I enjoy a dark story. I also enjoyed the movie version of this novel. In one of the rare instances where I read the book second, this was a relieving success. While there are certainly noticeable differences between the two media, I found the story quite enjoyable.

Gaiman's writing is a style that I found both entertaining and intriguing. There is a bit of a sinister tone to everything. The atmosphere is magically dark, with fantastic descriptions throughout. The characters are just this side of normal. They have enough to them to hedge that edge between believable and magical. And each character has their own shadowy edges, as if at any moment the shoe may drop in any direction.

A little herky jerky in the pacing and movements, but that does create a good setup for the atmosphere. Adorably creepy and just the right level of scare for an upper level middle grade read. Brilliantly fun.