The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

with Illustrations by Dave McKean

Available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle Formats.

When young Nobody Owens was just a baby, a very bad man broke into his house and killed his family. The young tot escaped by making his way into a graveyard where he came under the protection of the spirits who reside there.  Bod has he comes to be called inhabits the graveyard walking in and through places that only the dead know.  Raised by loving and well meaning ghost, Nobody has little contact with the living save those who come into his twilight world. Most don’t even notice him.  When one does, it begins the first friendship Bod has with a living soul. Outside the graveyard, the world has forgotten about his parent’s murder and everyone except the murder who is waiting to finish the job.

Gaiman’s prose combined with the illustrations by Dave McKean give the book a unique feel not quite macabre, but definitely dark and twisted in a way that draws readers in. Basically, everything we love about Halloween except the candy.  The only thing that I would have liked to have seen more of were the illustrations. Thankfully, Gaiman with the assistance of another illustrator took care of that with the creation of a two volume  The Graveyard Book Graphic Novel.

Something I am officially putting on my wish list.