Coraline 10th Anniversary Edition

By Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean

This edition of New York Times bestselling and Newbery Medal-winning author Neil Gaiman’s modern classic, Coraline—also an Academy Award-nominated film—is enriched with a foreword from the author, a reader's guide, and more.

"Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house...."

When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.

But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.

Neil Gaiman's Coraline is a can't-miss classic that enthralls readers age 8 to 12 but also adults who enjoy a perfect smart spooky read.

• Perfect for Halloween reading
• Features light scares
• A charming cozy seasonal pick

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 24, 2012
• ISBN: 9780062205728

Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman (Portchester, 1960), guionista y escritor aclamado unánimemente por la crítica, ha obtenido numerosos galardones, como el World Fantasy Award, el Hugo, el Nebula y el Bram Stoker. Es autor de novelas de fantasía para adultos como American Gods, Neverwhere y Stardust (Premio de la Asociación Americana de Bibliotecas en el año 2000), obras para el público infantil como la celebrada Coraline (Salamandra, 2009), la multipremiada serie de cómics The Sandman, que ha cosechado más de 26 premios Eisner, y varias antologías de relatos cortos, entre las que destacan Humo y espejos y Material sensible, ambas publicadas por Salamandra.

Book preview

Coraline

Neil Gaiman

with illustrations by Dave McKean

Dedication

I started this for Holly

I finished it for Maddy

Epigraph

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

—G. K. Chesterton

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Epigraph

Foreword

WE MOVED INTO OUR flat in Littlemead, in the tiny…

I.

CORALINE DISCOVERED THE DOOR a little while after they moved…

II.

THE NEXT DAY IT HAD stopped raining, but a thick…

III.

THE NEXT DAY THE sun shone, and Coraline’s mother took…

IV.

THE HOUSE LOOKED EXACTLY the same from the outside. Or…

V.

CORALINE LOCKED THE DOOR of the drawing room with the…

VI.

CORALINE WAS WOKEN BY the midmorning sun, full on her…

VII.

SOMEWHERE INSIDE HER Coraline could feel a huge sob welling…

VIII.

THE OTHER MOTHER LOOKED healthier than before: there was a…

IX.

OUTSIDE, THE WORLD HAD become a formless, swirling mist with…

X.

CORALINE WALKED UP THE stairs outside the building to the…

XI.

ONCE INSIDE, IN HER FLAT, or rather, in the flat…

XII.

HER MOTHER SHOOK HER gently awake.

XIII.

CORALINE’S PARENTS NEVER SEEMED to remember anything about their time…

Coraline Tenth Anniversary Edition

The Coraline Reading Group Guide

A Coraline Q&A with Neil Gaiman

An excerpt of Neil Gaiman’s Newbery Medal–winning novel, The Graveyard Book

Back Ad

About the Author

Praise for Coraline

Books by Neil Gaiman

Credits

Copyright

About the Publisher

Foreword

Coraline

WE MOVED INTO OUR flat in Littlemead, in the tiny Sussex town of Nutley, in the South of England, in 1987. Once on a time it had been a manor house, built for—the old man who had once owned the house, before he sold it to a pair of local builders, told me—the physician to the king of England himself. It had been a manor house then, but it was now converted into flats.

Flat number Four, where we lived, was a good place, if a little odd. Above us, a Greek family. Beneath us, a little old lady, half blind, who would telephone me whenever my little children moved, and tell me that she was not certain what was happening upstairs, but she thought that it must be elephants. I was never entirely certain how many flats there were in the house, nor how many of them were occupied.

We had a hallway running the length of the flat, as big as any room. At the end of the hall hung a wardrobe door, as a mirror.

When I started to write a book for Holly, my five-year-old daughter, I set it in the house. It seemed easy. That way I wouldn’t have to explain to her where anything was. I changed a couple of things, of course, swapped the position of Holly’s bedroom and the lounge. Then I took a closed oak-paneled door that opened onto a brick wall, and a sense of place, from the drawing room in the house I grew up in.

That house was big and old, and it had been split into two just before we moved there. We had the servants’ quarters, except for one room, the oak-paneled drawing room, only for best, with a door at the end that had once been the family’s entrance, and that now led nowhere. It opened onto a brick wall.

I took that room and that door, along with the front room of my grandmother’s house (only for best, not for the family, still-life oil paintings of fruit on the walls), and I put them into the book I had started writing.

The book was called Coraline. I had typed the name Caroline, and it came out wrong. I looked at the word Coraline, and knew it was someone’s name. I wanted to know what happened to her.

Holly liked scary stories, with witches and brave little girls in them. Those were the kinds of stories she told me. So Holly’s story was going to be scary.

I wrote an opening that I later deleted. It went,

This is the story of Coraline, who was small for her age, and found herself in darkest danger.

Before it was all over Coraline had seen what lay behind mirrors, and had a close call with a bad hand, and had come face-to-face with her other mother; she had rescued her true parents from a fate worse than death and triumphed against overwhelming odds.

This is the story of Coraline, who lost her parents, and found them again, and (more or less) escaped (more or less) unscathed.

I stopped writing Holly’s book when we moved to America. (I had been writing it in my own time. It didn’t seem like I had any own time any longer.)

Six years later I picked it up and continued from the middle of the sentence I’d stopped at in August 1992.

It was Hullo, said Coraline. How did you get in? The cat didn’t say anything. Coraline got out of bed

I started it again because I realized that if I didn’t, my youngest daughter, Maddy, would be too old for it by the time I was done. I started it for Holly. I finished it for Maddy.

Now we were living in a gothic old house in the middle of America, with a turret and a wraparound porch, with steps up to it. It’s a house built over a hundred years ago by a German immigrant, a cartographer (that’s someone who makes maps) and an artist. His son, Henry, was said to have been the first man to put an engine on a boat or on a bicycle and was described as the greatest creative figure in the history of the racing car.

Now I was writing Coraline again, I still had no time, so I would write fifty words a night in bed, before I fell asleep. I went on a cruise to raise money for the First Amendment (that’s the one about freedom of speech) in comics. I finished it in a little cabin on a lake in the woods.

Dave McKean, artist and friend, took photographs of Littlemead, which he then played with to make the house on the back cover of Coraline.

When Henry Selick made his stop-motion animated film of Coraline, he invited me to the studio. There were a lot of sets there, each behind a black curtain. Henry proudly showed me the house that Coraline lived in in the film. She’d moved from somewhere in England to Oregon, now, and the house she was in was called the Pink Palace.

That’s my house, I told Henry.

And it was. Henry Selick’s Pink Palace was the house I live in now, turret and porch and all. None of us are quite sure how that happened. But it seemed strangely appropriate for a book that was started for one daughter in one house and finished for another in another house.

The book was published in 2002, and people liked it. It won awards. More importantly than that, it worked, at least for some people.

I’d wanted to write a story for my daughters that told them something I wished I’d known when I was a boy: that being brave didn’t mean you weren’t scared. Being brave meant you were scared, really scared, badly scared, and you did the right thing anyway.

So now, ten years later, I’ve started running into women who tell me that Coraline got them through hard times in their lives. That when they were scared they thought of Coraline, and they did the right thing anyway.

And that, more than anything, makes it all worthwhile.

Neil Gaiman

December 5, 2011

I.

CORALINE DISCOVERED THE DOOR a little while after they moved into the house.

It was a very old house—it had an attic under the roof and a cellar under the ground and an overgrown garden with huge old trees in it.

Coraline’s family didn’t own all of the house—it was too big for that. Instead they owned part of it.

There were other people who lived in the old house.

Miss Spink and Miss Forcible lived in the flat below Coraline’s, on the ground floor. They were both old and round, and they lived in their flat with a number of ageing Highland terriers who had names like Hamish and Andrew and Jock. Once upon a time Miss Spink and Miss Forcible had been actresses, as Miss Spink told Coraline the first time she met her.

You see, Caroline, Miss Spink said, getting Coraline’s name wrong, both myself and Miss Forcible were famous actresses, in our time. We trod the boards, luvvy. Oh, don’t let Hamish eat the fruitcake, or he’ll be up all night with his tummy.

It’s Coraline. Not Caroline. Coraline, said Coraline.

In the flat above Coraline’s, under the roof, was a crazy old man with a big mustache. He told Coraline that he was training a mouse circus. He wouldn’t let anyone see it.

One day, little Caroline, when they are all ready, everyone in the whole world will see the wonders of my mouse circus. You ask me why you cannot see it now. Is that what you asked me?

No, said Coraline quietly, I asked you not to call me Caroline. It’s Coraline.

The reason you cannot see the mouse circus, said the man upstairs, "is that the mice are not yet ready and rehearsed. Also, they refuse to play the songs I have written for them. All the songs I have written for the mice to play go oompah oompah. But the white mice will only play toodle oodle, like that. I am thinking of trying them on different types of cheese."

Coraline didn’t think there really was a mouse circus. She thought the old man was probably making it up.

The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring.

She explored the garden. It was a big garden: at the very back was an old tennis court, but no one in the house played tennis and the fence around the court had holes in it and the net had mostly rotted away; there was an old rose garden, filled with stunted, flyblown rosebushes; there was a rockery that was all rocks; there was a fairy ring, made of squidgy brown toadstools which smelled dreadful if you accidentally trod on them.

There was also a well. On the first day Coraline’s family moved in, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible made a point of telling Coraline how dangerous the well was, and they warned her to be sure she kept away from it. So Coraline set off to explore for it, so that she knew where it was, to keep away from it properly.

She found it on the third day, in an overgrown meadow beside the tennis court, behind a clump of trees—a low brick circle almost hidden in the high grass. The well had been covered up by wooden boards, to stop anyone falling in. There was a small knothole in one of the boards, and Coraline spent an afternoon dropping pebbles and acorns through the hole and waiting, and counting, until she heard the plop as they hit the water far below.

Coraline also explored for animals. She found a hedgehog, and a snakeskin (but no snake), and a rock that looked just

Reviews for Coraline 10th Anniversary Edition

[nu5bibliophile · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Easy and quick read. Short story. A fun, and dark children literature.

[tess_schoolmarm · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I know this is written for children, but even knowing that, this book was still just too fantastical and yet flat at the same time. However, both of my granddaughters love it. (Ages 8 and 12) There are parallel worlds that collide and Coraline must work to get her "real" parents back. 208 pages

[schufman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Just the right mix of charming and creepy.

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I bought this for my sister a while ago, and always meant to read it, but in the end I ended up reading it on the HarperCollins site, when they put it up as a free browse inside thing. It's up right now as I write this, but I don't know how long for. It is/was here, though.

Coraline is, I think, aimed at the youngest audience of all Gaiman's books that I've read. That doesn't stop it being slightly creepy, slightly weird, and full of trademark Neil Gaiman observations about things. I loved all the little comments about parents being dumb -- when you're little, parents are, aren't they? It's not often a child knows better, but sometimes they do. I'm still right with Coraline in thinking it's ridiculous to buy something huge in the hopes the kid'll grow into it someday. That's just tempting fate (as proved by me being a mere 5'3", after all my parents' hopes of me being very tall!).

Coraline's pretty short and easy to read, and wasn't even too bad to read on the screen like that. I wish there was more of it, in a sense, since I pretty much swallowed it down in one gulp, but on the other hand, it's just right as it is. It reminded me a little of MirrorMask.

[snapsandreads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Being able to watch the movie gave me much desire to read this because the movie was phenomenal for me! The movie was really good. :D I was able to watch the movie first before I got the chance to read this so I was able to skip the part of being all creeped out with the whole story. But the book is really good too. Perhaps, should I have been able to read this when I was much younger, this might have been part of my best list. But being an “eccentric-bizarre” fan myself, Neil Gaiman still never disappointed me with my “odd” whims.

[joririchardson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Children's fantasy is such a wonderful genre to read, and "Coraline" has more than successfully reminded me of just how much I enjoy it. This is the dark tale of Coraline, a young girl who spends her days exploring the new premises of the flat that she and her parents have moved into. That is, unless it's raining, in which case she has nothing to do except bother her parents, who are always busy. One day, Coraline goes through a mysterious passageway that leads to an apartment very much like her own, with an "other mother" and "other father." Her life there is almost the same as her other life, but not quite. Her other mother dotes on her and, rather than being too busy to pay her any attention, practically begs her to stay. But Coraline soon comes to suspect that her other mother has stolen away her real parents, and is trying to imprison her in a shifting world of illusions and emptiness. With the help of a talking cat and a stone with a hole in it, Coraline must find a way to free her parents - and herself.I just absolutely loved "Coraline," much more than I was expecting to. I read it in one sitting, unable to take my eyes off the pages, even when my tea ran out (I never read without some hot tea by my side). Gaiman's writing style is concise and quick - descriptions are kept to a minimum, what details the reader is given are written factually, and rather than tell us what is what (example, that Coraline is frightened, or that eating beetles is gross), he simply leaves us to assume this for ourselves. For this particular story, it works well. It made the book easy to read but also opened up the gateway to illustrating it with imagination, which all children's books should rely on at least a little bit, in my opinion. Coraline's feelings and motives are universal ones that will be easy for children to understand and relate to - the need for attention and affection, curiosity, fear of losing ones security, and homesickness, among others.I just loved the story. At its core, it is a relatively common one: An ordinary child must conquer extraordinary evil forces to rescue herself and others. But once we get into the details of the plot, "Coraline" becomes original and striking, which is certainly the impression I got from it. What child hasn't dreamed of constructing their own "perfect," ideal life? Most children wouldn't fantasize about changing their world entirely, but to change it just a little bit? Tweak this, shuffle that, and you'd have a world with lots of toys, parents who let you do anything you wanted, and no gross food.Gaiman seems to understand children very well.The other mother was such an interesting character - always described as having a sort of knife-like appearance, thin and sharp. As the book progressed, she became more and more terrible and ominous. By the end, she has become not even human but just a cluster of bones scuttling about - a hand, that is. This was, in a way, even more frightening than her former appearances in a human form, because to contain one's essence in just a hand is decidedly inhuman.The world that Gaiman creates goes along perfectly with his minimalist writing style. The "other world" is a copy of the real world, and as a result it is always blander, not so colorful, and not so lifelike. When Coraline attempts to explore farther into the world, she eventually comes to just nothingness, which she at first mistakes for mist. The sense that this twisted world was empty came across to me without ever having to be said.The thing that I loved most was how creepy it was. I wouldn't call it frightening (though to children, I am sure that it would be), but there were plenty of chilly scenes, and the constant gloomy atmosphere of the book was certainly dark. There were plenty of vivid little scenes, like when the other mother begins eating live beetles as if they are candy, or when Coraline sees a painting change from depicting fruit to depicting rotting apple cores and grape stems. Coralin'es final faux doll-tea-party was especially vivid. This is such a wonderful little book that I would highly recommend to any child - or adult.

[4everfanatical · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The book is the creepiest children's stories I have ever read.

I watched the film adaptation before I read the book so I kind of knew what to expect. The film was a lot more kid friendly compared to the book! I feel the book is a lot more darker and it reads as a horror. I'm not sure I would read this to a child, especially not to a sensitive child.

I think it speaks more to the adult reader than the child reader, maybe I found it so creepy because as an adult you understand things differently. Maybe for a child, this would be the ultimate story of adventure and survival.

It is a truly good book, and I am vowing to read a lot more of Neil Gaiman's books in future.

[aangela1010_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I almost had to put this book in the freezer. It freaked me out. It wasn't scary but I did not really enjoy it.

[literarychanteuse · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Definitely 8 yrs and up. If your child is a regular reader of spooky reads then this is a good choice but if they are not I would advise to be cautious. Some scenes are quite scary although much tamer than the film version. 3.5 stars

[fromthecomfychair · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Considered children's lit, but too creepy and dark for them, i think. I was expecting to love this, but I didn't like it nearly as much as The Graveyard Book.

[anniehidalgo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is probably my favorite Neil Gaiman book - which may say a lot for my level of maturity, but I am hoping says more for the quality of book it is. As enjoyable for adults as it will be for their daughters (and sons, too, I hope). I don't know about you, reader, but I was that sort of girl, and probably still am - the kind who hopes for a secret passage, or a forgotten door, in every new house. Coraline finds one, and discovers a mirror world - the kind of mirror-world you always discover in these cases - where reality is a little bit better until it becomes a whole lot worse. The book is much scarier and more interesting than the movie, particularly because Coraline is on her own, more or less.

[kassilem · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a weird little book. I can do weird, being a fantasy fan and all but this one is one that didn't make it in my awesome or wonderful weird. Perhaps it was too juvenile – meant for a much younger audience than me – for me to make it into either of those categories. It is a very quick read however and it’s a fantasy classic. I think they even made a movie based off it. It was one of those books that I’m glad I can check off the list and now know the story that is referenced in many contexts, but I doubt I will ever pick up again or reread.

[capfox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For all that I read a fair amount of young adult stuff, I don't think I've read too much stuff targeted at children over the past few years. This book is a definite exception. As much as I like Neil Gaiman, this book does come across as fairly simplified. Not like I didn't know that going in, though.The book's about a young girl, Coraline, who gets bored with her life and goes into a mirror version of her life, which she then encounters problems getting out of. There's a lot of your basic fairy tale set-up stuff in here, with the repetitions in threes and the guiding animal character, but there's also a solid look at identity and finding yourself in here, as well. That said, the story does speed along, and it's easy to see where it's going. It'd not be as enjoyable if it wasn't for the style. Gaiman does have style. It just doesn't carry me the whole way here. Still, I definitely plowed through the book very quickly, so it can't be all bad, right?

[vernefan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Deliciously creepy, ever so twisted. The Adams Family meets Alice in Wonderland

[toohotty · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my favorite book. It's one of those I take with me wherever I go. I've read it 50,000 times and had to replace it at one point because it started falling apart.Coraline herself is not terribly interesting and a bit of a brat, but the other characters are fantastic, especially the Other Mother with her papery skin and button eyes and habit of collecting children and keeping them for herself. Very creepy.The cat's pretty cool too even if the little cat sidekick thing has been done to death.Anyway, Coraline reads like a fairy tale, having creepy crazy characters and a push towards a moral (kind of a variation on "Be careful what you wish for" and "Don't take candy from giant evil reality-twisting demon things.")Dave McKean's illustrations are, as usual, fabulous.For fans of Neil Gaiman, Alice, fairy tales, and Thing from The Addams Family. I give it a million stars.

[erika.d · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

great story and great movie

[bensdad00 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Radically different than the motion picture based upon it, but enjoyable on its own as a pared down, darker tale.

[superbadgirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

First of all, if you've never read any Neil Gaiman, get up, cast off your grubby pajamas and get to the book store before I have to come to your house and kick your ass. Seriously. You can't ignore my favorite, most beloved and adored author, the man that gave Sandman to the world. You just can'tOK now that that is out of the way, I can tell you that I sincerely enjoyed Coraline. It's a children's novel, but I read everything that this man puts on paper so that was no drawback for me. Set in present-day England, Coraline is about an enterprising young woman who "loses" her parents in their London apartment.Turns out they've been taken by a malevolent entity, the button-eyed "other mother" who wants to make Coraline her child. Coraline sets out to find her parents, pitting her wits and will against that of the ancient other mother, and, in the way of all good children's stories that don't end in years of therapy bills, she triumphs.Coraline is an impressive character, displaying a strength of will I'd love to see in some of my adult friends. She's also quite plain spoken, and vocal about her wants and needs, another trait I would appreciate in adults I have to deal with. One of the best scenes in the book has to do with Coraline's interaction with her distracted writer-father, and his penchant for making "recipes" when all Coraline wants is regular food.Though this story sounds creepy, and is, I have been assured that kids don't find it nearly as horrific as adults imagine they will. I have recommended it to several of my friends that have young kids, I will let you know if any of them run screaming into the night.

[Tere Fredericks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It appears I was wrong on my cancelation date of my Scribd, so I get to read books not available on Kindle Unlimited for free.

My first choice after realizing I had the date incorrect (yes, I am wondering if it was an unconscious forgetfulness) was Neil Gaiman's Coraline.

Having heard so much about how good it is over the years, I downloaded and started reading. I did not know this book was written for his little girls. Whew.

The first Neil Gaiman book I ever read was American Gods. The next was The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which is paranormal rather than outright fear. Outright fear is what you get with Coraline. Coraline is small for her age, but very resourceful.

As always, Mr. Gaiman's prose is spot on. He has us in Coraline's corner in no time. Once we are hooked, he makes us hold our breath while Coraline is dealt one setback after another. She doesn't always win. I don't think that's a spoiler because where would be the horror be in that?

If this is truly a story for little girls, they must be something. I will have nightmares tonight for sure.

Loved the intensity of the feelings this book gave me. A roller-coaster in the dark, full of ups and downs, stomach clenched in fear, not sure where the next drop will be.

I am a true Neil Gaiman fan, forever. I can't wait to read more! If you have never read this author before, I recommend this highly as your first.

[Mae Desmond · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book. For those wondering, the 10th Anniversary Edition doesn't add very much to the original novel, so I don't think you miss out if you only own/read the original.

[Kayley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“Being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway.”

This book reminded me how I felt when I was young, it gave me a sense of childlike wonder as we explore this new, and frightening, world with Coraline. Its a book I will always hold dear to my heart.

[carolelissa2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love how this book fits the Jungian archetypes perfectly.

[Arlene Conboy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Coraline is such a quirky, just-scary-enough story. Good book to read out-loud by adult or child or as a joint effort.

[Allie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book as a child and fell in love with it only to pick it back up again as an adult and love it even more.

[jamestomasino · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lovely horror filled with delightful creepiness.

[a.godhelm · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The aesthetic of the movie adaptation really helped this story along, compared to the novella. I'm once again not the target audience, so the creeps will definitely land better with the younger reader.

[smashbasile · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was very good! I've seen the movie, and I vaguely remember it, but I enjoyed the book much more.

Coraline is a very brave child and I appreciate that she was strong when she didn't feel like she was. This is a great story for kids and adults alike!

[muumuumousie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I thoroughly enjoyed this creepy little tale. Although it begins somewhat slowly, the tension steadily builds until the dramatic conclusion. The characters are well-developed, and some of them are a delight to read. The cat, in particular, is a joy; he is vaguely reminiscent of Alice’s Cheshire Cat, but he is nevertheless original. Coraline herself is a strong, brave heroine. Gaiman does a masterful job, as always, of telling a story that is fresh, unique, and memorable. The bone-chilling vibe in this spooky story is spot-on.

[zoes_human · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A creepy and disturbing portal fantasy for the boldest of middle-grade readers. May be too much for some, but it's a perfect match for the ones that like scary stuff.

[mutantpudding · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Possibly my favorite Neil Gaiman book. Comforting in an extremely creepy way, and as I often do I want to recommend the audio book version for its excellent narration and musical accompaniment.