Coraline Fear Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

Coraline hesitated. She turned back. Her other mother and her other father were walking towards her, holding hands. They were looking at her with their black button eyes. (4.128)

The short and choppy sentences here emphasize Coraline's growing fear about the other world. It's hard for her to process it all clearly.

Quote #2

She became certain that there was something in the dark behind her: something very old and very slow. Her heart beat so hard and so loudly she was scared it would burst out of her chest. (4.130)

Neil Gaiman is really great at describing emotions without naming them: here, he shows us how scared Coraline is by describing the thumping of her heart.

Quote #3

All alone, in the middle of the night, Coraline began to cry. There was no other sound in the empty flat. (5.23)

Coraline is alone throughout the story, and we kind of start to take it for granted. But a little kid all alone at night? That's scary stuff.