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In spite of an overabundance of whimsy, I think the Abarat setting has some potential, and his paintings are very distinctive and cool. It's a fun, dark fairy tale for another kind of audience. Barker has a great mind that doesn't like being held down by things, I would speculate it's one of the reasons he identifies with characters in all of these Faust legends he keeps retelling. His old brand of dark fantasy was getting redundant for him and his readers. Everville was a huge disappointment, and everything after that was pretty unpalatable. I don't think he's gotten too much like Gaiman, because Gaiman got too much like Gaiman and started to suffer from it, while Barker's expanding a bit. I don't think the Hellraiser remake will have any of the syrupy interludes that I will admit can hold the Abarat series down, but I'm pretty sure that it won't be the same thing the original was. Barker has a much more peaceful mind and spirit than he used to and might therefore have a more objective and cerebral take on things. We might be able to expect a more brooding, subtle intelligent Hellraiser. And remember, if you read enough Carl Jung, everything's a remake.
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