#10 in Horror
The Thief of Always
- 239
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
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About the book
The Thief of Always is a 1992 novel written and illustrated by Clive Barker. The plot concerns a 10-year-old boy who journeys to a magical house, only to discover its master uses the home to attract children and steal their youth to ensure his own immortality.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.3 across 118 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 44% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Horror average of 7.5. That is how 8.1 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 9.0 | 12 | 10% |
| Hardcover | 8.2 | 106 | 90% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“I remember reading this when I was about 12-13 and it's never gotten out of my head. I found a hardcover of it and decided to dive back in for the season. It was as dark as I remember and the illustrations are quite vivid. A great haunting fable.”
“This is one of those stories that reminds me of an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? except it wouldn't fit into a 24 minute show. This would need to be several episodes. Harvey is an easy character to connect with. Haven't we…”
Frequently asked
How long is The Thief of Always?
It has 239 pages — shorter than 98% of the ranked books in Horror.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Horror — with scores between 7.7 and 8.4, closest to this book.
