The 'Culprit' Behind the Editorial Sensation of the Year

The covers of 'Blackwater', the editorial sensation of 2024, act like a magnet that captures attention at first glance, evoking an irresistible temptation to touch their golden embossed designs shaped like rain, rivers, aquatic oak forests, or a woman's face. Countless readers have been drawn into the Caskey saga thanks to these intricate illustrations filled with small details reminiscent of a tarot deck! "Many have picked up the book because of its visual appeal," notes Blackie Books, the independent Barcelona-based publisher behind this literary phenomenon, which has hooked half a million readers in Spain alone since its February launch, following a successful run in France with 1.5 million copies sold.

'Blackwater' was first published in the United States in 1983. Its author, Michael McDowell (Alabama, 1950), whom his friend Stephen King called "the best of us all," passed away in 1999 at the age of 49 due to AIDS. McDowell, known for his Southern Gothic horror novels and screenwriting hits like 'Beetlejuice' (1988), tells in the six volumes of 'Blackwater' (insisting they be released serially in paperback format) a matriarchal saga filled with revenge where female characters stand out. The lineage is disrupted by the arrival of the mysterious Elinor, as overwhelming as the flood that precedes her appearance in a flooded hotel room in Perdido, Alabama's logging town where the plot unfolds.

The addictive intricacies of the Caskey clan wouldn't reach Europe until 2022 when a small French publisher, Monsieur Toussaint Louverture, acquired the rights and commissioned Pedro Oyarbide (Madrid, 36 years old) to illustrate the covers that have helped turn it into a bestseller.

Oyarbide studied Fine Arts in Madrid, often accompanying his painter father to the faculty as a child. "My father bought materials there and I loved that environment," he recalls from his studio in his home in Ruzafa, Valencia's hipster neighborhood where he resides.

Pedro specialized in digital design in Germany ("that's where I realized I wanted to focus more on illustration than oil painting") and spent several years at a leading studio in England before settling as a freelance artist in 2014 and returning to Spain. He has been working for agencies for a decade, primarily in the United States, with clients including Miller - one of the country's most popular breweries - as well as energy drink brands (Red Bull), surf and skate brands, clothing lines, and especially poker card decks where he enjoys a long-standing reputation.

It was precisely his card deck designs that caught the eye of Monsieur Toussaint Louverture's director, who contacted Oyarbide to create the 'Blackwater' covers using those same detailed patterns.

"The French editor had been following my work without my knowledge and was apparently a big fan of the cards I had designed for various brands. He told me his idea was to have that same ornate altarpiece concept so each book would look like a deck," Pedro explains.

This decorative approach with key elements from the novel occupying every space (cover, spine, and back cover) like a 'horror vacui', with golden tones, Victorian aesthetics, and inspiration from Gothic cathedrals is what has triumphed in bookstores.

In 2021, the French editor sent him the text of 'Blackwater's first volume ('The Flood') for him to read ("I quickly connected with the story") and start sketching ideas. He took "a ton" of notes ready to be illustrated and given the intricate concept of the covers, used every millimeter to incorporate iconic elements from the story... without giving it away. "They're not spoilers because those elements are only identifiable once you read the book," reassures Pedro.

The French boss was thrilled with the result even though it was Oyarbide's first venture into novel design. He then sent him to Valencia with the first volume ('Blackwater I') "and I was very satisfied with its print quality, embossing, inks, finishes... when you see it and touch it you know you're holding something different."

Following 'The Flood's cover came those for 'The Levee', 'The House', 'The War', 'The Fortune', and 'The Rain', the sixth and final installment. Each is distinct with its own typography without repeating elements but fits together like a deck of cards.

"I took a bit longer with the first cover because we wanted to define the style well but did all six within nine months," he recalls.

In 2022, France released its first book followed by Italy and now Spain and Portugal in 2024 (soon to be released in the UK) with identical covers only adapting titles to each language. And it's making waves.

After nearly 40 years forgotten, Mary Love - matriarch of the Caskey family -, Sister, Grace, Elinor, Miriam among others have experienced a spectacular renaissance across Europe where they've topped sales charts wherever published. Surely McDowell would be proud of Oyarbide's work. "I would have liked to know his opinion," confesses Pedro who declares himself an Elinor devotee. "She's a bit sinister but I like her."

In Spain all six volumes are among the top ten bestsellers with four leading positions.

But aside from their striking covers' success lies an epidemic-like story about this wealthy Perdido family’s rivalries which entices anyone who picks up McDowell's pages into catching Caskey fever.

At Blackie Books they’re thrilled: “Pedro has done fantastic work,” says Patrizia Di Filippo their communications head believing that here it’s resonated “with very diverse intergenerational readers” at quite an affordable price around €9.90 per volume.

"Obviously it's well-written gripping content but part owes itself also due pocket-sized format akin serialized Netflix series where people eagerly await next episode,” notes Oyarbide aware some collectors bought all six immediately after being captivated by golden embossed tarot reminiscent enigmatic drawings later understood upon reading.

The artist continues receiving praise at book fairs where invited even other publishers knocking wanting replicate ‘Blackwater’ aesthetics seeing potential goldmine within his style inspired since childhood by Gothic cathedrals Victorian buildings whose architectural details structured modernized vision illustrating novel covers Pedro appreciates French publishers’ trust betting on him which incredibly paid off now preparing illustrate more prolific McDowell’s novels over seventeen bearing name many others pseudonymously published.