Coraline, by Neil Gaiman

What a suspenseful wee novel this is! Neil Gaiman’s young adult novella, Coraline, takes hold and draws you into an otherworldly existence so chilling, yet playful, so vexing, yet lighthearted, it’s difficult to tease out the horror from the reality. Published in 2002 it tells the tale of curious Coraline who often wondered what’s behind the locked door in the drawing room. It reveals only a brick wall when she finally opens it, but when she tries again later, a passageway mysteriously appears.

It is here that a strange alternate world sucks Coraline in as she begins living an existence with her “other”, more interesting parents despite their creepy black button eyes. When they make it clear, however, that they want to make her theirs forever, Coraline begins a nightmarish game to rescue her real parents and three children imprisoned in a mirror.

Published in 2002, Gaiman has delivered a wonderfully chilling novel, subtle yet intense on many levels. The line between pleasant and horrible is often blurred until what’s what becomes suddenly clear, and like Coraline, we resist leaving this strange world until we’re hooked. Read and delight in a piece of fiction that will tingle your spine and race your heart.

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman Bloomsbury 2002

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman Bloomsbury 2002

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