Coraline Chapter 4 Summary

  • Coraline discovers that the other outside looks a lot like home, except there are some blinking lights over the door to Miss Forcible and Miss Spink's place.
  • Coraline goes to investigate, of course.
  • She hears something behind her. It seems to be the black cat from home, but now it can talk. Or Coraline can hear it, at any rate.
  • The cat talks and talks and keeps getting offended by Coraline. She also learns that it doesn't have a name (cats don't have names, duh).
  • Before it wanders away and disappears, the cat tells her it was smart to bring "protection." This cat knows something we don't, that's for sure.
  • Coraline finally goes into Miss Forcible and Miss Spink's place, and inside she finds a big theater.
  • An usher (who happens to be a dog) shows Coraline to her seat. Turns out the rest of the audience members are all dogs, too.
  • On stage, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible come out and perform a variety act. When it's over, they unzip their entire bodies and step out. Yep, that's right. They step out of their bodies.
  • Now they are two young women with – wait for it – black button eyes.
  • The younger versions of Miss Spink and Miss Forcible invite Coraline on stage to help with their act. They put a balloon on top of Coraline's head and throw a knife at the balloon to pop it. Yikes!
  • Luckily they don't miss, and they actually give Coraline a small box of chocolate for helping out.
  • The dog next to her asks for her chocolates – that's all dogs eat in the other world – and she gives them to him. This is getting weirder by the minute.
  • The show keeps going, but Coraline decides to head back to her other home and see her other parents again.
  • When she arrives, they tell her they want her to stay with them forever.
  • But first, Coraline has to have black button eyes put in. Um, no thanks!
  • Coraline decides it's time to head back to her real home.
  • Her other parents say that they'll see her again soon when she comes back to stay. That's unsettling. For good reason, Coraline is scared as she heads back down the dark passageway.
  • She finally gets home though. Whew.
  • And guess what? The bricks are back in place behind the door.