{"id":4154,"date":"2026-01-04T00:10:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/coraline-gaiman-neil\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T00:10:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:10:54","slug":"coraline-gaiman-neil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/coraline-gaiman-neil\/","title":{"rendered":"Coraline – Gaiman, Neil"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Book Preview<\/h3>\n
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\nI.<\/span>
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C<\/span>oraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house.<\/p>\n

It was a very old house\u2014it had an attic under the roof and a cellar under the ground and an overgrown garden with huge old trees in it.<\/p>\n

Coraline’s family didn’t own all of the house\u2014it was too big for that. Instead they owned part of it.<\/p>\n

There were other people who lived in the old house.<\/p>\n

Miss Spink and Miss Forcible lived in the flat below Coraline’s, on the ground floor. They were both old and round, and they lived in their flat with a number of ageing Highland terriers who had names like Hamish and Andrew and Jock. Once upon a time Miss Spink and Miss Forcible had been actresses, as Miss Spink told Coraline the first time she met her.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see, Caroline,\u201d Miss Spink said, getting Coraline’s name wrong, \u201cboth myself and Miss Forcible were famous actresses, in our time. We trod the boards, luvvy. Oh, don’t let Hamish eat the fruitcake, or he’ll be up all night with his tummy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s Coraline. Not Caroline. Coraline,\u201d said Coraline.<\/p>\n

In the flat above Coraline’s, under the roof, was a crazy old man with a big mustache. He told Coraline that he was training a mouse circus. He wouldn’t let anyone see it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day, little Caroline, when they are all ready, everyone in the whole world will see the wonders of my mouse circus. You ask me why you cannot see it now. Is that what you asked me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d said Coraline quietly, \u201cI asked you not to call me Caroline. It’s Coraline.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason you cannot see the mouse circus,\u201d said the man upstairs, \u201cis that the mice are not yet ready and rehearsed. Also, they refuse to play the songs I have written for them. All the songs I have written for the mice to play go oompah oompah.<\/span> But the white mice will only play toodle oodle,<\/span> like that. I am thinking of trying them on different types of cheese.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coraline didn’t think there really was a mouse circus. She thought the old man was probably making it up.<\/p>\n

The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring.<\/p>\n

She explored the garden. It was a big garden: at the very back was an old tennis court, but no one in the house played tennis and the fence around the court had holes in it and the net had mostly rotted away; there was an old rose garden, filled with stunted, flyblown rosebushes; there was a rockery that was all rocks; there was a fairy ring, made of squidgy brown toadstools which smelled dreadful if you accidentally trod on them.<\/p>\n

There was also a well. On the first day Coraline’s family moved in, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible made a point of telling Coraline how dangerous the well was, and they warned her to be sure she kept away from it. So Coraline set off to explore for it, so that she knew where it was, to keep away from it properly.<\/p>\n

She found it on the third day, in an overgrown meadow beside the tennis court, behind a clump of trees\u2014a low brick circle almost hidden in the high grass. The well had been covered up by wooden boards, to stop anyone falling in. There was a small knothole in one of the boards, and Coraline spent an afternoon dropping pebbles and acorns through the hole and waiting, and counting, until she heard the plop<\/span> as they hit the water far below.<\/p>\n

Coraline also explored for animals. She found a hedgehog, and a snakeskin (but no snake), and a rock that looked just like a frog, and a toad that looked just like a rock.<\/p>\n

There was also a haughty black cat, who sat on walls and tree stumps and watched her but slipped away if ever she went over to try to play with it.<\/p>\n

That was how she spent her first two weeks in the house\u2014exploring the garden and the grounds.<\/p>\n

Her mother made her come back inside for dinner and for lunch. And Coraline had to make sure she dressed up warm before she went out, for it was a very cold summer that year; but go out she did, exploring, every day until the day it rained, when Coraline had to stay inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat should I do?\u201d asked Coraline.<\/p>\n

\u201cRead a book,\u201d said her mother. \u201cWatch a video. Play with your toys. Go and pester Miss Spink or Miss Forcible, or the crazy old man upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d said Coraline. \u201cI don’t want to do those things. I want to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t really mind what you do,\u201d said Coraline’s mother, \u201cas long as you don’t make a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coraline went over to the window and watched the rain come down. It wasn’t the kind of rain you could go out in\u2014it was the other kind, the kind that threw itself down from the sky and splashed where it landed. It was rain that meant business, and currently its business was turning the garden into a muddy, wet soup.<\/p>\n

Coraline had watched all the videos. She was bored with her toys, and she’d read all her books.<\/p>\n

She turned on the television. She went from channel to channel to channel, but there was nothing on but men in suits talking about the stock market, and talk shows.<\/p>\n

Eventually, she found something to watch: it was the last half of a natural history program about something called protective coloration. She watched animals, birds, and insects which disguised themselves as leaves or twigs or other animals to escape from things that could hurt them. She enjoyed it, but it ended too soon and was followed by a program about a cake factory. It was time to talk to her father.<\/p>\n

Coraline’s father was home. Both of her parents worked, doing things on computers, which meant that they were home a lot of the time. Each of them had their own study.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello Coraline,\u201d he said when she came in, without turning round.<\/p>\n

\u201cMmph,\u201d said Coraline. \u201cIt’s raining.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYup,\u201d said her father. \u201cIt’s bucketing down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d said Coraline.\u201dIt’s just raining. Can I go outside?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does your mother say?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe says you’re not going out in weather like that, Coraline Jones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, no.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I want to carry on exploring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen explore the flat,\u201d suggested her father. \u201cLook\u2014 here’s a piece of paper and a pen. Count all the doors and windows. List everything blue. Mount an expedition to discover the hot water tank. And leave me alone to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I go into the drawing room?\u201d The drawing room was where the Joneses kept the expensive (and uncomfortable) furniture Coraline’s grandmother had left them when she died. Coraline wasn’t allowed in there. Nobody went in there. It was only for best.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don’t make a mess. And you don’t touch anything\u201d<\/p>\n

Coraline considered this carefully, then she took the paper and pen and went off to explore the inside of the flat.<\/p>\n

She discovered the hot water tank (it was in a cupboard in the kitchen).<\/p>\n

She counted everything blue (153).<\/p>\n

She counted the windows (21).<\/p>\n

She counted the doors (14).<\/p>\n

Of the doors that she found, thirteen opened and closed. The other\u2014the big, carved, brown wooden door at the far corner of the drawing room\u2014was locked.<\/p>\n

She said to her mother, \u201cWhere does that door go?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNowhere, dear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to go somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her mother shook her head. \u201cLook,\u201d she told Coraline.<\/p>\n

She reached up and took a string of keys from the top of the kitchen doorframe. She sorted through them carefully, and selected the oldest, biggest, blackest, rustiest key.<\/p>\n

They went into the drawing room. She unlocked the door with the key.<\/p>\n

The door swung open.<\/p>\n

Her mother was right. The door didn’t go anywhere. It opened onto a brick wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this place was just one house,\u201d said Coraline’s mother, \u201cthat door went somewhere. When they turned the house into flats, they simply bricked it up. The other side is the empty flat on the other side of the house, the one that’s still for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shut the door and put the string of keys back on top of the kitchen doorframe.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn’t lock it,\u201d said Coraline.<\/p>\n

Her mother shrugged. \u201cWhy should I lock it?\u201d she asked. \u201cIt doesn’t go anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coraline didn’t say anything.<\/p>\n

It was nearly dark outside now, and the rain was still coming down, pattering against the windows and blurring the lights of the cars in the street outside.<\/p>\n

Coraline’s father stopped working and made them all dinner.<\/p>\n

Coraline was disgusted. \u201cDaddy,\u201d she said, \u201cyou’ve made a recipe<\/span> again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s leek and potato stew with a tarragon garnish and melted Gruyere cheese,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

Coraline sighed. Then she went to the freezer and got out some microwave chips and a microwave minipizza.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know I don’t like recipes,\u201d she told her father, while her dinner went around and around and the little red numbers on the microwave oven counted down to zero.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you tried it, maybe you’d like it,\u201d said Coraline’s father, but she shook her head.<\/p>\n

That night, Coraline lay awake in her bed. The rain had stopped, and she was almost asleep when something went t-t-t-t-t-t.<\/span> She sat up in bed.<\/p>\n

Something went kreeee<\/span> …<\/p>\n

\n. . . aaaak<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

Coraline got out of bed and looked down the hall, but saw nothing strange. She walked down the hall. From her parents’ bedroom came a low snoring\u2014that was her father\u2014and an occasional sleeping mutter\u2014that was her mother.<\/p>\n

Coraline wondered if she’d dreamed it, whatever it was.<\/p>\n

Something moved.<\/p>\n

It was little more than a shadow, and it scuttled down the darkened hall fast, like a little patch of night.<\/p>\n

She hoped it wasn’t a spider. Spiders made Coraline intensely uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

The black shape went into the drawing room, and Coraline followed it a little nervously.<\/p>\n

The room was dark. The only light came from the hall, and Coraline, who was standing in the doorway, cast a huge and distorted shadow onto the drawing room carpet\u2014she looked like a thin giant woman.<\/p>\n

Coraline was just wondering whether or not she ought to turn on the lights when she saw the black shape edge slowly out from beneath the sofa. It paused, and then dashed silently across the carpet toward the farthest corner of the room.<\/p>\n

There was no furniture in that corner of the room. Coraline turned on the light.<\/p>\n

There was nothing in the corner. Nothing but the old door that opened onto the brick wall.<\/p>\n

She was sure that her mother had shut the door, but now it was ever so slightly open. Just a crack. Coraline went over to it and looked in. There was nothing there\u2014just a wall, built of red bricks.<\/p>\n

Coraline closed the old wooden door, turned out the light, and went to bed.<\/p>\n

She dreamed of black shapes that slid from place to place, avoiding the light, until they were all gathered together under the moon. Little black shapes with little red eyes and sharp yellow teeth.<\/p>\n

They started to sing,<\/p>\n

\nWe are small but we are many<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWe are many we are small<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWe were here before you rose<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWe will be here when you fall.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

Their voices were high and whispering and slightly whiney. They made Coraline feel uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

Then Coraline dreamed a few commercials, and after that she dreamed of nothing at all.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
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Read the full book by downloading it below.<\/p>\n

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Book Preview I. Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house. It was a very old house\u2014it had an attic under the roof and a cellar under the ground and an overgrown garden with huge old trees in it. Coraline’s family didn’t own all of the house\u2014it was too big … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[258],"class_list":["post-4154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-neil-gaiman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}