There aren't any good guys, and there aren't any bad guys. There's just us. People. Doing our best to get by.

I am frightened of nothing." "Nothing?" "Nothing." "Are you extremely frightened of nothing?" "Absolutely terrified of it." "I have nothing in my pockets. Would you like to see it?" "No, I most definitely would not.

The sky had never seemed so sky; the world had never seemed so world.

It won't hurt, said her other father. Coraline knew that when grown-ups told you something wouldn't hurt it almost always did. She shook her head.

They all do the same things. They may think their sins are original, but for the most part they are petty and repetitive.

It goes without saying that all of the people, living, dead, and otherwise, in this story are fictional or used in a fictional context. Only the gods are real.

If you have something specific and visible to fear, rather than something that could be anything, it is easier.