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If you are looking for a good horror novel, at least consider picking up Neil Gaiman's Coraline.
Initially, I anticipated this would be a dark and gritty Alice in Wonderland-esque story, but with nightmare doll doppelgangers. Those button eyes are pretty iconic. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to read a fresh tale of a girl coming into her own, who has to use her resourcefulness and self-determination to save her family. At it's core this is a tale of bravery, and as Gaiman writes, “When you’re scared but you still do it anyway, that’s brave.” Bravery is not a fearless white knight, but a scared girl just doing the damn thing anyways.
Coraline is also an interesting and realistic young character. She wants and expects a great deal of her parents, but then comes to discern, as we all do, that parents are not super-humans. They are flawed people who are probably just doing their best, they will not always get it 100%. As you grow up, you cannot rely on other people to make you happy or act as your champion, you have to become your own advocate and solve your own problems. I think what I liked so much about this tale is that it's a story about a bunch of weird, interesting, flawed people just trying to do their best.
This tale also has one of the most horrifying villains I have read in a while. The other mother is definitely a character of nightmares, but there is so much about her malignancy that echoes real-life toxicity. The other mother's manipulation, is what I found to be especially unnerving. Coraline realizes, “It was true: the other mother loved her. But she loved Coraline as a miser loves money, or a dragon loves its gold. In the other mother's button eyes, Coraline knew that she was a possession, nothing more. A tolerated pet, whose behavior was no longer amusing.” That's some chilling content right there.
Overall, this story was both a great horror and a great coming-of-age story. I really liked it, so pick up a copy and decide for yourself, if you are so inclined.
Initially, I anticipated this would be a dark and gritty Alice in Wonderland-esque story, but with nightmare doll doppelgangers. Those button eyes are pretty iconic. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to read a fresh tale of a girl coming into her own, who has to use her resourcefulness and self-determination to save her family. At it's core this is a tale of bravery, and as Gaiman writes, “When you’re scared but you still do it anyway, that’s brave.” Bravery is not a fearless white knight, but a scared girl just doing the damn thing anyways.
Coraline is also an interesting and realistic young character. She wants and expects a great deal of her parents, but then comes to discern, as we all do, that parents are not super-humans. They are flawed people who are probably just doing their best, they will not always get it 100%. As you grow up, you cannot rely on other people to make you happy or act as your champion, you have to become your own advocate and solve your own problems. I think what I liked so much about this tale is that it's a story about a bunch of weird, interesting, flawed people just trying to do their best.
This tale also has one of the most horrifying villains I have read in a while. The other mother is definitely a character of nightmares, but there is so much about her malignancy that echoes real-life toxicity. The other mother's manipulation, is what I found to be especially unnerving. Coraline realizes, “It was true: the other mother loved her. But she loved Coraline as a miser loves money, or a dragon loves its gold. In the other mother's button eyes, Coraline knew that she was a possession, nothing more. A tolerated pet, whose behavior was no longer amusing.” That's some chilling content right there.
Overall, this story was both a great horror and a great coming-of-age story. I really liked it, so pick up a copy and decide for yourself, if you are so inclined.