The title is
something that catches the eye from the spine of the book whilst sitting on the
shelf. The cover then would cause a
person to become immediately interested or not interested with the book within. Barker’s command of the illustrations is astounding
with a gorgeous balance of childish sight, but through a skewed, dare I say,
demented, lens. The subtitle then makes
the person who would want to read this realize that the story is to be regarded
as a dark story such as the style of the Brothers Grimm which most Americans
grow up knowing.
The book
follows the story of a boy who is bored with his life and is seeking a sense of
excitement. His life is stagnant whilst
he is full of energy. A strange man then
appears at his home to appeal to his traveling with the man to a Holiday
House. When the boy does eventually go,
it is realized that the house is called this for a reason. The seasons shift with each day. All four seasons within one day, so that
every day has a Halloween and a Christmas.
Halloween is the main celebration at the house which is perfectly
understandable with the sensibilities of what makes a fable what it is. The taste of the dark side can be found
within Halloween when it is only in childish fun and not to be taken seriously. That is our current idea of what makes
Halloween. This alludes to the idea of
what All Hallows Eve is supposed to be in the first place. It isn’t about the candy and dressing up as
someone or something else. It is about
the rise of the supernatural beings amongst the humans and the dressing up
serving as a protection to the mere mortals.
The room of masks and Harvey’s moment of almost bestiality made the idea
of what the holiday is supposed to be about come to life and make the reader
realize what kinds of things were valued at the strange Holiday House.
The Holiday
House is run by Mr. Hood. He is a figure
that is spoken of reverently, but not seen until late into the book. He is a character of mystery much the same as
the house is. This association of his
characteristics mixing with the house was a good touch when it is revealed that
Mr. Hood is, in fact, the Holiday House.
He is a great magical being who steals time. He lures children to his house and promises
them fun forever. Each day goes through
all of the seasons because each day at the Holiday House in actually a year
outside of the house. He is the Thief of
Always because he is a being that steals time and promises for always and does
not let go of what he believes is his.
He is referred to as a Vampire King within the story by Harvey because
that is the only way that Harvey can understand the concept of what Mr. Hood
is. This makes the reader look back to
the incident during Halloween where Harvey had a moment of feeling bloodlust
and almost gave into the vampiric want within himself. The only way to comprehend what Mr. Hood was
and what he wanted was to make Harvey remember how it felt to want in the
darkest manner.
The image of
the broken Holiday House around the end of the book reflected the state of Mr.
Hood. His promises of always were broken
along with his body. The want within him
was only to reveal how empty he was and how he would do anything to fill
himself with the want of others. He
could not want for himself when he could not live for himself, so one of the
many morals within this story would seem to be that stealing always from others
would only take away from what time you do have with you.
