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CoralineNeil Gaiman1 .22 .53 .75 .156 .207 .248 .269 .3010 .3311 .3612 .39I started this for HollyI finished it for MaddyFairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us thatdragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can bebeaten.—G. K. ChestertonIn the flat above Coraline's, under the roof, wasa crazy old man with a big moustache. He toldCoraline that he was training a mouse circus. Hewouldn't let anyone see it."One day, little Caroline, when they are allready, everyone in the whole world will see thewonders of my mouse circus. You ask me whyyou cannot see it now. Is that what you askedme?""No," said Coraline quietly, "I asked you not tocall me Caroline. It's Coraline.""The reason you cannot see the mouse circus,"said the man upstairs, "is that the mice are not yetready and rehearsed. Also, they refuse to play thesongs I have written for them. All the songs I havewritten for the mice to play go oompah oompah.But the white mice will only play toodle oodle, likethat. I am thinking of trying them on different typesof cheese."Coraline didn't think there really was a mousecircus. She thought the old man was probablymaking it up.1CORALINE DISCOVERED THE DOOR a littlewhile after they moved into the house.It was a very old house—it had an attic underthe roof and a cellar under the ground and anovergrown garden with huge old trees in it.Coraline's family didn't own all of the house—itwas too big for that. Instead they owned part of it.There were other people who lived in the oldhouse.Miss Spink and Miss Forcible lived in the flatbelow Coraline's, on the ground floor. They wereboth old and round, and they lived in their flat witha number of ageing Highland terriers who hadnames like Hamish and Andrew and Jock. Onceupon a time Miss Spink and Miss Forcible hadbeen actresses, as Miss Spink told Coraline thefirst time she met her."You see, Caroline," Miss Spink said, gettingCoraline's name wrong, "both myself and MissForcible were famous actresses, in our time. Wetrod the boards, luvvy. Oh, don't let Hamish eatthe fruitcake, or he'll be up all night with histummy.""It's Coraline. Not Caroline. Coraline," saidCoraline.The day after they moved in, Coraline wentexploring.She explored the garden. It was a big garden:at the very back was an old tennis court, but noone in the house played tennis and the fencearound the court had holes in it and the net hadmostly rotted away; there was an old rose garden,filled with stunted, flyblown rose-bushes; therewas a rockery that was all rocks; there was a fairyring, made of squidgy brown toadstools whichsmelled dreadful if you accidentally trod on them.There was also a well. Miss Spink and MissForcible made a point of telling Coraline howdangerous the well was, on the first day Coraline'sfamily moved in, and warned her to be sure shekept away from it. So Coraline set off to explorefor it, so that she knew where it was, to keep awayfrom it properly.She found it on the third day, in an overgrownmeadow beside the tennis court, behind a clumpof trees—a low brick circle almost hidden in thehigh grass. The well had been covered up bywooden boards, to stop anyone falling in. Therewas a small knot-hole in one of the boards, andCoraline spent an afternoon dropping pebbles andacorns through the hole, and waiting, andcounting, until she heard the plop as they hit thewater, far below.2

Coraline also explored for animals. She found ahedgehog, and a snake-skin (but no snake), and arock that looked just like a frog, and a toad thatlooked just like a rock.There was also a haughty black cat, who wouldsit on walls and tree stumps, and watch her; butwould slip away if ever she went over to try to playwith it.Coraline's father was home. Both of herparents worked, doing things on computers, whichmeant that they were home a lot of the time. Eachof them had their own study."Hello, Coraline," he said when she came in,without turning round."Mmph," said Coraline. "It's raining."That was how she spent her first two weeks inthe house—exploring the garden and the grounds.Her mother made her come back inside fordinner, and for lunch; and Coraline had to makesure she dressed up warm before she went out,for it was a very cold summer that year; but go outshe did, exploring, every day until the day itrained, when Coraline had to stay inside."Yup," said her father. "It's bucketing down.""No," said Coraline, "it's just raining. Can I gooutside?""What does your mother say?""She says, 'You're not going out in weather likethat, Coraline Jones'.""What should I do?" asked Coraline."Then, no.""Read a book," said her mother. "Watch avideo. Play with your toys. Go and pester MissSpink or Miss Forcible, or the crazy old manupstairs.""No," said Coraline. "I don't want to do thosethings. I want to explore.""I don't really mind what you do," saidCoraline's mother, "as long as you don't make amess."Coraline went over to the window and watchedthe rain come down. It wasn't the kind of rain youcould go out in, it was the other kind, the kind thatthrew itself down from the sky and splashed whereit landed. It was rain that meant business, andcurrently its business was turning the garden intoa muddy, wet soup.Coraline had watched all the videos. She wasbored with her toys, and she'd read all her books.She turned on the television. She went fromchannel to channel to channel, but there wasnothing on but men in suits talking about the stockmarket, and schools programmes. Eventually, shefound something to watch: it was the last half of anatural history programme about something calledprotective coloration. She watched animals, birdsand insects which disguised themselves as leavesor twigs or other animals to escape from thingsthat could hurt them. She enjoyed it, but it endedtoo soon, and was followed by a programme abouta cake factory."But I want to carry on exploring.""Then explore the flat," suggested her father."Look—here's a piece of paper and a pen. Countall the doors and windows. List everything blue.Mount an expedition to discover the hot-watertank. And leave me alone to work.""Can I go into the drawing room?" The drawingroom was where the Joneses kept the dmother had left them when she died.Coraline wasn't allowed in there. Nobody went inthere. It was only for best."If you don't make a mess. And you don't touchanything."Coraline considered this carefully, then shetook the paper and pen and went off to explore theinside of the flat.She discovered the hot-water tank (it was in acupboard in the kitchen).She counted everything blue (153).She counted the windows (21).She counted the doors (14).Of the doors that she found, thirteen openedand closed. The other, the big, carved, brownwooden door at the far corner of the drawingroom, was locked.It was time to talk to her father.3

She said to her mother, "Where does that doorgo?""Nowhere, dear."the little red numbers on the microwave ovencounted down to zero."If you tried it, maybe you'd like it," saidCoraline's father, but she shook her head."It has to go somewhere."Her mother shook her head. "Look," she toldCoraline.She reached up, and took a string of keys fromthe top of the kitchen doorframe. She sortedthrough them carefully and selected the oldest,biggest, blackest, rustiest key. They went into thedrawing room. She unlocked the door with thekey.The door swung open.Her mother was right. The door didn't goanywhere. It opened on to a brick wall."When this place was just one house," saidCoraline's mother, "that door went somewhere.When they turned the house into flats, they simplybricked it up. The other side is the empty flat onthe other side of the house, the one that's still forsale."She shut the door and put the string of keysback on top of the kitchen doorframe.That night, Coraline lay awake in her bed. Therain had stopped, and she was almost asleepwhen something went t-t-t-t-t-t. She sat up in bed.Something went kreeee aaaak.Coraline got out of bed and looked down thehall, but saw nothing strange. She walked downthe hallway. From her parents' bedroom came alow snoring—that was her father—and anoccasional sleeping mutter—that was her mother.Coraline wonderedwhatever it was.ifshe'ddreamedit,Something moved.It was little more than a shadow, and it scuttleddown the darkened hall fast, like a little patch ofnight. She hoped it wasn't a spider. Spiders madeCoraline intensely uncomfortable.The black shape went into the drawing roomand Coraline followed it in, a little nervously."You didn't lock it," said Coraline.Her mother shrugged. "Why should I lock it?"she asked. "It doesn't go anywhere."Coraline didn't say anything.It was nearly dark now, and the rain was stillcoming down, pattering against the windows andblurring the lights of the cars in the street outside.Coraline's father stopped working and madethem all dinner.Coraline was disgusted. "Daddy," she said,"You've made a recipe again."The room was dark. The only light came fromthe hall, and Coraline, who was standing in thedoorway, cast a huge and distorted shadow on tothe drawing-room carpet: she looked like a thingiant woman.Coraline was just wondering whether or not sheought to turn on the light when she saw the blackshape edge slowly out from beneath the sofa. Itpaused, and then dashed silently across thecarpet towards the farthest corner of the room.There was no furniture in that corner of theroom.Coraline turned on the light."It's leek and potato stew, with a tarragongarnish and melted Gruyére cheese," he admitted.Coraline sighed. Then she went to the freezerand got out some microwave chips and amicrowave mini-pizza."You know I don't like recipes," she told herfather, while her dinner went round and round andThere was nothing in the corner. Nothing butthe old door that opened on to the brick wall.She was sure that her mother had shut thedoor, but now it was ever so slightly open. Just acrack. Coraline went over to it and looked in.There was nothing there—just a wall, built of redbricks.4