Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a story for children but it is a rather dark one. I loved it.

Coraline is a little girl who lives with her parents in a huge old house together with other people who share the same house. Those other people are two old former actresses named Miss Spink and Miss Forcible who own three dogs, and an old man Coraline calls ‘the crazy old man’.

She loves to explore her surroundings. Her parents usually don’t bother with her and very often, she feels bored. One day, while she explores the house, she stumbles into a locked door in the drawing room. With the help of her mother, she opens the door but only to find a brick wall. Her mother explains why that is so. Still, she is curious and later she tries again to open it by herself and this time, lo and behold, the brick wall is no longer there!

Gaiman takes us readers into an adventure—a dark and strange adventure—where Coraline finds herself in another place that looks very much like her home. There she meets her other mother and other father. Her other mother sounds almost like her real mother but she looks strange with black buttons as eyes. Her other features are quite eerie too. Her other mother wants her to stay there forever and promises to love her. Even the food she cooks for Coraline tastes much better than back at home. For a moment, Coraline seems to be enjoying herself with all the attention lavished on her.

Later, Coraline discovers her real parents are trapped and more than that, she also finds the souls of three other children trapped too. Coraline being the courageous girl that she is begins plotting the rescue of her parents and helps finding the souls of the three children. She’s not alone in this arduous task for there is a black cat that helps her. Remember Miss Spink and Miss Forcible? They, too, have helped her by giving her something before all of that happened. They have read Coraline’s future using tea leaves in one of Coraline’s visits to them.

This is an interesting read and definitely a creepy one. I don’t know what I would do if I were Coraline. Would I be so courageous to put my fears aside and face evil head on? The story will make us appreciate our loved ones and what we have. The illustrations by Dave McKean definitely help visualize the story. Read this and be spooked and charmed at the same time!