Clive Barker fans are in for a treat as the master of the macabre will be the focus of the latest Miskatonic Institute of Horror Stories class. Named for the fictional university in H.P. Lovecraft’s literary mythos, the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is an international organisation that offers university-level history, theory and production masterclasses for people of all ages. It was founded by film writer and programmer Kier-La Janisse in March 2010, has regular branches in London, New York and L.A., and also presents special events worldwide.
The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies closes out the Spring 2019 season with a deep dive into the works of horror visionary Clive Barker, focusing on his books, films, and reoccurring themes of sex, death, religion, and selling one’s soul. The event, ‘Hellbound Hearts: The Dark Art of Clive Barker’, is being held on 9th May at the Horse Hospital London. Ticket details, and more information at the class can be found below:
Date: Thu. May 9th 2019
Time: 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Venue: The Horse Hospital
Admission – £10 advance / £11 on the door / £8 concs (can be purchased here)
A polymath of considerable artistic importance in the horror genre, Clive Barker has been a mainstay in horror culture since the mid-1980s, and has won critical and fan appreciation for his various strange and often beautiful creations, which have been curiously overlooked outside of horror circles. This class will examine his uniquely abject and original artistry, beginning with the splatterpunk delights of Books of Blood (1984-5), The Damnation Game (1985), and The Hellbound Heart (1986) through to his fusions with the dark fantastic and YA fiction in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), and Abarat series (2002 -), among other popular titles. Barker’s own films, as a writer and director, in the 1980s and 1990s will also be examined to analyse their familiar Barkerian elements (sex, death, religion, belonging, selling one’s soul) alongside themes and motifs on monstrosity, cultural rejection, secret desires and appetites, torment and the limits of excess and power. With the aid of clips, sketches, posters, and archive material, in this lecture we will trace and present core themes and ideas that run riot throughout his fiction and film, and invite you to (re)discover Barker’s enduring legacy and unique contribution to horror culture.
For more information on Miskatonic and future courses head to: https://www.miskatonicinstitute.com.
