The Forbidden is a novelette written by Clive Barker. It was first published in the collection Books of Blood, Volume V in 1985. The story was later adapted for the film Candyman.
Description[]
Helen is a university student doing a thesis on graffiti who selects a run-down estate as a focus for her study. She notices disturbing graffiti that references an urban legend called the Candyman. Further inquiries lead her to believe this is connected with recent murders and mutilations, although the locals are reluctant to discuss the incidents. She eventually encounters the Candyman himself.