Weaveworld — Clive Barker, Poseidon Press 1987

📖 Weaveworld by Clive Barker (1987, Poseidon Press) — A dark fantasy novel about a magical world, the Fugue, hidden inside a woven carpet to protect it from both hostile humans and supernatural threats. This is the first US edition, second printing, with the original publisher erratum slip laid in at page 300.

QUICK FACTS

• Author: Clive Barker (b. 1952, Liverpool)
• Publisher: Poseidon Press (William Morrow imprint), New York
• Year: 1987 (first US edition, 2nd printing)
• Format: Hardcover in dust jacket
• Pages: 456 | ISBN: 0-688-07395-5
• Condition: VG-/VG- — full report below

THE STORY

Weaveworld is Clive Barker’s second novel, published a year after The Damnation Game (1986) and the same year as his landmark short fiction collections. The novel follows Calhoun Moomey, an ordinary young man in Liverpool, who stumbles upon the Fugue — an entire civilization of magical beings, the Seerkind, woven into a vast tapestry. As the carpet is threatened by forces that would unravel it, Calhoun and Suzanna, a woman with her own connection to the Fugue, must navigate a world where the boundary between imagination and reality dissolves.

The novel marks Barker’s expansion beyond the visceral horror of Books of Blood into epic fantasy territory. Stephen King’s blurb on the original jacket captured the moment: “I have seen the future of horror and it is named Clive Barker.” Weaveworld proved Barker could sustain a full-length narrative of mythic scope, earning comparisons to Lord of the Rings while maintaining his signature blend of beauty, cruelty, and eroticism.

THIS EDITION

This is the first US trade edition, second printing, published by Poseidon Press — the hardcover imprint of William Morrow. The copyright page carries the number line 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2, confirming second printing status. Poseidon Press also issued a limited signed edition of 500 copies at $85.00; this copy is the trade edition, not the signed limited. The original $18.95 price remains intact on the unclipped dust jacket flap.

Notably, this copy includes the publisher’s original erratum slip laid in at page 300, correcting a paragraph in Chapter 10. The slip is present and in clean condition.

COVER ART

The dust jacket was designed and illustrated by Wendell Minor, whose work spans covers for Ray Bradbury, Margaret Wise Brown, and David McCullough. The front jacket features a striking dark blue eye emerging from turbulent clouds, framed by an ornate tapestry-inspired border in red, gold, and deep blue — evoking the Fugue itself. The spine displays the title and author in gold lettering on a deep blue cloth ground. The back jacket carries blurbs from Stephen King and Peter Straub, two of Barker’s most prominent champions in the horror community.

The interior title pages feature elaborate art nouveau-style decorative borders, a distinctive design element of this Poseidon Press edition.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Weaveworld was a New York Times bestseller and established Barker as a major voice in fantasy beyond horror
• The novel influenced a generation of dark fantasy writers and remains one of Barker’s most acclaimed works
• Wendell Minor’s jacket design is among the most recognizable of 1980s fantasy hardcovers
• The Poseidon Press first edition is the primary US collectible format; the limited signed edition (500 copies) is considerably rarer
• Clive Barker was born in Liverpool in 1952; in addition to novels and short stories, he writes and directs for stage and screen, and is an illustrator

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? First US trade edition, second printing, published by Poseidon Press (William Morrow imprint) in 1987. ISBN 0-688-07395-5. Number line on copyright page confirms 2nd printing.

What condition is it in? VG-/VG- (Very Good minus for both book and dust jacket). Full condition report below.

Is the erratum slip included? Yes, the publisher’s original erratum slip is laid in at page 300, in clean condition.

FOR COLLECTORS

The erratum slip is a notable feature of early Weaveworld printings — its presence indicates this copy was among those distributed through standard retail channels before the correction was incorporated into later printings. For collectors of 1980s dark fantasy first editions, this Poseidon Press edition with intact jacket and erratum slip represents a solid, honest copy at a fair price.

Book Details

Author: Clive Barker
Illustrator: Wendell Minor (Jacket Design and Illustration)
Publisher: Poseidon Press (William Morrow imprint)
Binding: HARDCOVER
Edition Points: Copyright 1987, unclipped dust jacket displaying original $18.95 price. Includes publisher’s original erratum slip laid in at page 300. First edition, 2nd printing.

Condition Report

Overall Grade: Book: Very Good- (VG-) / Dust Jacket: Very Good- (VG-)

Cover and Spine: Blue paper wrapped boards with cloth wrapped spine, gilt stamping to spine. Lower board corners are bumped, with the paper split on the bottom edge of the front board.

Dust Jacket: Unclipped ($18.95 intact). Clean jacket preserved in removable archival mylar cover with light rubbing along edges and some tanning inside the flaps.

Text Block and Pages: Off-white pages are clean throughout. Text block shows some spotting on top edge near spine, light foxing on outer edge and a publisher stamp on bottom edge.

Binding: Square and tight across the text block. No loose, torn or folded pages, no writing.

See accompanying images for full condition details. Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

HFB-SEO-v1: 2026-07-27

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