Nightbreed by Clive Barker

[Avelino de Castro]

This is one of my all time favorite books. With the evil psychiatrist tricking his patient into thinking he is a mass murderer, and sending him unknowingly into the arms of the real monsters of a place called Mydion, where he is accepted. Once he's dead...it's a quick read, and well worth it. The film adaptation is great too. It was directed by Clive Barker and starred Craig Sheffer and David Cronenburg.

 

[Avelino de Castro]

This is one of my all time favorite books. With the evil psychiatrist tricking his patient into thinking he is a mass murderer, and sending him unknowingly into the arms of the real monsters of a place called Mydion, where he is accepted. Once he's dead...it's a quick read, and well worth it. The film adaptation is great too. It was directed by Clive Barker and starred Craig Sheffer and David Cronenburg.

What makes the film version great is that Barker was able to bring the monsters he had described in the book to life with makeup...this movie is from the nineties no sgi to speak of. Any comments about this story or the plot are welcome. I enjoyed it so much I know I can't imagine I'm the only one.

 

[Night_Eternal]

Yes, I loved both Cabal and the movie it was based on! Barker is one of my inspirations, especially since he was good at being metaphorical without beating you over the head with a moral statement.

Have you ever seen the recent directors cut of Nightbreed? I just rewatched it again during a stoner movie night to see how it holds up, which I think it does quite well. The DC is Clive's vision and really is a flawed masterpiece (the pacing get's weird during the later parts of the movie in every version I've seen) that's ultimately a rewarding experience for those who get what he was trying to say. Worth the money if you're a fan of the original, too.

 

[Judderman]

I have read most of Clive Barker's books, many of which are fantastic (Imajica, Weaveworld, Damnation Game, Books of Blood volumes..), but I haven't read this. Mainly because I had already watched the film. Definitely a great watch!
Although he may be viewed as a horror writer, Barker really is amongst the pinnacle of fantasy writers. Sadly there are few novels from him in the last several years. He has conjured up more than enough world and character ideas for one man. The Scarlet Gospels was entertaining but not quite up to his prior work. Though I am sure he is keeping busy. I see Wikipedia shows a title of an upcoming novel.

Back to the Nightbreed Movie. I remember there were some great and disturbing looking creatures and characters there. The visuals and the rage of some of the characters really draws you in. The idea of Midian as a refuge seems easy to accept. Possibly hard to imagine that many of the inhabitants were peaceful characters in the past..

I was reading a comparison review where the reviewer thought overall the plot had been improved and was more polished in the movie compared to the book. Which is unusual.

 

[Justin_B]

The origin story of the inhabitants of Mydian has always intrigued me.
I wish both the book and movie delved into this more - essentially every fantastical creature, vampire, werewolf, dryad, siren, harpy and all others come from the same gene pool of other than human creatures, who after many years of war with humans lost the final battle and the will to wage war.

Some chose to flee - their bloodlines intact - some chose to hide amongst the humans, those with shapeshifter, chameleon or illusory abilities, these creatures breed with the humans (with varying degrees of success) and over centuries had been he source of all the mad geniuses, persons with superhuman strength, were-creatures, and all other manner of monster.
The premise is so rich.

 

[Judderman]

After reading your post Justin I googled this and found there is a selection of Midian horror tales. Not from Barker, though he does the foreword.

Amazon.com

 

[paranoid marvin]

I've not read the book, but the movie Nightbreed was pretty good; I definitely preferred it to the Hellraiser movies. It's a shame there was no sequel , oa remake, since. Barker does seem to have an odd imagination judging by the creatures he creates.

 

[BAYLOR]

I've not read the book, but the movie Nightbreed was pretty good; I definitely preferred it to the Hellraiser movies. It's a shame there was no sequel , oa remake, since. Barker does seem to have an odd imagination judging by the creatures he creates.

There was graphic novel crossover in which the Coenobites declared war on the Nightbreed.

 

[paranoid marvin]

There was graphic novel crossover in which the Coenobites declared war on the Nightbreed.

You could definitely see elements of the Coenobites in the Nightbreed inhabitants. That sounds like it would have made an interesting movie adaptation.

 

[Toby Frost]

I liked Cabal very much, and I thought the film was quite good overall. David Cronenberg was a very good villain, and a horror film in which you end up supporting the monsters is very much Clive Barker's kind of thing. It would be nice to see a remake of Nightbreed, although it would have to be done carefully and without too much CGI. I remember the film being a bit cheap-looking and cartoony at points.