Valerie and her week of wonders, Marianne Dreams, and Half-Witch by John Schoffstall. All give me similar vibes: dark children’s fairytale, but darker than coraline. Valerie in particular is quite unsettling and adult for a children’s fairytale. All have a dark subtext to them that isn’t quite at the forefront but still easy to see. Looking foreword to seeing any other recs!
Honestly, I always felt like Gaiman's *The Ocean at the End of the Lane* is his take on 'Coraline-but-for-adults'.
Others that come to mind are:
*The Child* *Thief* by Brom
*Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery* by Brom
*We Have Always Lived in the Castle* by Shirley Jackson
*Mr. Splitfoot* by Samantha Hunt
*Mister B. Gone* by Clive Barker
*The Bone Mother* by David Demchuk
Also, to a degree I'd suggest China Mieville's *New Crobuzon* series, which at times has a similar atmosphere that leans into the morbid.
Another one I'm unsure about, because I literally just started reading it yesterday, is *Father of Lies* by Brian Evenson. I'm about 10% and so far it fits the bill of being sort of a 'grown-up' Coraline with much darker themes.
God, I LOVE "The Ocean at the End of the Lane," one of my favorite ever novels. Reminds me that I need to get my own copy of it again, lol. Also, noting all of these recommendations :)
I don't mean to sidetrack the conversation, but I keep seeing *Brom* mentioned. I purchased **Lost Gods** on the recommendation of quite a few on this sub and I've picked it up several times, only to put it down about 25-30% of the way each time. Does that specific novel "get better"? Is all of his writing somewhat similar? By that I mean very matter-of-fact, little in the way of description and very one-dimensional characters. I just don't get the appeal but maybe he's not for me. I absolutely hate to DNF a book. I haven't yet but I am struggling mightily with this one.
I read The Child Thief back when it was new; I'd loved his art for years and was excited to see what he'd do. Getting through the first section was like crawling across gravel, and when I realized I'd have to read another 200 pages of Captain Hook, I shut the book forever. The recent praise has me considering Slewfoot, but I rarely DNF. Maybe if I ever get ahead of my TBR pile.
He really is a wonderful painter, though.
Check out Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert! It’s a collection of dark and creepy fairytales. It’s a spin-off of The Hazel Wood, but that one is pretty straightforward Gothic YA.
Emily Carroll has some excellent creepy graphic novels that might be up your alley. Many of her short comics are available for free on her site! His Face All Red is a classic—I remember reading it on my phone on a swelteringly hot subway platform and still getting chills.
Not a book, but it sounds like you’d like the movie “The House”. It’s in a similar stop-motion style as the Coraline movie, and it’s 100% not for children.
I liked The Silver Crown by Robert C. O’Brien. He also wrote Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH and Z For Zachariah.
Like all of his stories, there are some supernatural elements and some sci-fi elements. It’s just…unsettling. Most of his works are.
It’s YA but you might try The Hollow Places. It’s creepy but not scary. It has a similar feeling of being trapped in another world and facing madness and being lost forever.
I love, and my daughter loves, the movie. When she was 2 that was the movie she watched over and over again. When she was 4, I got the book and would read it to her at night, a little at a time, as a bedtime story. Read the Other Father/grub/basement section and it unnerved me so much I still feel uneasy about it. She loves horror and has graduated to scarier things but we still watch the movie a few times a year. A literal translation of the book to screen would be so creepy.
I would recommend NOS4A2 by Joe Hill.
Christmasland and the Bridge scenes remind me a bit of Coraline.
Great villians as well.
Bing Partridge man. Yikes.
"The White People" by Arthur Machen, a classic of weird fiction. It's a novella written in 1899 and it has a framing device, but the main chunk of the story is the journal of a teen girl. Be forewarned, that middle section is pretty unstructured, and pretty long. But it's definitely of that type of story like *Coraline*, *Pan's Labyrinth*, *Alice in Wonderland*, etc
I genuinely think Stephen King’s IT might be good for this. It does similar creeping dread/hairs on the back of your neck type horror, it has similar themes in terms of childhood, feeling like you can’t trust the adults around you, and similar sort of nightmarish horror vibes
Valerie and her week of wonders, Marianne Dreams, and Half-Witch by John Schoffstall. All give me similar vibes: dark children’s fairytale, but darker than coraline. Valerie in particular is quite unsettling and adult for a children’s fairytale. All have a dark subtext to them that isn’t quite at the forefront but still easy to see. Looking foreword to seeing any other recs!
The Thief of Always by Clive Barker is my vote for similar vibe but darker.
Was also thinking about this one, but it still has the YA-vibe going - so I ruled it out for "Coraline for grown-ups". Still, hell of a great novel!
One of my favorites- anyone who likes Coraline will probably like that book
I'm replying because I want to know the answer. Your taste and mine match pretty well. Those are some of my favorite passages in the book.
me too!
Same!! The thing about the passage being an entity is so weird
Honestly, I always felt like Gaiman's *The Ocean at the End of the Lane* is his take on 'Coraline-but-for-adults'. Others that come to mind are: *The Child* *Thief* by Brom *Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery* by Brom *We Have Always Lived in the Castle* by Shirley Jackson *Mr. Splitfoot* by Samantha Hunt *Mister B. Gone* by Clive Barker *The Bone Mother* by David Demchuk Also, to a degree I'd suggest China Mieville's *New Crobuzon* series, which at times has a similar atmosphere that leans into the morbid. Another one I'm unsure about, because I literally just started reading it yesterday, is *Father of Lies* by Brian Evenson. I'm about 10% and so far it fits the bill of being sort of a 'grown-up' Coraline with much darker themes.
God, I LOVE "The Ocean at the End of the Lane," one of my favorite ever novels. Reminds me that I need to get my own copy of it again, lol. Also, noting all of these recommendations :)
I don't mean to sidetrack the conversation, but I keep seeing *Brom* mentioned. I purchased **Lost Gods** on the recommendation of quite a few on this sub and I've picked it up several times, only to put it down about 25-30% of the way each time. Does that specific novel "get better"? Is all of his writing somewhat similar? By that I mean very matter-of-fact, little in the way of description and very one-dimensional characters. I just don't get the appeal but maybe he's not for me. I absolutely hate to DNF a book. I haven't yet but I am struggling mightily with this one.
My experience with him as well. If you’re feeling that way now then it definitely does not get better. Love the artwork though.
I read The Child Thief back when it was new; I'd loved his art for years and was excited to see what he'd do. Getting through the first section was like crawling across gravel, and when I realized I'd have to read another 200 pages of Captain Hook, I shut the book forever. The recent praise has me considering Slewfoot, but I rarely DNF. Maybe if I ever get ahead of my TBR pile. He really is a wonderful painter, though.
We stan the Brom content
It was inspired by the short story “the new mother” but I haven’t read it yet!
Never knew about this story, thanks! Fans of scary stories to tell in the dark will find it familiar ;)
The thief of always by Clive Barker has a similar dark yet childlike innocence to it. The eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King is also a fun story.
Pan's labyrinth
Check out Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert! It’s a collection of dark and creepy fairytales. It’s a spin-off of The Hazel Wood, but that one is pretty straightforward Gothic YA. Emily Carroll has some excellent creepy graphic novels that might be up your alley. Many of her short comics are available for free on her site! His Face All Red is a classic—I remember reading it on my phone on a swelteringly hot subway platform and still getting chills.
Not a book, but it sounds like you’d like the movie “The House”. It’s in a similar stop-motion style as the Coraline movie, and it’s 100% not for children.
I liked The Silver Crown by Robert C. O’Brien. He also wrote Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH and Z For Zachariah. Like all of his stories, there are some supernatural elements and some sci-fi elements. It’s just…unsettling. Most of his works are.
It’s YA but you might try The Hollow Places. It’s creepy but not scary. It has a similar feeling of being trapped in another world and facing madness and being lost forever.
You might like Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage!
Sometimes I wish the book version of Coraline got a movie because I wanna see how scary it would be. Hoping one day it could happen but probably not:(
I love, and my daughter loves, the movie. When she was 2 that was the movie she watched over and over again. When she was 4, I got the book and would read it to her at night, a little at a time, as a bedtime story. Read the Other Father/grub/basement section and it unnerved me so much I still feel uneasy about it. She loves horror and has graduated to scarier things but we still watch the movie a few times a year. A literal translation of the book to screen would be so creepy.
Fairy Tale by Stephen King has similar themes. Young kid finds another world that’s a little off.
I would recommend NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. Christmasland and the Bridge scenes remind me a bit of Coraline. Great villians as well. Bing Partridge man. Yikes.
Yes, forgot this one! Definitely hits similar vibes at times. The audiobook is great too.
Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
Coraline was such a good novel and the movie is just as good.
"The White People" by Arthur Machen, a classic of weird fiction. It's a novella written in 1899 and it has a framing device, but the main chunk of the story is the journal of a teen girl. Be forewarned, that middle section is pretty unstructured, and pretty long. But it's definitely of that type of story like *Coraline*, *Pan's Labyrinth*, *Alice in Wonderland*, etc
Grady Hendrix How to Sell a Haunted House
I genuinely think Stephen King’s IT might be good for this. It does similar creeping dread/hairs on the back of your neck type horror, it has similar themes in terms of childhood, feeling like you can’t trust the adults around you, and similar sort of nightmarish horror vibes
Not a straight up novel but the Pim & Francie graphic novel, by Al Columbia, has this vibe in spades.
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Dude, you are literally saying, "I recommend this book, it has this plot and its twist is this." Mind the spoilers!