Still Fascinated By Clive Barker's Weaveworld

If I were cornered and forced to choose my favorite horror-fantasy novel of all time, my choice would be simple. Weaveworld by admitted splatterpunk godfather Clive Barker is an exercise in weirdness and the extraordinary. It’s not a novel for everybody, but it is most certainly a modern day masterpiece.

Masterpiece?

Yes, indeed. Weaveworld (1987) ranks among the most imaginative, visceral, and innovative stories in the last twenty years. If readers can get past its length and Barker’s English tendency toward verbosity, they will certainly find great joy in the epic story.

At the center of Barker’s vision are an old magic carpet and a young Calhoon Mooney. Mooney stumbles upon the strange textile hidden in the depths of a Liverpool home under some strange coincidences. What transpires is an expansive journey through the unreal and meetings with some of the strangest beings on Earth including those of the Seerkind. The Seerkind are a magical people who can in an instant destroy or replenish. Also involved is Suzanna, the last link to the rug and the actual conduit through which the strange rug can be saved.

The rug is in reality more than just a floor covering. It in fact harbors an entire land, one that most of humankind (or Cuckoos as the Seer refer to them) is completely unaware of and unwilling to understand. Cal is unwittingly swept up in a mission to save the land within the rug (The Fugue) from the likes of Immocolata and Shadwell. Immocolata is a bizarrely beautiful woman while Shadwell’s coat of many colors holds the darkest wishes and hopes of the world within its lapels. They are a terrifying duo, regardless of their (despite being distinctly inhuman) are humanization. The reading audience first comes to understand that thusly to despise the baddies.

The story twists and turns through dark lands and happenings. And, as with every one of Barker’s novels, it isn’t for the faint of heart. Extremely strange, sexual, violent, and fantastic images pervade the story. Included also are some homosexual themes once again common throughout Barker’s many novels. I couldn’t possibly have been more disgusted and more entertained at the same time.

Barkers novels, Weaveworld included, are beyond description. He’s got a definite knack for description and detail without becoming repetitive and monotonous. Weaveworld isn’t Barker’s only novel that touches on strange lands. Also remarkable are the subsequent epic novels Imajica, Everville and The Great and Secret Show. Despite these novels all being wildly entertaining, I will suggest that readers first explore Barker’s Books of Blood and subsequent short story collections.

Weaveworld is a must-experience read…one worthy of weeks of late nights and many recommendations. Don’t miss out on this Clive Barker Masterpiece.

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By the way, I own three copies of the Weaveworld. One mass market paperback, one trade edition, and one first edition hardback. After the paperback became waterlogged and dog-eared, I was forced to replace my copy to reread it another ten or so times.

Weaveworld
by: Clive Barker
original publication: October 1987
pages: 672
publisher: Pocket Books
ISBN: 0743417356