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Yes, ''that'' [[Clive Barker]].
 
The books follow the adventures of a young woman named Candy Quackenbush. She hails from the small town of Chickentown, Minnesota, a tiny burg with a higher population of its eponymous fowl than people. She longs for something more than her small-town life, but doesn't know where to find it. One day, a strange compulsion grips her, and she races to the outskirts of town. There, she finds a strange man named John Mischief, [[Multiple Head Case|whose brothers live as heads sprouting out of his impressive antlers]], who is running from a strange, gaunt man named Shape. But through the powers of a magical lighthouse, she manages to summon a sea from nowhere—andnowhere--and from there, she is carted off to the Abarat. The Abarat is an archipelago where every island is an hour of the day, and it is full of strange, wonderful creatures. But sinister beings lurk in the shadows, and they have impure designs on Candy...
 
Perhaps the most noticeable aspect of the books is that they are all lavishly illustrated by Clive Barker himself with hundreds of full-color paintings, on glossy paper. They're a visual trip as well as a mental one. While [[Vanilla Edition]], non-illustrated print runs of the books have been made, the pictures are part of the fun.
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* [[Apocalypse How]]: As of ''Absolute Midnight'', at least a Regional Catastrophe. {{spoiler|Mater Motley releases the sacbrood, which blot out the Abarat's sky. The resulting darkness wakes a metric ton of [[Eldritch Abominations]], which rampage unchecked over several of the islands. Thousands die.}} It's heavily implied over the course of the book that it's only going to get ''worse''.
* [[Artificial Human]]: Some of the stitchlings are fairly close. Also the Kid of Commexo.
* [[Become a Real Boy]]: What Rojo Pixler wants for the Conjuration of Life for—tofor--to give life to the Commexo Kid.
* {{spoiler|[[Bigger Bad]]: As of ''Absolute Midnight'', the Nephauree.}}
* [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]]: {{spoiler|Princess Boa.}} People rhapsodize about her in glowing terms, painting a picture of someone who was [[Too Good for This Sinful Earth|incredibly kind, gentle and loving]]. In ''Absolute Midnight'', the truth is revealed {{spoiler|and it turns out that it was a MASSIVE ruse on Boa's part.}}
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* [[The Dragon]]: Houlihan.
* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]: The second book is remarkably dark, grim, and frightening, but it ends on a fairly joyous and uplifting note. {{spoiler|It's similar for the ''Absolute Midnight''.}}
* [[Egomaniac Hunter]]: Rojo Pixler—whoPixler--who boasts nineteen thousand specimens from fleas to Kiefalent whales back at Commexo City.
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: In the order of appearance:
** The Sacbrood.
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* [[Giant Flyer]]: The enormous "corpse-moth" from the first book. A "[[Incredibly Lame Pun|behe-moth]]," if you will.
* [[Great Big Book of Everything]]: Klepp's ''Almenak'', though the Abaratians know you'd be wise to take everything Klepp writes with a grain of salt. It's good in a ''general'' sense, though.
* [[Half Human Hybrids]]: Lots and lots of them everywhere around—Izaritharound--Izarith the part-Skizmut, the half-dragon priest Deetha Maas.
* [[Head Pet]]: Candy briefly has a squid as one. {{spoiler|He dies of exposure, sadly.}}
* [[The Hecate Sisters]]: {{spoiler|The Fantomaya. Mespa is the Maid, Joephi the Matron, and Diamanda the Hag.}}
* [[Hufflepuff House]]: Many of the islands, other than the ones we spend the "most" time on.
* [[Impossible Thief]]: John Mischief and his brothers, who managed to steal the ''tattoos'' of a criminal named Monkai-Monkai while he was in prison.
* [[Instant Expert]]: {{spoiler|Candy, who adapts quickly to Abarat.}} The strangeness of this is discussed—peoplediscussed--people from the Hereafter have gone mad from trying to adapt too quickly, since their imaginations couldn't handle the strangeness of Abarat. {{spoiler|In comparison, not only is Candy still sane, despite being hunted by Christopher Carrion's minions, she performs magic as well.}}
** {{spoiler|It's because she has Princess Boa's soul inside her.}}
* [[Interspecies Romance]]: Several. {{spoiler|Candy and Gazza, mostly [[Ship Tease|shipteased]] Candy and Malingo. Princess Boa and Finnegan Hobb are this, too.}}
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* [[Ultimate Evil]]: The Requiax, the "enemies of love".
** And as of Absolute Midnight, {{spoiler|the Nephauree}}.
* [[Vanilla Edition]]: There are two paperback editions of each book—onebook--one that has the pictures (and is still [[Crack is Cheaper|pretty expensive even by hardcover standards]]), and one that doesn't. Interestingly, the [[Vanilla Edition]] tends to get shelved in either the teen or adult section of most bookstores/libraries, while the regular ones tend to get shelved with the kid's stuff--[[Animation Age Ghetto|Illustration Age Ghetto]], perhaps?
* [[We Hardly Knew Ye]]: {{spoiler|Kiss Curl Carlotti, eaten by the sea dragon.}}
* [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]: Christopher Carrion {{spoiler|cemented by the happenings in ''Absolute Midnight''}}.
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