|Contemporary Urban Fantasy| - Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" - Book Review

I'm one of those weird kids who never got "traumatized" by Coraline. It's actually one of my favorite movies of all time!  

It's eerie but I never saw it as a scary movie. I was always curious and wanted to see more of the parallel universe where everything was fun and everyone had buttons for eyes. 

I never thought of reading the book. In my mind, I thought the book and the film were pretty similar to one another. What could be so different from the book when it comes to my beloved childhood movie? 

  

Boy, was I wrong.  

Even now that I know both of the stories have their differences, it doesn't mean the film made a bad job for not following their source material 100%. The changes made into the film were necessary to make it more family friendly and overall just less creepy. 

Surprisingly, I thought the book was maybe too eerie for me when compared to the film. The "Other World" is magical but the Other Mother and the Other Father are just plain old terrifying since the beginning. Even if Coraline's neighbors seem to be fun and the food is delicious, with its descriptions of the world and the weird mannerisms of the Other Mother, I would in no doubt leave from the moment I set foot on the Other World. How could I not be suspicious from the moment I see the Other Mother? 

 The film makes the Other World more magical; incorporating the Coraline-shaped garden, the nice friendship with Wybie and the adorable minie-version doll of Coraline (none of these elements are part of the book, by the way). The book, however, just gives you a scary adventure in which Coraline is all alone with sometimes the help from the black cat.  

The feeling of being ignored by her parents is stronger and some events take longer than in the film. She stays alone for two days after her parents have disappeared and it takes her longer to get rid of the key to the Other World.  

Lots of the changes made were well-done and it may be one of the few cases where the film may be even better than the book.   

No matter which one is less scary or more entertaining than the other, both versions of the story are great and I would not mind watching the film or reading the book once more. They both still have the mice circus, the performances by Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, the creepy mirror with the creepy children in them and the wise black cat. 

It is a peculiar children's book due to its content but it can be entertaining to many with its dark fantasy concepts. It's definitely not for many. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it. It made me appreciate the film even more and the dedication they put out to make the story even better for the theatrical release. 

I've become very infatuated with Neil Gaiman's contemporary urban fantasy novels and I am excited to read more of his works: where he is able to find the magical within the finds of the normal and the mundane.