Beneath the Surface of Clive Barker’s
Abarat
I dreamed a limitless book, A book unbound,
Its leaves scattered in fantastic abundance.
On every line there was a new horizon drawn, New heavens supposed; New states, new souls.
One of those souls,
Dozing through some imagined afternoon, Dreamed these words,
And needing a hand to set them down, Made mine.
C.B.
Contents
The Harbours, and How They Ended
Thieves, Clowns and Candles
A Wizard With Five Hats
Pain ng The Abarat
The Hours Take Shape
The Abarat Archipelago
The Storyteller
It’s a Book!
Beneath the Surface
of Clive Barker’s
Abarat
Volume 1
e‐book edi on
published by
Phil and Sarah Stokes
London, 2011
www.clivebarker.info
Text © Clive Barker, Phil and
Sarah Stokes 2011
All artwork © Clive Barker
2011
6
10
14
16
30
42
50
54
Contents
Doodle
Abara an Wri ng
Magical Moments
Ques oning Clive
Absolute Midnight, and More...
An Abara an Glossary
58
68
70
72
92
102
The Harbours; and How They Ended
It used to be that the ships – the clippers and the schooners, the might four‐masters – came all the
time to Hark’s Harbour.
They came om the islands, car ing eights of spice and f r aces and fer agon, their white sails filled
with a wind that smelt of foreig soil. Smelt too of the forests that g ew tall and dreaming‐dark in that
soil; and of the it that hung ripe om the branches of the t ees in those forests – of the yesca pears
and the night‐jewel cher ies and the thousand‐seeded pomeg anates. And of the wine that was made
om those pears and cher ies and pomeg anates; and the pungent smell of the magic that seeped om
the pores of the men and women who drank that wine.
But st ong drink can be t eacherous. It makes the cautious loose‐
tempered; and it makes easy marks of those unprepared for
t icker , especially in commercial ma ers. Too osten the captains
of those heroic ships were cheated of the t e value of their
cargoes by immaculate men who came om Boston and
Philadelphia, swearing secrecy as to the existence of Hark’s
Harbour so as to keep their holds on the market.
When the merchants who’d sent their honest captains to do
honest t ade discovered that they’d been cheated there was
t ouble.
The men om Boston and Philadelphia, sensing a change in the
air, took to car ing pistols with mother of pearl handles, or
brought to their dealings men who had only recently been slaves,
and knew how to fight.
Sometimes there were duels, and the men fought honourably
according to the r les of such affairs. But more osten than not
things descended into quick, br tal massacres. No doubt there
was fault on both sides, but it was chiefly the men of this world,
called the Hereaster, who were the wrongdoers. Many a good
captain died in the dark, his throat slit before he could say a
prayer for his soul.
At leng h, aster much blood had been spilt, it was decided: the
t ade was to stop. The clippers and the schooners would no
longer r n before those char ed winds. The seven harbours that
ser ed the islands would be closed down, per anently.
The quaysides were duly demolished; the warehouses tor down,
the lighthouses toppled and the buoys sunk.
Aster a time, the g ass g ew tall over the remains of Hark’s
Harbour.
The Harbours; and How They Ended
Previous page: The Burning of Hark’s Harbour (detail).
Above: Henry Murki ’s sextant.
Below: Samuel Hastrim Klepp The Fi h.
It was as though there had never been a sea‐wind blowing
through the prairies of Minnesota, nor the crack of a g eat
white sail heard unf rling; nor songs of the sea sung; nor
wine, pressed om the its of the dark ear h of Abarat,
dr nk in the name of honest commerce.
The year was 1873. It was the end of an age.
Unused opening to Book
One of The Books of Abarat
This page, clockwise: The Lighthouse at Hark’s
Harbour, Squiller, The Burning of Hark’s Harbour
(detail).
Book Three: Absolute Midnight will be published
by HarperCollins in September 2011
THANK YOU!
for reading this short sampler of pages from the
official Abarat companion book
Beneath The Surface of Clive Barker’s Abarat
If you’d like to see and read more, the full ‘Beneath
The Surface’ e‐book runs to 120 pages with lots
more artwork and an in‐depth interview with Clive.
It’s available to buy now at
The Beautiful Moment at www.clivebarker.info
See you in the Abarat!
Absolute Midnight, and More...