Note on this edition: this is an electronic version of the 1999 book ...

The (Un)Traditionalist: Clive Barker’s Devil 203(and God as its embodiment) does not exist any more. However, the deathof God is not perhaps metaphysically as interesting as is the figure of theDevil in itself; he seems to be as ignorant of his own best, of his true desiresand of his self as any imperfect human being. Barker’s Devil is the one trulypossessed. In his deeply problematic condition and moral vacillation he becomes,if not admirable, at least a sympathetic and interesting, many-sidedfigure.This “human interest” in the persona of Devil is apparent also in thedenouement. The Devil betrays his fellow demons in order to have Heavenall to himself; after a while he returns in a terrible rage – having been betrayed.In the end of the play only the binds between people are affirmed asvalid. (It is left unclear what power forces the Devil to respect the judgement,if God exists no more.) The play ends on a high note that is typicalfor an important part of contemporary horror: even the monsters are nolonger totally others. The Devil is joined by Jane Beck, who gently leads herlover away. Even the Devil is not absolutely rejected in this context: themany voices on stage react differently to him and the end result is characteristicallypolyphonic.Clive Barker is unquestionably one of the most important current authorsworking within the horror genre. His most recent novels have broadenedthe scope of horror and simultaneously dissolved the boundaries betweenhorror, fantasy and mainstream writing. He is not alone in this development.He is, however, probably the most systematic in his use of demonicelements, especially as images of fantastic tortures and bodily deformations.As in the popular Hellraiser series, his demons are still recognisable as humans– what they were before their extreme desires lead them beyond thelimits of humanity. 36 “The History of the Devil” is an interesting rewritingof the Christian diabolical tradition; the Devil is described as an ambivalentfigure that in many different ways gives voice to the painful borderlines ofhumanity. Barker has identified his Devil particularly with the liminal areasof sexuality, death and violence. As the Devil is not completely rejected butgiven a possibility of defending his own position, the “monstrosities” and“perversions” of the traditional Devil are articulated as parts of ourselves, ofhumanity.This project of adapting the rejected or the demonic into cultural productionis on Barker’s part a conscious decision. He has given in his numerousarticles and interviews many justifications for this sort of art; the followingcomment captures his vision of horror stories, and well expresses thedifferent levels of application and different functions that contemporaryhorror aims to serve.Stories of the body: the doomed machine in which we awaken, prone tothe frailties of age and corruptions of disease. Stories of the mind: a systemstriving for reason and balance while the ape and the lizard we were –36See below, page 219.