By the mid-1990s, with a slew of bestselling novels, short story collections and comic-book series bearing his name, Clive Barker seemed poised to challenge Stephen King's preeminence as the leading producer of brand-name horror/fantasy fiction. Furthermore, whereas the Maine-based King has only dabbled in the visual media as an active creator, his younger English counterpart has embraced the movie business as a producer-writer-director since the late 80s. The workaholic Barker has also emerged as a thoughtful and articulate commentator on the horror genre.

Barker began his career in the arts