The Forbidden (short story)

"The Forbidden" is a short story written in 1985 by horror novelist Clive Barker. It was included as the first story in the fifth volume of the "Books of Blood" anthology series. In the United States, the book was retitled In the Flesh. "The Forbidden" is loosely based on a 1978 film short directed by Barker by the same name. It was later expanded upon and adapted into a 1992 feature film by Bernard Rose under the name Candyman. The Candyman film proved to be successful enough to spawn two sequels.