Clive Barker is an English writer, filmmaker, and visual artist. Born on 5 October 1952, he rose to prominence in the 1980s with a series of short stories collectively named the Books of Blood, which established him as a leading horror author. Many of his works have been adapted into films, notably the Hellraiser series (the first installment of which he also wrote and directed) and the Candyman series.

Barker's paintings and illustrations have been exhibited in galleries across the United States and have appeared in his books. He has also created characters and series for comic books, and some of his more popular horror stories have been featured in ongoing comics series.

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, Barker studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University, where his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department.

In Liverpool in 1975, he met his first partner, John Gregson, with whom he lived until 1986. Barker's second long-term relationship was with photographer David Armstrong, which ended in 2009. In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards, presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual."