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A review by eyreguide
Click-Clack the Rattlebag by Neil Gaiman
5.0
The story starts off with a mundane, very normal scenario - a little boy wants to hear a scary story. Just like the listener. And the narrator is happy to try and oblige the boy. As the boy must prepare for bed, the narrator and the boy move from the warm, lighted kitchen to the creaky, dark, old staircase that leads to the boy's bedroom. Introduce a rather odd bogey monster as the listener is swept up in the tale, and the whole story becomes insidiously creepy and unsettling.
Neil Gaiman having written and also reading the story elevates the simple premise of the tale. With Neil Gaiman, of course there is a brilliant use and economy of words. He drops words and descriptions that gradually change and warp the images that appear in your head as you listen. His reading has just the right pause and emphasis to bring out all kinds of meaning behind the words. The story's end was a little predictable for me - only because it is such a short story, and I was waiting for the really scary thing to happen, only to realize that it might be happening all along. Even if you almost know what is going to happen, there is a shivery delight in hearing the story all the way to it's conclusion. And having Neil Gaiman lead you there.
Neil Gaiman having written and also reading the story elevates the simple premise of the tale. With Neil Gaiman, of course there is a brilliant use and economy of words. He drops words and descriptions that gradually change and warp the images that appear in your head as you listen. His reading has just the right pause and emphasis to bring out all kinds of meaning behind the words. The story's end was a little predictable for me - only because it is such a short story, and I was waiting for the really scary thing to happen, only to realize that it might be happening all along. Even if you almost know what is going to happen, there is a shivery delight in hearing the story all the way to it's conclusion. And having Neil Gaiman lead you there.