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Clive Barker's A-Z of Horror was a six-part documentary series first broadcast on BBC2 on 4 October 1997. It was written and hosted by Clive Barker and explored the history of horror, from the cinema to art. Subjects included are the influence of the Grand Guignol, the literary works of Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft, the real life serial killer Ed Gein, the horror make-up effects of Tom Savini and director George A. Romero, as well as works of artist Franz Xaver Messerschmidt and the horror film icon Freddy Krueger. A tie-in book was released featuring art work by Barker and film reviews by Stephen Jones.
Episode One
- American Psycho
Clive Barker explores the Wisconsin farmer Ed Gein, who graduated from grave-robbing to murder in the fifties. Gein's story inspired three films: Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs. Directors and film stars explain how fiction fed off fact.
Episode Two
- The Devil You Know
Clive Barker asks what made The Exorcist one of the scariest horror movies ever. He also looks at the work of New England writer Shirley Jackson and the film The Haunting, based on one of her novels. Also a sculptor, who captured the face of madness, and the hyping of horror B movies.
Episode Three
- The Kingdom of the Dead
A look at the cult classic film Night of the Living Dead, made by George A. Romero and group of friends on a shoestring budget. Plus a visit to the home of film director Roger Corman, the connection between English castles and American novelist Edgar Allan Poe and the enduring imagery of blood.
Episode Four
- Broken Homes
John Carpenter, director of Halloween, explains how that night can turn the serenity of suburban streets into a scene of fear and carnage. Plus techno-horror movies in Japan and the subversive power of evil children in horror stories.
Episode Five
- A Fate Worse Than Death
Clive Barker explores the work of Dennis Wheatley, where the supernatural is bound up with an unmistakeable Englishness. Plus the tragedy behind The Crow.
Episode Six
- Beyond Good and Evil
Clive Barker concludes the series by profiling horror-actress Barbara Steele. He also investigates the world of Ira Levin's 1967 novel Rosemary's Baby and Roman Polanski's 1968 film adaptation, and the links between novelist H. P. Lovecraft and a small town in New England.
Book
Clive Barker's A-Z of Horror, compiled by Stephen Jones, BBC Books, 1997, ISBN 0-563-37152-8.
External links
- A-Z of Horror on Clive Barker's website
- A-Z of Horror at IMDb
- Clive Barker's A-Z of Horror BBC2 on bbc.co.uk genome
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- BBC television documentaries
- British horror fiction television series
- Works by Clive Barker
- 1997 British television series debuts
- 1997 British television series endings
- 1990s British horror television series
- 1990s British documentary television series
- British English-language television shows
- BBC Television show stubs