• Coraline

  • By: Neil Gaiman
  • Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
  • Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (9,166 ratings)

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Coraline  By  cover art

Coraline

By: Neil Gaiman
Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
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Editorial review


By Haley Hill, Audible Editor

CORALINE BY NEIL GAIMAN IS A QUINTESSENTIAL DARK FANTASY

I attribute the bibliophile I am today to my early affinity for scary stories—which led me to check out Neil Gaiman’s Coraline from my elementary school library. My first ever stand-alone novel (I discovered my love of reading with R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series), this terrifying children’s tale scared the living daylights out of me so successfully that I even commemorated conquering my fear of flying over the Atlantic Ocean in my early 20s by getting the Other Mother’s spindly fingers tattooed upon my arm. In my mind, I had travelled through a portal leading to the unknown and made it back alive, just like the story’s brave protagonist.

From the novel’s beginning, I found it easy to relate to Coraline. Just like her, I am an only child, which I believe led me to develop an active imagination during the many boring, lonesome moments when I would fantasize about making new friends from within the confines of my backyard. (If you, too, are yearning for a set of quirky companions to help occupy your time, look no further than this audiobook’s marvelous full-cast performance!) Likewise, throughout my childhood, I had frequent recurring nightmares which typically resulted in me getting separated from my family. (Disclaimer: I do not particularly believe that these dreams were caused by my lack of siblings.) As Coraline’s journey led her to a parallel universe where button-eyed doppelgängers of her parents threatened to trap her forever, I am certain that my own anxieties coincidentally helped to make this eerie tale feel all the more uncanny, as if I were witnessing my worst fears unfolding on the pages before me. Despite feeling disturbed at the time, I will forever be grateful to Neil Gaiman for first teaching me about the power of stories to reflect aspects of ourselves within others’ narratives.

To this day, I am still just as frightened by Coraline as I was when I was a child. (If you have seen Henry Selick’s stop-motion adaptation of the story, you know just how grotesque and unsettling the tale really is. And, if you have not yet experienced Neil Gaiman’s original work, prepare yourself for the spine-tingling scenes which the director deemed too disturbing to include in his 2009 film.) But now that I’m older, I find that this listen unnerves me in entirely unanticipated ways, as it now makes me worry that I have come closer than ever to resembling Coraline’s real parents, who struggle to prioritize having fun against their demanding adult responsibilities.

Continue reading Haley's review >

Publisher's summary

In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close. The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only it's different...

At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom. But there's another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.

©2002 Neil Gaiman (P)2002 HarperCollinsPublishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

  • Book Sense Book of the Year Award Finalist, Children's Literature, 2003
  • Hugo Award Winner, Best Novella, 2003
  • Nebula Award Winner, Best Novella, 2003

"An electrifyingly creepy tale likely to haunt young readers for many moons." (Publishers Weekly)
"The story is odd, strange, even slightly bizarre, but kids will hang on every word...and they will love being frightened out of their shoes. This is just right for all those requests for a scary book." (School Library Journal)
"A magnificently creepy story...for stouthearted kids who love a brush with the sinister, Coraline is spot on." (Kirkus Reviews)

Featured Article: Coraline—Book vs. Movie


For nearly two decades, Coraline has delighted and terrified fans, inspiring both a film and graphic novel adaptation. It is the story of Coraline, a young girl who moves to an old house that has been divided up strangely into four flats. The only child of workaholic parents, who always seem to be brushing her off in favor of more important business, Coraline is lonely. When she discovers a portal that takes her to another flat where an Other Mother has all the time in the world for her, Coraline is happy—until things take a dark turn. Here's a look at the differences between the classic and the film adaptation.

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What listeners say about Coraline

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    6,988
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    4 out of 5 stars

A DEAD SPIDER THE SIZE OF A SMALL CAT

I'M YOUR OTHER MOTHER
I agree with audible addict, I question the age for this story and performance. This will cause nightmares in younger children. Once you get past that, this is a great scary, adventure story. A dark Narnia and Alice in Wonderland. Listen by yourself before sharing with younger ones, but don't ignore it, it is very entertaining.

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Perfection

This story is - without reservation - perfect !!!!
Creepy. Cozy . So much more - transcends genre. Something I look for and rarely find : a book I read over and over.

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Very Detailed

So in the one star reviews some of them say it is bland and only interesting when the animals talk. What I think is that this book is so detailed you have to actually pay attention. It may seem bland if you are only half listening. But this book may not be for some readers who want a quick and easy read, or listen to on this case. Overall this book is magnificent.

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amazing

amazing story telling and the presentation was wonderful and very interestingly done. never heard anything like this before.

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Excellent.

narrator was very good. I'd say I enjoyed the singing rats best. so eerie and matching the idea of their being "other" rats.

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Amazing book!

This book is very good I fully recommend it to all readers the plot is good and so is everything very awesome book

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loved it

fantastic story, really good narration, I recommend this for people who like mild horror type books, once you start it you'll only want to finish it !

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Perfect

This book is so impressive and beautiful. Gaiman has a really remarkable writing style, and he brought this little book to life. There were times when I stopped listening because I got the creeps more than I wanted at that particular moment. With the added writer as the narrator, you can tell how much energy he put into this book. Would recommend

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Contemporary classic

Gaiman’s tales are instant classics that will be celebrated long beyond his lifetime. His reading performance rivals the skill with which he writes, elevating this gem to an all star, best of Audible level. I love how this tale is at once creepy and beautiful, frightening and engaging, ghastly and charming.

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Love Coraline!

Neil Gaiman manages to write the sort of creepy that seems charming on the surface, but once the story lingers and resonates it grows more horrifying - yet still I'm charmed! The whole idea of "The Other Mother" makes me shudder. Does she want something to love, or something to eat? Neil Gaiman has become one of my favourite writers because of his ability to deepen meaning with a seemingly casual line of dialogue. His writing is wonderful, and his narration enjoyable. He has a lovely voice.

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