I recommend most of Barker’s work as he is truly a master of horror. While Tony Todd is and forever will be the Candyman, Barker’s portrayal of him in The Forbidden was different, but no less creeptastic. We don’t get an origin story in The Forbidden, but the classic line of, “Be my victim” is there. And the premise of immortality through victim-hood and fatality underlies the end. For me, Candyman was one of my favorites and still is. It is a story about urban legends come to life, of how a downtrodden community protects their own. Any that are familiar with Barker’s writing knows that he has a way of creating a setting. The juxtaposition of new construction that was the pride of the city that quickly turned into abandoned flats and tagged walls are beautifully described from the outset. His depiction of the dilapidated housing estate sets the mood early, while in sharp contrast to Helen’s home life with Trevor clearly separates the haves from the have nots.Īlong with his setting of mood and tone early on, Barker increases the tension as a slow burn at first, but then cranks up the heat (*spoiler: quite literally at the end) and the readers are racing toward the character's final demise. This is one of those stories where I can’t definitively decide which is better, the story or the movie. Helen Buchanan is working on her thesis on graffiti in a rundown set of council estates when she accidentally discovers there is something more than. The Forbidden is a short story by Clive Barker that inspired the movie Candyman. 'The Forbidden' is a short story written by Clive Barker in 1985 as a part of the 5th volume of his anthology The Books of Blood, and the original inspiration behind the Candyman film series.

The forbidden clive barker summary