The Forbidden

by Clive Barker

Set in the late 70s, in and around a high rise council estate rife with urban myths and legends, this story later went on to be the inspiration for Bernard Rose’s ‘Candyman’ film. A short story by the celebrated author Clive Barker.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Audiobook, Novels

53 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 21, 2013

About the author

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,

Reviews

[Eloy Cryptkeeper · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Aunque los monstruos rara vez eran muy terribles cuando se los sacaba a la luz del día. Mientras a aquel hombre se lo conociera sólo por sus actos, ejercería un control inenarrable sobre la imaginación; pero la verdad humana, oculta tras los terrores, sería amargamente decepcionante. No sería un monstruo, sino una pálida excusa de hombre, más necesitado de piedad que de pavor"

"Aquel despliegue era necesario para mantener su atención. Milagros, asesinatos, demonios liberados, piedras rodando de las tumbas. El barato encanto no corrompía el sentido oculto. En la historia natural de la mente, sólo las plumas brillantes atraen a las especies para aparearse con su yo secreto(..)
Dirán que sus dudas derramaron sangre inocente. Pero yo digo: ¿para qué sirve la sangre, sino para ser derramada? Y con el tiempo, las preguntas quedarán atrás. La policía se irá, las cámaras enfocarán nuevos horrores, y volverán a estar solos para contar más historias sobre el caramelero"

4.5*
Helen se encuentra preparando una tesis sobre los graffitis como representación semiótica de la desesperanza y el hastío social. Dicha tesis la lleva a una urbanización en la calle Spector, que es un fiel reflejo de esta desesperanza, y en la cual prima el olvido, la delincuencia, la vandalizacion.. donde se ocultaba a la vista del público a los indeseables y a los pobres.
En medio de este trabajo de campo descubre un retrato inquietante y vívido que le llama particularmente la atención, y la frase "dulces para los dulces". A su vez por los pasillos de la urbanización ronda un mito urbano y rumores sobre asesinatos. Todo parece guardar cierta relación " en silencio se preguntó cuánto habría de invención en todo ello, en lo de los ojos arrancados, el cuerpo pudriéndose en el apartamento, el gancho. Lo cierto era que hasta el más escrupuloso de los reporteros sentía la tentación de embellecer una historia de vez en cuando"

Es una historia de terror con bastante misterio y contenido psicológico y sociológico.
Habla de como Las personas guardan diferente relación con la muerte.
Como puede cobrar fuerza un mito urbano o cualquier otra cosa dependiendo de la entidad que la misma gente le de .
Y por encima hace una critica de como el poder de turno puede llegar a tratar a la gente marginal o postergada...Escondiéndola debajo de la alfombra.

En cuanto al antagonista: El de candyman en un caso parecido al de Pinhead. Si bien el ultimo ni aparece en " hellbound heart" y se habla de los cenobitas mas genéricamente.
En este caso Candyman hace su aparición, pero no se sabe mucho de su historia, su pasado, motivaciones.
En ambos casos en las versiones cinematográficas, por el contrario, tienen mas preponderancia como villanos propiamente dichos .Con una imagen fuerte, con presencia, para un uso mas comercial y obviamente visual .Y eso sirvió para que ambas franquicias gocen de cierto éxito, al menos para lo que son las películas de culto.

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Forbidden is a short horror story revolving around the urban legend of "The Candyman". Though the story doesn't scare the wit out of you, it is still captivating enough that it just hooks you in.

[Jonfaith · Rating 2 out of 5]

A coworker wanted me to read this, knowing I’m quite the fan of the film Candyman. Alas, the original story captures the despair of a Thatcher era Liverpool housing estate and not the horrors of the Cabrini-Green projects in Chicago. Such is an important distinction, one largely maintained by the racial charge of the film. I felt that the apparition’s need for an oral tradition to maintain itself was but a pale totem (no pun intended), one which could stir but likely not terrify.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I randomly watched Candyman (2021) when it came out. Afterwards I decided to watch the original. It's a fascinating story, so of course I had to read the short story that spawned this franchise. The writing was absolutely flawless--crisp but descriptive without being flowery. This was my first Clive Barker, and I honestly had no idea he could write so well. While the story doesn't go into as much detail as the movie (which provides a backstory for the titular villain), I still love the concept.

[Emleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Candyman is one of my favorite movies, so my reading of this story is long overdue. Trying to review it on its own merit, I would say it's a compelling and enjoyable short story. It's difficult not to compare it to the movie, which is more fleshed out and has Tony Todd, so I would definitely say the movie is better, but if you're already a fan, I recommend taking in this source material.

[Persy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What’s so taboo about death?”

When I started reading this story, I had no idea it was the source material and inspiration for the film Candyman, and was pleasantly surprised when the man himself was revealed.

A very interesting rumination on the enticing nature of death and how we remember the dead. The grislier the death, the better the story, after all.

“Sweets to the sweet.”

*From Clive Barker’s Books of Blood Vol. 5

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Khian Reaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

The creation of the story we call " The Candyman". I think this short story was much more scary than watching the movie. Found the free PDF online and could not stop reading it.

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Candyman [before his legend was Anericanized]

[David's Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short story from The Books of Blood, volume five. The movie Candyman is based on this story. I found it very creepy and atmospheric, with intriguing characters and an excellent villain.

This story focuses on Helen who has come to the Spector Street Estate, to photograph and study graffiti, for her local university. While there she interacts with numerous residents, who keep to themselves and crime is a daily accruance. Helen discovers that several murders have happened on the estate and chooses to investigate. What she discovers is a figure who isn't human or even of this world. Who is romantic, charming and well educated but at the same time a vicious killer. His name, Candyman.

SWEETS TO THE SWEET!

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the short story that the movie Candyman is based on. I found it very creepy and atmospheric, with intriguing characters and an excellent villain. The unsettled feeling I had reading is exactly what I want when I read a horror story. It is a chilling story told with eerie perfection. The scene Barker paints with words is much more vivid than what was in the second 2021 movie (never seen the original 1992 movie).

[Nour (FREE PALESTINE) Books]

have you ever seen a book and thought "OMG THIS EXSISTS? GIVE IT TO ME RIGHT NOW!!"?
well thats me right now

[Corcu · Rating 5 out of 5]

esti relato cortu si ta guapu, no como el otru que intenté leer de esti autor que yera un desbabaye.

Al final ye una historia de les diferencies entre clase alta y obrera, que esta muy guay construida. La peli de candyman se basa n esti relatu (Aqui llámenlo el Caramelero). De lo que leí hasta agora Clive Barker funciona mucho meyor en histories cortes como esta.

[Luke Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, Barker continues to amaze me. Watched Candyman (1992) for the first time right after and I got to compare the two on the Ink to Film Podcast!

Episode available wherever podcasts are 📲, or:
Apple https://bit.ly/Candyman92
Spotify https://bit.ly/Candyman92film
Podchaser https://bit.ly/Candyman92Film

[LogFanJams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly I just wanted to read this because I love the movie Candyman and despite the differences between this and the movie this story rules

[Rogério Augusto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Você parou para pensar que coisas ruins como o medo, o desespero, o horror e a própria morte podem ter um sabor? Se ao invés desse sabor for algo amargo como fel, tivesse em sua boca o gosto de algodão doce, ou do próprio mel. Pois bem, embarque nas linhas comigo, e vamos falar de Candyman!

Candyman é um conto do escritor britânico Clive Barker. Originalmente escrito como The Forbidden, (O Proibido, em uma livre tradução), nos é trazido aqui ao Brasil pela editora Darkside Books, em uma edição exclusiva. (Sim, amigos. Apenas aqui em nossas terras não tão tupiniquins, temos esse conto em formato de história única). Nessas 112 páginas, conhecemos a universitária Helen Buchanan. Ela está trabalhando em uma tese acadêmica sobre pichações em locais públicos, sua representação, relevância, influência na sociedade e como são vistas em um padrão estético. Para se aprofundar em sua pesquisa ela escolhe um decadente conjunto habitacional localizado em Spector Street.

O local possui um acervo de arte de rua (ou para muitas pessoas, uma galeria de vandalismo), de construções miseráveis, abandonadas, tomadas pela imundice e desrespeito humano. Em um entre tantos apartamentos desabrigados na região, Helen fica encantada com o desenho de uma cabeça peculiar pichada e próximo dela a seguinte frase: “Doces para um doce”. Estes dois itens possuem uma aura de lenda urbana que instigam seu lado pesquisador e investigativo e a levam por um caminho que não tinha nada a ver com o que ela buscava: lendas urbanas.

“Doces para um doce.”

Helen é levada a esse caminho quando conversa com uma das moradoras locais, e descobre que Spector Street é tão excluída perante o resto da cidade que ocorreram assassinatos brutais nessa região e estes nunca obtiveram grandes proporções na mídia.

Além das lendas urbanas, o autor trabalha uma característica um tanto quanto comum no universo acadêmico: a arrogância que atinge os universitários, mostrando como se sentem superiores quando se trata sobre histórias que acercam as mais variadas comunidades. Um erro grotesco, pois em muitos campos no mundo acadêmico, principalmente se levar em consideração na área de ciências humanas, o relato oral é uma importante fonte histórica que auxilia estudiosos para compreender melhor a construção da história humana e suas relações com o ambiente em que determinado grupo de seres humanos se encontram.

“Para que serve o sangue, senão para ser derramado?”

Entre esses colegas universitários está o marido de Helen. Os dois não se encontram em uma relação saudável. Constantemente eles entram em discussões que são uma espécie de jogos mentais para massagear o próprio ego. Mas, ao contrário de seu cônjuge, ela se encontra cada vez mais cansada. A situação que deixou de ser um desafio para uma rotina que deixa complicado o relacionamento do casal.

“O que os bons sabem?” Disse ele. “Além do que os maus lhes ensinam com seus excessos?”

Como falei logo de início, seria possível o terror ter um gosto doce? Helen descobre isso quando aparece para ela Candyman, ou no nosso Português, Homem-Doce. Ele é temido e de certa forma, endeusado pela comunidade em que sua lenda é conhecida. As mortes e o derramamento de sangue que esse ser leva para Spector Street é o que dá vida ao local. Um tanto quanto irônico, não é? Outra característica para ser ressaltada sobre Candyman acaba se tornando sua necessidade em se fazer as pessoas crerem que ele é mais que uma lenda, mas sim algo real. O sobrenatural capaz de trazer equilíbrio em nossas vidas.

Eu já havia ouvido falar no autor e em algumas de suas obras mais famosas, como Hellraiser e Evangelho de Sangue, mas nunca tive a experiência de ler ou assistir algumas de suas histórias. Dando uma olhada em sua biografia, puder ver que entre suas influências estão nomes consagrados do horror como Stephen King, H. P. Lovecraft e Edgar Allan Poe. Difícil se inspirar em nomes tão fortes e fazer algo errado.

Enfim, acredito que com Candyman entrei com o pé direito nessa relação de leitor, livro e escritor. Terminei o livro e termino essa resenha com um gostinho de quero mais. Esse gosto é um pouco doce, o que me faz pensar que é melhor eu ter cuidado!

[Tiffany Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Forbidden
In this short story -that inspired the Candyman movies- Helen (a student) goes to a old (now falling apart due to it’s residence) estate on Spectre Street to photograph some of it’s colorful (grafetti) art. The pictures are for her thesis (paper) on ‘Graffiti: the semiotics of urban despair’ While she’s doing this, she attracts the attention of one of the residents (who thinks she’s from the Council-coming to get the Graffiti taken down) and her son (Keey)whose in a stroller. Helen finds out from this lady (Anne Marie) that there’s more graffetti inside the flats where she stays and she offers to show it to her.

Inside one of the apartments, Helen finds more of the same scribblings, obscenities, and crude drawings on the walls. In a bed room, Helen finds it door has been used as a mouth with a sprayed on head. The artist used lots of detail. The face is buttermilk in tone and has protruding cheekbones, sharp irregular teeth, and knotted hair that snaked across the ceiling. The image seems to come alive and has Helen frozen. She vows to come back the next day and photogragh it. Underneath it is the phrase “Sweets for the Sweet”.

While having tea with Anna Marie, Helen finds out there have been murders. There was a man who got sliced and diced in his living room. Also, his eyes had been removed-among other things-. The murder was never found because the police don’t come around. The murder was said to have a hook for a hand. She tells Trevor later, but he makes light of it. He suggests she go back and ask around if she’s so concerned about it. So she returns back to apartment 14 and gets pictures of the living and bed room.

Eventually, the same little boy that invited Helen upstairs on the previous visit shows up in the room -again- and says he waited for her to come back. He tells about Bonfire Night next week-after she sees what looks like preparations-. She asked him about the murdered man and he says he doesn’t know anything about it. Helen sees two women taking their laundry in and finds out from them there was a mentally challenged guy-around 20- who was with his mother and he went to the toilet. The mother got distracted. When she got out, he still wasn’t there. When they found him, he was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, attacked with a razor, private parts cut off.

Now he’s practically am inbecile. No one saw anyone come in or out. One of the women heard something about an old man and his dog that were battered to death. After this, Helen looks around the apartments some more. In one area, she sees the phrase again “Sweets For The Sweet”. She passes the toilets and thinks of the young man. Helen has dinner with some of Trevor’s collegues and they get into a debate over whether there was any truth to what the people told her.

One named Purnell says it’s just myths that get told by “bored housewives” but there’s no proof. Helen thinks about this and has to admit when the ladies spoke about the man he wasn’t in *their” area. (Meaning she got a different version of the story). Helen goes back to Spector Street. Trevor is gone all weekend -with one of his woman-. Helen goes over to Anne Marie’s but this time she acts coldly to her. She says she doesn’t remember telling her about an old man. She tells her she shouldn’t have come. She tells her people are watching. Then she tells her whatever she said she lied about it.

She asks about laboratories at the supermarket and the owner acts like he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She sees one of the women she spoke to (Josie) but she hurries off without a glance when Helen calls her name. Helen realizes she’s been lied to and decides to go home. First tho she has to see 14 again (to see the painting) but it’s been blocked off by councilmen. So, she slips around back and looks though one of the windows. A shadow moving across the room startles her. Then she hears whining and something leaps at the window (and makes scratching noises). Helen tells herself it’s a big dog She hears scratching. It stops momentarily then it starts again.

Helen leaves the window and hears sirens. A crowd gathers and Helen notices the commotion is coming from around Anne-Marie’s place. A man says someone is dead but that’s all he knows. A woman says someone got into the house around the back and slit Kerry’s throat. Helen is in disbelief and leaves (disgusted with the people there). When she tells Trevor later, he’s ready to believe there’s a maniac but now Helen doesn’t want to believe the theories. She thinks about how Anna-Marie acted and wonders if she were possibly waiting on someone. Could this someone have been the killer?

Helen remembers the dog and mentions it, (worried that the dog will starve trapped in the room) but Trevor says forget the dog (and the child). He thinks that the apartment might be a temporary kennel. The next day she finds out Anne Marie has been taken in for questioning to account for the missing hours that weren’t reported between when the child died and when the call was made. Helen goes to the station to tell them she was there. The detective says there weren’t any other murders. Muggings yes. Murders no. He says they get a lot of stories too.

Anne Marie is released and a funeral is announced for the next day. Helen decides to go join the mourners watch the funeral procession. . She sees Anne-Marie pass her in the hearse. Helen then goes back to the apartments. This time the door is open. As she’s looking at the portrait, she notices something shiny on the matress. It’s wrapped chocolates and caramels. Among then are bloody razor blades. When she looks up there’s a man in the doorway -and he’s buzzing-.

The man says he came for her because she doubted him. The man has a hook hand. He calls himself “The Candyman”. Helen feels like she’s known him and realizes he’s the man in the picture. Helen is captivated, but she throws a blanket and a pillow at him. It’s not a pillow. It’s.. the body of baby Kerry. She sees that the torso of his stomach is home to a nest of beees. He says “Sweets for the Sweets” and asks if she believes in him. She begs not to be killed and he says it’s better to be dead and live in people’s dreams. He asks her to be his victim, but he says he won’t force it on her. He says she could be the stuff of legends.

Helen says she’d prefer to be forgotten. He says he won’t kill her but he asks her a kiss. Bees are now all around him. In his mouth and hair. She pushes him but now his hook scratches her neck. Bees swarm all around her. Helen surrenders to the darkness and when she opens her eyes she’s laying on the mattress Her neck is untouched. Her clothes aren’t bloody. The “Candyman” must have gotten his kiss. Helen realizes the neighboors *knew*. They knew what her presence meet. They must have sacrificed the baby and used the dogs body in the casket. She’s about to take the body to the police, but Anne-Marie comes in, picks it up, and leaves.

She follows Anne-Marie to the Bonfire and realizes she’s about to cover this up by cremating the body. Helen goes after the body but loses sight of the corpse. She finds it, and can’t reach it. She finally gets to it and picks it up. Something touches her arm. A voice says he knew she’d come and she falls backward. He catches her and holds her close (preventing her from getting to the body). All she can do is watch, scream, and burn herself. Trevor comes and Helen hopes he sees her. Not to save her, but to have something to haunt him,

My Thoughts:
Very interesting! Imagine my surprise to find out that the movie “The Candyman” was taken from a short story. At first I thought that in order to do the review I’d have to read the full collection called Books of Blood Volume 6 just for the one story. The short story couldn’t be found on it’s own, but luckily some very smart person put the solo book here (on Good reads).

This year as I worked on my own project, I was led to look at the different men of horror. I was delighted to find that “The Candy Man” was *the* perfect fit for something I had in mind. So, I begin to immediately to try to watch all 4 movies (“The Candyman”, “Day of the Dead”, “Farewell to the Flesh”, and “Candyman”). On this watch weven the last one made more sense than when I’d watched it at a family Halloween party.

This short story was just as good as the movie (movies) made from it. I think the most interesting (and shocking) part for me was at the end of the story when Helen discovers that Anne-Marie actually gave the baby TO the Candyman as a sacrifice. It went a little differently in the movie. I might at some point read the rest of the stories in these volumes just based on this one

Rating: 7 and a half.

[Gloria Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really interesting companion piece to 'Candyman' the film. In its shorter form, the story feels more honed in on many of the core ideas without the distractions of the film's second half detour into insanity and murder or even the gang plotlines in the first half. It's a stronger whole work but also feels incomplete both narratively in its only brief inclusion of the Candyman character and mythology but also thematically with how the film's focus on race is mostly implied here with more subtle references to class than skin tone. I finished the short story excited to revisit the film to see how they improved on it only to finish the film thinking it kind of muddled a lot of the core ideas of the book and frankly I don't think either is a "definitive" version of the tale, but considering the audiobook of the short story and the runtime of the film are about the same length, try them both! As its own work, I like The Forbidden, though I didn't find it particularly scary. Barker does a really good job drawing attention to the idea of Helen as an outsider without some explicit threat around her as we see in the film. While its final act seems to rush (especially compared to the film) it's a more evocative sequence than the more heroic climax of the film and thankfully skips the rather silly final scene of the film. Honestly, I'm just excited to see the other Candyman movies. This story and "franchise" have a lot of interesting ideas and I'd love to see the tone and pace of the story combined with some of the iconic iconography and more importantly score of the film.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clive Barker's books are astoundingly terrorizing! I got to where I was too afraid to keep on reading but, too scared to put it down! 100% better then even Stephen King!!!!

[Courtney Schafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read. The unsettled feeling I had reading is exactly what I want when I read a horror story.

I know the movie Candyman is based off this story and it is a very good adaption.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, lovely little story. Not quite what you'd expect if you watch Candyman first, which I did but I've found that I'm more forgiving of movies if I read the book after.

[Kubilay K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barker, seksenler atmosferinde kaleme aldığı, "The Forbidden" hikâyesinde bizi Helen'la tanıştırır. Orta-üst sınıf ayrıcalığının stereotipi Helen, bitirme tezi "Grafiti: Kentsel Umutsuzluğun Göstergebilimi" üzerinde çalışırken kendine "materyal" olarak İngiliz varoşu Spectetor Street Estate'ı seçer. Betonarme hissizliğin, terkedilmiş dairelerin, paslanmış direklerle devrilmiş çitlerin mekanında beklenmedik bir hikâye onu karşılar. Kamerası ve sorularıyla tanımadığı hayatları parti anekdotlarına çevirmenin gelip giden bilinci içinde boğuşan Helen, bir varoş mitosu içinde bulur kendini. Fakirliğin ve dışlanmışlığın kollarında bu "tatlı" kızı sayısız "tatlı" ile beklemektedir Candyman. Barker bu noktada okuruna, kısa zamanda derinlikli karakterler, hızla ama ustalıkla inşa edilmiş bir evren, etkileyici alt metinlere işaret eden diyaloglarla dolu bir hikâye sunarken aslında kolektif bilinçaltımıza yeni bir "canavar" da armağan eder. Bu canavar, bir sorudan doğar aslında: Bizi korkutan şey nedir sahi? Doğumu başlatan uyaran, sorunun başında heyula gibi yükselen "biz"dir. Barker'ın İngiliz varoşlarında, sınıf ayrımının göbeğinde, akademik esintili akşam yemeklerine meze olan "onlar"ı; sayısız beyaz perde macerasına evrilip, nihayetinde Nia  DaCosta'nın 2021 yapımı filminde Amerikan rüyasının getto yaratım-yıkım döngüsünün orta yerinde nesneleştirilen, her devrin ötekisi siyahilere dönüşür. Candyman, "biz" neysek onun tam da zıttıdır aslında. Candyman, acı acı yankılanan sirenlerin sokaklarında beyaz çizmeler altında "nefes alamayan" George Floyd'ların can suyudur. Anlatılan zamansız ötekidir. Kan dökülecek, polisler gelip gidecek, kameralar yeni "manzaralar" peşinde koşarken, ötekilerin hikâyesi anlatılmaya devam edecektir. Barker'ın "The Forbidden"ı gösteri toplumunun beş kere dilenerek eğlenceyi "ayağına getirme" arzusunun modern korku mitosumuzun temeli olduğu gerçeğini doğurduğu için de bu kadar özel ve bu kadar önemlidir.

[Lavon Youins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was driven to read the inspiration for "Candyman" after the trailer for Jordan Peele's sequel dropped yesterday.
Holy $***!
The film shares the same elements and trajectory of the short story (although the story takes place in the UK and the physical description of Candyman is subtly different), but it's the prose that really sets it apart ftom the film. Whereas there's an elegance about the film, in large part because of the score and Tony Todd's portrayal, the story has a certain perverse, Shirley Jackson-esque quality that evokes such a maddening, chilling state about the reader's person. And the content gets GRISLY!
I appreciate the social commentary of classism in the story.
This is an extremely effective horror story and I'm so happy that I finally read it.

[Niklas Zenius Jespersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novellen bag "Candyman" filmen (som efter min mening er et filmisk mesterværk i dens evne til at kombinere gys og social kritik). Novellen er god og rigtig godt skrevet, men historien er ikke ligeså uddybet som i filmen og det er de sociale budskaber heller ikke. Den er dog alligevel rigtig spændende, især i beskrivelsen af mødet mellem den (pseudo-)intellektuelle og velhavende gruppe og de fattige og beskrivelsen af de sociale forhold er flere steder interessang bearbejdet. Desværre er synet på de fattige i bogen, modsat filmens, dog for overdreven problematisk og negativt. Det trækker ned og jeg var i tvivl om den fortjente 3 eller 4 stjerner.

[Poppy✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I think the movie takes this story and expands on it tenfold. I really enjoyed Barker’s style of writing and his descriptions made for a very disturbing and grotesque image. I think what the movie lacks is the ability to convey smells because if I knew how the Candyman’s sweetness pervaded everything, I would be weirdly more sketched out.

Full disclosure: I read this story within ‘In the Flesh’, the short story collection. At the moment I don’t have much interest in reading the other stories hence why I’ve reviewed it separately.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helen is writing a paper on urban graffitis and comes across some mysterious murders. Who did it? Clive Barker is delivering a masterly piece of horror fiction slowly building up in tension and having a furious final. The characters were very well drawn and the atmosphere very depressing and eerie. A great piece of horror fiction on a urban legend! I didn't read anything from Barker in ages and was positively surprised of this novella. Highly recommended!

[Cora W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good read, very short, amazing movies (still have yet to watch the second one). Some of my favourite quotes:

"On occasion their circle seemed entirely dominated by educated fools, lost in a wasteland of stale rhetoric and hollow commitment."

"Her vocabulary was analytic, replete with buzz- words and academic terminology, but woefully impoverished when it came to evocation."

"But I say what's blood for, if not for shedding?"

[Peter Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling story told with eerie perfection. The scene Barker paints with words is much more vivid than what was in the film. Though the Candyman's backstory was not in this originating short story, the depth and creepiness of the character is no less satisfying!

[ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t say this often because I have the attention span of that dog from Up, but I almost wish this short story was.....more. Longer, expanded upon, perhaps. But given more thought, too much of a sweet thing can be cloying - so maybe Clive Barker knew better than I and left well enough alone.

[Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are almost no differences between the story and the film. Only when reading this story in writing I realized that the final scene was unnecessary. I mean why did Candyman let Helen survive If he would end her life in less than 5 pages later anyway?

Yeap. Sorry for the spoiler.