Clive Barker is one of the premiere contemporary writers of horror novels. Born, raised and educated in England, Barker started out as founder, playwright and director of a small theater group in London that staged such interestingly titled plays as Frankenstein in Love and The History of the Devil. When not working at the theater, Barker began writing short horror stories. He didn't think there was much of a market for them, but he was wrong, and his work began appearing in magazines. Eventually his stories were published as a three volume set and titled The Books of Blood. They became quite popular and enabled Barker to begin writing and directing horror films; he also worked as executive producer on some of his films. As a filmmaker, Barker attempts to create serious, non-campy horror films. He debuted as a director in 1987 with Hellraiser, which is based on one of his novellas and features a character Barker calls "the Noel Coward of the lower depths," but who audiences more affectionately refer to as "Pinhead." The film was a critical and box-office success. Barker went on to produce two sequels and to occasionally act in films. More recently, he has moved towards writing fantasy fiction. In 1992, he wrote and illustrated a children's book, The Thief of Always.