Coraline Chapter 10 Summary

  • Coraline goes up to where the crazy old man lives. Or the other version of him, at least.
  • She feels like the old man's apartment is going to be even worse than the cellar, but she goes inside anyway: she's tough as nails, remember.
  • Inside, there are tons of rats scurrying about and whispering a creepy little song.
  • A voice starts to whisper to Coraline, telling her to stay in the other world: if she goes home she'll just be bored and ignored; here, she can have whatever she wants.
  • But Coraline is sure she wants to go home: she doesn't want to live in some crazy world run by the other mother.
  • All of the sudden, the old man starts to fall apart. Literally. He was made up completely of rats.
  • Gross. Gross. Gross.
  • Gross.
  • Okay, moving on. The largest black rat is holding a gray marble in his paws: it's the last one Coraline needs.
  • She chases after the rat, but she can't catch it and it gets away. She falls to the ground, scraping her knee and feeling like a failure.
  • But then she hears a cough. It's the black cat: he killed the rat and got the marble for Coraline!
  • Unfortunately, the last little girl, whose soul was just rescued, tells Coraline that the other mother doesn't plan to let Coraline go, ever.
  • But Coraline has the three souls now, and she goes to get her parents. She feels determined.
  • Coraline thinks about her old house and suddenly realizes where her parents must be.
  • The cat starts to freak out. It says that the other mother has flattened out the world she made and now there aren't any ways in or out. Talk about claustrophobia!
  • Coraline comforts the cat and tells him that she'll get them both home safely.
  • Coraline goes up to her own apartment, which now looks like a child's drawing.
  • She opens the door and goes inside, three souls and a stone in her pocket and a cat in her arms.