BOOK REVIEW: The Thief of Always by Clive Barker ★★★★☆

Master storyteller and bestselling novelist Clive Barker creates an enchanting tale for both children and adults to cherish and retell. The Thief of Always tells the haunting story of Harvey, a bright 10-year-old who is suffering from the winter doldrums, and of a creature who takes him to a place where every day is filled with fun, and Christmas comes every night.

The first time I read this book was in high school and eight years later I got The Thief of Always as a birthday present. Reading it after a long time made me realise on how much I missed my childhood.

I know Barker is a horror writer and renowned for his Hellraiser franchise (books and films) and Book of Blood which includes the story The Forbidden (later adapted into the film The Candyman). His talent to write adult, gruesome, twisting horror precedes him. So to see him write a story for young adults was something new but worth a great challenge. Plus Barker’s very own macabre illustrations throughout the story really added to the ghoulish tale.

Now, where do I start explaining how much I adored this book? Let’s start with the first line:

"The great, gray beast February had eaten Harvey Swick alive."

I had to take a double take at that sentence but I understood it clearly. February weather is so dull and it had eaten Harvey’s fun away. His life consisted of going to school and coming home, a vicious cycle that may have killed him. And I resonated with him when I was younger, seeking adventure away from my boring life.

It seems that Harvey wish comes true when he meets Rictus, a weird but smiling man, who tells him about Mr Hood’s Holiday House, a place full of fun and adventure. Harvey is lured into The Holiday House and it is a place captures his mind. Glorious food and never ending toys and games to keep your mind entertained. There are even four seasons in a day; a fresh spring morning, a blissful summer afternoon, an evening of pumpkins and fallen leaves and every night without fail, a white Christmas with perfect presents for every boy and girl.

However, a month goes by and Harvey begins to suspect something is not quite right. He hasn’t seen Mister Hood so Harvey can’t ask his motives and what happened to the children who had come before. And why on earth is there a cold deep pond full of big creepy looking fish?

I loved the concept of the season rolling into one day and a sense of mystery that Harvey decodes. The themes that are present in Barker’s work, self-indulgence as a trap is predominate in this novel. Even within the title, ‘the thief’ is the character who steals life, time and innocence. For a young adult novel, this is portrayed in a lighter note compared to his other horror novels.

When I read The Thief of Always for the first time I could not think of one bad thing about. I liked the concept and the message it conveyed. After reading it again, I started to notice a crack in the wall. It seems so unlikely that Harvey was willing to follow a strange man to a mysterious house without much thought on his safety (you know stranger danger), suggesting either Harvey is not very bright, or Rictus is extremely persuasive. Nonetheless, the start showed a promising idiosyncratic protagonist Harvey but then later he just becomes less of personality and emotion, doing things out of principle instead of out of desire. For instance, he only goes back to save his friends because he thinks it’s the right thing to do, not because he actually cares about them. And when Harvey misses his parents, he only remembers them and goes back because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. He becomes an everyday man and not fleshed out like the antagonist Mister Hood.

To conclude, I think Barker lives up to the challenge of writing horror for a younger audience. It is a very quick read, outstanding illustration and a resonating message about time. I wish Harvey was defined like his counterpart but I would read it time again and recommend to others.

I now wonder if Barker will write another children’s horror story like The Thief of Always and if so I’ll be reading that too.

Rating 4.5/5
Publishers: HarperCollins
Publication date: August 16 1993
Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Young Adult