Neil Gaiman has written many novels, short stories, comic books and more. He is probably best known for his novels Coraline and Stardust. ‘Click Clack the Rattle Bag’ is a short but very suspenseful – and scary – tale.
Why do we take such pleasure in things that scare us? According to Gaiman:
‘It goes way back. We have ghost stories from ancient Egypt, ghost stories in the Bible, classical ghost stories from Rome, along with werewolves, cases of demonic possession, and of course, over and over, witches. We have been telling each other tales that prickle the fl esh and make the shadows deeper and, most important, remind us that we are alive.’
What I will learn:
to respond to digital media
In this short tale, the narrator is staying at his girlfriend’s house – an old, creaky building with long corridors and dodgy electricity. Left alone with his girlfriend’s younger brother while she has gone out to get a takeaway, the boy asks the narrator to tell him a bedtime story as he feels a bit nervous in the old house. In the end, it’s the boy who tells the narrator a story …
Watch the author himself read this suspenseful short story. Go to YouTube and look up ‘Click Clack Neil Gaiman’ (12:20).
1. On a scale of 1–10 (1 being ‘poor’ and 10 being ‘excellent’), do you think this was a story full of suspense and tension? Explain your answer.
2. Did you enjoy the story? Telling Tales: Short Stories 215
