When Coraline’s family moves into a flat in a shared house, she’s bored and in need of adventure. One day she finds a passageway to another world through a door in the living room. At first it seems like a perfect replica of her house, her garden, her parents and her neighbors only a lot more interesting. But something is wrong, something is very wrong in this world and Coraline is the only one who can fix it.
When Coraline goes through the passageway for the first time, she’s happy with the attention she’s given, the funny toys and the talking animals but she soon discovers eerie details about this other world. Everyone has buttons for eyes and seem to be controlled by her other mother while her real parents are missing and ghosts are whispering sad stories to her. Coraline is not the first child to be trapped within this creepy world.
Now, I might be a bit biased when it comes to this book because I simply worship Neil Gaiman. Everything he touch turns into pure gold (American Gods, Sandman, Neverwhere etc.) and I would love to spend 24 hours inside this man’s mind. He creates the most unique worlds that are so weird but feel so real and the same goes for his always unique characters. In Coraline he doesn’t disappoint with the dark elements, which he incorporates so well, and his writing style is simple yet on point.
I have seen the stop-motion cartoon version of Coraline countless times and have been both creeped out and highly amused by the funny characters, weird events and an atmosphere loaded with suspense. So while reading the book, the movie scenes played out in my mind – making the experience of reading Coraline even better.
I highly recommend Coraline to everyone, young and old, but if you’re not into creepy middle grade stories, I recommend picking up another Neil Gaiman book – ANY Neil Gaiman book!
Find out more about Coraline the movie
Find out more about Neil Gaiman’s books