Unlike a lot of modern day mystery genres (LOST immediately comes to mind) where writers and producers have a certain grasp of the overall story, it seems here that Barker allows his imagination to run in a sort of stream of consciousness way, not really knowing where the stream's flowing. I know I know, Barker fans don't jump down my throat; I know he meticulously outlines his novels and has infinite folders of notes for such, but this book really doesn't seem to know the answers to it's own questions. I don't find this to be a particularly deal-breaking problem, but I hastily suggest to anyone who doesn't want to be frustrated with covert plots, be warned.

What works is the interesting plot, the beginning, and the end.

What doesn't work is about 400 pages in the middle. Barker is a great example of what modern day editors invest in red pens for. There are so many unnecessary characters and scenes in the book that would work well to be omitted. Moreover, the characters all seem redundant, each speaking with the same dialogue inflections and are generally indistinct.

Still, I'm nothing if not nostalgic, so Barker's world, adopted the second time, was just as thrilling as the first.
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Apr 13, 2009 Dreadlocksmile rated it 5 of 5 stars

First published in 1989, 'The Great And Secret Show' formed the first book of 'The Art' proposed trilogy. The novel is a complex weave of storylines, woven together to form this impressive and compelling tale of fantasy that sends you into a world with seemingly no limits. The novel not only opens up the reader's own imagination but brings forward suggestive images and ideas that remain with you for years to come. Barker manages to capture your attention from the start and keep you gripped throu...more

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Feb 07, 2008 Natalie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book bordered on a religious revelation to me. I absolutely adore the style it is written in and the subject matter tears at the fabric of your understanding of reality. I questioned what I know in a way that harkens back to Plato's 'The Cave'. Is reality real or is it just shadows on the wall inside something bigger than I can understand?

Clive Barker has a way of making dark and sinister characters intriguing and not nightmare inducing.

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Jan 31, 2008 Rob Schumann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Barker at it again... Fantastic story that's almost impossible to describe. The "Art" is being able to rip away the fabric of reality and cross over into a land that is only visited upon birth, death and the moment you fall in love. ....WHAT?!?! What does that even mean???

Somehow Barker puts you into the story and you learn along with the characters and it seems so plausible. One of the most creative books you will ever read.

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Jul 15, 2012 Anna Prejanò rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Nell'Idaho conobbe un uomo che aveva perso un braccio in un incidente automobilistico e ritrovatisi a bere un bicchiere insieme l'invalido gli raccontò di avere ancora la sensazione di possedere l'arto perduto, una presenza che i medici definivano come di un fantasma nel suo sistema nervoso, mentre lui sapeva con certezza che la sensazione gli derivava dal suo corpo astrale, ancora integro su un altro piano di esistenza. Gli confidò di masturbarsi regolarmente con la mano perduta e gliene offrì...more

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Apr 03, 2008 Nicki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Nicki by: Old Sly Boots

Get past the tedium of the first 75 pages to get to one of the greatest epic stories ever written. Cliver Barker's writing is beautiful and the story is so much bigger than I could ever imagine. I am in a complete love affair with this and Everville, its sequel. I wouldn't even know how to classify it. Part horror? Part romance? Part fantasy? But, it all seems like it could be so real...

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Jul 10, 2012 Ange rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mr. Barker writes like a champ and has created a vast and complex story line. But there are some faults with this book. 1. I felt it was much, much too verbose. The story ended up being a chore to follow. 2. The characters were not at all likeable for me, even the ones I think he intended for readers to like. It's like he missed the boat on fleshing them out and providing the real depth I've come to expect in a book with great characterization. And finally, 3. Mr. Barker has written many disturb...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Tegghiaio rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Finalmente, luego de 21 largos días he terminado este libro que empezó de forma muy prometedora con un enajenado empleado del servicio de correos estadounidense (Randolph Jaffe) que descubre un grupo llamado el Enjambre y emprende una peregrinación con el único objetivo de dominar el Arte y hacerse así con el control de la Esencia.

Una atractiva conspiración que se diluye rápidamente para dar paso a la eterna lucha entre el Bien y el Mal, que al menos en mi caso me resulta ya trillada y poco inte...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Chris Birdsong rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was the first book that I've read from Clive Barker. I really enjoyed it and it's set up very nicely for the sequel. My only complaint would be that the story's main characters seem to change a little too regularly. The two basic light and dark characters are set up pretty early, but we travel through 30 or 40 years pretty quick and it can be a bit confusing with all of the names that are introduced in such a short time. It can also be a bit difficult to differentiate a lot of the players f...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Elizabeth Holloway rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-over-and-over

I have long considered myself to be a collector of good horror. (in itself a seemingly diametrically opposed descriptor...)

But this book really rips the sheet off of the things we don't dare ever face, let alone think about while accentuating their terrible beauty in muted fascination... managing to engulf you in a very accessible series of fantastical and, at first glance, unrelated sub-plots/events that culminate in more than a few hints at; revolutionary concepts concerning the philosophy and...more

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Dec 15, 2011 Linda Branham Greenwell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, horror

Randolf Jaffe works in the Dead Letter Office in Omaha, Nebraska where he stumbles across people talking about the Art, which is something that exists in another plane of existence. He learns about Quiddity, which is called a dream sea where people float in their minds when they are born, when they fall in love for the first time and when they die. He wants to find out about this Art, so he leaves to find out more about. This leads to a huge battle between good and evil in a tiny California town...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Angel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Clive Barker fans, horror readers

Shelves: graphic_novels_and_comics, horror_and_thrillers

I did not rate this higher because, for a graphic novel, it can get a bit verbose at times. This slowed down the pace for me as a reader at times. Having said that, this is a very rich work with much depth. It is a tale of a battle between good and evil forces and those folks who get caught up in the battle. And it all starts in a dead letters section of a post office (or so it seems).

Readers who have enjoyed works by Stephen King, such as The Stand, and the more recent series by Hill, Lockey &...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

How can you have a really convincing war between good and evil when neither side is really good or evil? I was confused a lot of the time while I was reading this, but since I had a copy of Everville, its sequel (I guess), I figured I would start at the beginning. Now I'm not sure if I want to read Everville at all. Also, I have to wonder if Clive Barker knows anything at all about the Mormons, because he uses them as his token religious group in the book, but pretty much every detail he used wa...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Donovan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This is traditional Clive Barker at his best. Once again, it is not for the squeamish as it contains a lot of emotional and physical violence. This is also the first book of the art (series).

Plot ***Spoilers***
In 1969 Randolph Jaffe discovers a mysterious artefact of our society known as "The Art" while working in the dead letter office in Nebraska. His search brings him to New Mexico where he encounters the mysterious Kissoon, claiming to be the last of the civilisation known as the "Shoal". Fr...more This is traditional Clive Barker at his best. Once again, it is not for the squeamish as it contains a lot of emotional and physical violence. This is also the first book of the art (series).

Plot ***Spoilers***
In 1969 Randolph Jaffe discovers a mysterious artefact of our society known as "The Art" while working in the dead letter office in Nebraska. His search brings him to New Mexico where he encounters the mysterious Kissoon, claiming to be the last of the civilisation known as the "Shoal". From Kissoon he learns of the mystical dream sea Quiddity and the islands within it known as the Ephemeris. Jaffe flees when Kissoon tries to bargain for his body. Jaffe teams up with a scientist named Fletcher who is able to create a liquid called the 'Nuncio' which enables a human to evolve to a state that would enable him to reach Quiddity. Fletcher has second thoughts however, thinking that Jaffe will use the Nuncio for evil and destroys his laboratory. Jaffe arrives and both are exposed to the Nuncio. The two battle each other for a year and their spirits arrive in Palomo Grove in California in 1971. There, they rape and impregnate four teenage girls. One of the girls is infertile and fails to give birth while another kills herself and her child after giving birth. The third, Trudi Katz, moves away with her baby Howard while the fourth, Joyce McGuire gives birth to twins, Jo-Beth and Tommy Ray.

Eighteen years pass. Howard returns to Palomo Grove after the death of his mother. While Jaffe and Fletcher produced offspring in order to continue their battle, Howard and Jo-Beth instead fall in love after meeting. When a former TV comedian, Buddy Vance, passes away at the cave where the lake once was, Fletcher and Jaffe are able to escape. Jaffe is able to amass an army of creatures known as Terata using the minds of vulnerable people and gets his son Tommy Ray on his side as well. Howard encounters Fletcher, who explains his heritage to him. Fletcher explains Quiddity to Howard, telling him that the islands Ephemeris contain the Great and Secret Show. However, Howard refuses to align with his father. Meanwhile, a reporter, Grillo, and his friend Tesla arrive to Palomo Grove to report on Vance's death. Fletcher is unable to amass his own army of hallucigenia from the mind of dreamers and instead kills himself through immolation, spreading his essence to the people of the town.

Having encountered Fletcher before his death, Tesla heads to the remnants of his laboratory to recover the remains of the Nuncio. Tommy Ray is sent by Jaffe, who has managed to convince people that he is the ghost of Vance. While there Tesla encounters Raul, an ape who had been evolved through the power of the Nuncio. Tommy Ray arrives and shoots Tesla, but the last remaining vial of Nuncio breaks, infecting both Tommy Ray and Tesla. Tesla's consciousness travels to a time loop in New Mexico where she encounters Kissoon. Kissoon explains to Tesla that the Shoal were dedicated to keeping Quiddity and the Art pure but with them all dead, Earth (known as the Cosm) could be dominated by the evil race Iad Uroboros who live in the Metacosm on the opposite side of Quiddity. Tesla leaves when Kissoon tries to take over her body but agrees to find another body for him to inhabit. Leaving the time loop, Tesla encounters a woman named Mary Muralles who reveals that it was Kissoon who murdered the Shoal and he is actually an agent of the Iad Uroboros. Kissoon manages to kill Muralles using snake-like creatures created by his excrement and semen (Lix), then captures Raul in order to take over his body.

Tommy Ray heads back to Palomo Grove having amassed an army of the dead while the hallucigenia created by Fletcher's death convince Howard to help them attack Jaffe. In Vance's house, Jaffe manages to tear a hole through reality into Quiddity but realizes it is too much power for him to deal with. As his terata battle the hallucigenia many are dragged into Quiddity including Howard, Jo-Beth and Tommy Ray. Tesla, Grillo and Jaffe flee Vance's house and attempt to close the vortex into Quiddity. Quiddity transforms Howard, Jo-Beth and Tommy Ray as they float through Quiddity and reach the Ephemeris where they find that the Iad Uroboros are crossing Quiddity towards Earth.

Palomo Grove starts to collapse and the entire town is sealed off by the authorities. Tesla recalls a word Kissoon had brought up, "Trinity", which is the place where the first atomic bomb was detonated. Kissoon, now occupying Raul's body arrives, but Jaffe is able to distract him as Tesla transports the vortex to Quiddity into Kissoon's time loop. Howard, Jo-Beth and Tommy Ray, completely transformed from their experience in Quiddity arrive from the vortex. Jaffe is able to kill Raul's body and is reunited with Tommy Ray. Tesla finds that Raul has occupied Kissoon's former body and by convincing Raul's consciousness to enter her body, Kissoon's body is killed which disintegrates the time loop, destroying the vortex to Quiddity and the Iad Uroboros who were arriving. Tesla and the others are able to escape the time loop just in time.

The remains of Palomo Grove are destroyed, and Jo-Beth and Howard meet supernatural investigator Harry D'Amour who asks for their story. Tesla meets Grillo and tells him that the worshippers of the Iad Uroboros are still active and will try to summon them again.(less)

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Dec 22, 2010 zxvasdf rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to like it more than I did. Coming off Weaveworld and Imajica, it was a bit of a downer. The premise is very interesting, but I don't think Barker brought it to its potential. It could do with a ton of trimming, and would been better as a slimmer volume.

Dialogue is laughable, especially when it comes to Tommy Ray. I'm not sure if Barker intended it that way, but sure as heck doesn't help.

Barker's strength lies in the descriptions, his extrapolation of local and personal histories. The...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Brian Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Read this classic horror novel again for the second time. Still good. Barker is a great writer. My only quible, in the introduction Barker claimes to have researched Mormonism for his story, yet he seems to get a few basic things wrong with the workings of the church (calling the leader of the Mormon congregation Pastor John rather than Bishop John, referring to the Holy Land of Zim rather than the Holy Land of Zion--perhaps that last one is just a typo tho). Anyway, minor quibles, very entertai...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Brandon_hallway rated it 1 of 5 stars

Usually I give books a chance. The idea behind this book was a good one, but Barker did not deliver. The story falls flat and is all over the map not focusing on the point. I did not even finish the book it was so bad. I got about 2/3 of the way through so I gave it more than a chance but the character development was laughable and took too long to get to any point. There are many explict sexual details that do not add to the book or the characters. If they were removed, it would not change the...more

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Jan 02, 2009 bookczuk rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookcrossing, fantasy, read-on-recommendation, vampires-ghosts-and-other-creatures

This was highly recommended to me (and this copy was given to me, unregistered, by MartiP several years ago.) It was interesting, but didn't grab me as much as I had thought it might-- but I did slog through to the end...good book, but not fantabulously great. Yes it was quirky, unique, imaginative and all that, but I just can't put it on the list of "best books I have read". The fact that it took me 5 tries and 2 years to read it, speaks volumes. Oh well. Maybe he next reader will find the wel...more

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Mar 04, 2009 Roswita rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels, horror

A visual masterpiece. If you've read the book, you'll love the graphic novel. Barker's work translates amazingly well to this format. Chris Ryall and Gabriel Rodriguez were obviously the right team for this project. A big thank you to whoever put them together with Clive Barker!

The story is about a man's journey to discover the secret world he senses is just out of reach. Bits and pieces of the puzzle come his way and he discovers an ambition in himself he never knew he had. To learn the secret,...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Jared rated it 5 of 5 stars

To put it simply: A rollicking, complex odyssey tinted with themes of religion, love, death, faith, and obsession. To be fair, I did enjoy Barker's Imajica more, and I recommend it highly- that one kept me up at night, and then some- but The Great and Secret Show is incredible all the same. This weird and fantastical tale is based on the idea that the real universe, encompassing more than most humans will ever discover, is comprised of three sections: The Cosm, the physical world; the Metacosm,...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Sam Reader rated it 5 of 5 stars

(taken from srmbc.blogspot.com)

"What would he write, anyway? I'm killing myself because I didn't get to be King of the World? Ridiculous."

In my line of work, epic novels tend to be a rare thing.

Well, maybe not rare. But when you don't specifically do high fantasy or space SF, they become a rarer thing than most, and since this blog has more of an urban fantasy/strange horror/modern-day SF bent, they tend to be something I don't run across very often. On this blog alone, I can really only think...more

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Mar 14, 2011 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: epic-weirdness, horror, scifi

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Great and Secret show is both amazing, and fatiguing. It's wonderful in the ways it invents an entirely new, fresh, concept and proceeds to deliver it with the prose needed to convey a metaphysical thriller. It suceeds in combing the necessary stylistic elements of writing with the abstract plot. That's all great. Not many authors can pull that off. Peter Straub can, a la The Talisman, but he loses the je ne sais quoi in Black House.

Now that the pros are out of the way, I can explain the co...more

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Feb 11, 2010 Nick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, fantasy

The summer I read this book was the summer I changed my mind about the horror genre. Previously, I had read some subpar Stephen King and some even more subpar Dean Koontz. A friend recommended the Great and Secret Show to me, saying it was like King's The Stand, but better.

I skeptically started the book and was immediately glued to the page. Barker mixes dark fantasy and horror elements comprising a concoction that I've never found in any other book.

The story is near impossible to explain with...more

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Sep 27, 2008 Chilly SavageMelon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I haven't read other Barker, but the voice is really annoying here - so hopelessly "80's". There are decent enough ideas, and some of the characters are flushed out, but they are merely the delivery vehicle for a never ending and chaotic plot. Some of which is more engaging than the rest. The idea of a misanthrope coming upon arcane mysteries at the dead letter post-office appeals to me more than a decades long struggle between good and evil. Skinny dipping teens getting impregnated "Rosemary's...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Schmacko rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well, I haven’t read as much in February, because I wanted to knock out some longer books. Gah, it DID feel like a task after a while.

The Great and Secret Show (1989) is a 600-plus page Clive Barker novel. Like much of his writing, it’s a combination of fantasy and horror. Some of his work – Weaveworld and Imajica – I love. This one just felt padded as Hell. There is a good 200-page section where people face great evil only to have it give up because they lock themselves in a bedroom. (???) Evil...more Well, I haven’t read as much in February, because I wanted to knock out some longer books. Gah, it DID feel like a task after a while.

The Great and Secret Show (1989) is a 600-plus page Clive Barker novel. Like much of his writing, it’s a combination of fantasy and horror. Some of his work – Weaveworld and Imajica – I love. This one just felt padded as Hell. There is a good 200-page section where people face great evil only to have it give up because they lock themselves in a bedroom. (???) Evil doesn’t really return for 204 pages…

TG&SS is about people searching for an alternate universe that is populated by creatures physically, mentally, and spiritually evolved from Earth. A man, Jaffe, first finds out about Quidity, this alternate universe, in 1969, in the US Post Office’s Dead Letter office in Omaha. Jaffe uses what little he learns to get money and power to learn more. He hires another man, a scientist named Fletcher, to create the mystical substance Nuncio that will speed up their evolution and allow them access to this secret world. Jaffe and Fletcher war over the created Nuncio, and they both are transformed. They battle for a long time in spirit form, and then they get tired. Their worn-out spirits rape four girls in order to create allies and soldiers to fight for them. The kids of these girls – who were also fathered by humans the girls were compelled to copulate with – then meet. Then there’s more war and stuff.

There are TONS of side characters who are transformed by Nuncio to know about the secret world Quidity, and the Ephemeris surrounding it like a sea. They also are either good or evil to varying degrees. There are also other humans caught up in the mix.

Barker is a great and interesting storyteller, but this is epic for epic’s sake. Small human dramas are filled in between in order to cover up the stuffing. The human drama does lend itself to the larger, metaphysical fantasy, but only barely. Both sections feel overlong. Many chapters feel like we’re spinning our wheels. Once we get to the end, it’s quite clear that many, many well-written pages were unnecessary to succinct, clear storytelling.

TG&SS is supposedly one part of three books. The second book, Everville, was put out in 1994. I also read that. The third book has never been finished. I suspect it’s currently probably 2146 pages long and about half finished.
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About Clive Barker

Clive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It...more Clive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It was in Liverpool in 1975 that he met his first partner, John Gregson, with whom he lived until 1986. Barker's second long-term relationship with photographer David Armstrong, ended in 2009.

In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.

Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.

Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.

Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.

Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.

A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid, (less)

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“Is there any good news?' Tesla said.
Who ever promised that? Who ever said there'd be good news?” — 39 people liked it

“Beautiful," Grillo said.
"Would Swift approve?"
"Fuck Swift."
"Somebody should have.” — 9 people liked it

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