History NightmareFuel / NeilGaiman

* His very short (as in, only ten lines long) story titled "Nicholas Was..." which portrays SantaClaus as actually being a slave of the "dwarfish natives of the Arctic caverns" who is forced every year to deliver their creations in "Endless Night" (implied to be a night frozen in time). Notably, Nicholas sees his existence as even more torturous than the fates of Prometheus, Loki, Sisyphus, and Judas.

* ''Click-clack the rattletrap'' is narrated by a young man who's babysitting for his girlfriend's little brother. The little boy tells him about click-clacks, which hang around in old houses and strip you out of your skin, then leave it hanging. They then possess other people's bodies. The narrator takes the little boy's hand and they climb up to the bedroom at the top of the house, going up the creaky old stairs as they do. At the top, they see one door left open, with ''things'' hanging inside. The little boy pushes him in, and the door slams shut.

[[caption-width-right:250:[[SurpriseCreepy "What is there to be scared of about buttons?"]]]]

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQC0QVXa33o "Koumpounophobia"]] video made to tie in with [[WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}} the ''Coraline'' film]], in which Gaiman talks about buttons and a fear of them. In the video includes a SurpriseCreepy clip from the beginning of WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}} where a doll gets [[EyeScream its button eyes removed]] and its mouth unsewn. The scariest part is at the end, where Gaiman puts [[BlackEyesOfEvil buttons over his eyes]] and then [[PsychoticSmirk smiles]].

* The short story ''Keepsakes and Treasures'' describes the narrator's rendezvous with a prostitute, with whom he deals gently and considerately... initially. So far, so... surprisingly unsquicky. Then everything promptly takes a bullet train to hell [[spoiler: when you find out that she was nine years old]].

** Don't forget [[spoiler: Hinzelmann. And the car under the lake...]]

* "Feeders and Eaters" from his short story collection "Fragile Things." It's based on a nightmare he had when he was twenty, he says in the introduction, and that ought to give you a hint that nothing good will come of it. Involves a half-eaten live cat and an air of overwhelming ickiness. The man telling the story lived next door to an old woman. One day, he finds her bedridden and incredibly weak. She requests some meat to eat to get her strength back. He brings her sirloin but it's later revealed she's been eating the missing cat that belongs to the family who rents her, her room. The cat's been half-eaten, the bones on its lower half having been picked clean, [[FateWorseThanDeath but it's still alive and in pain]]. When the narrator found the cat he [[MercyKill mercy killed]] it by stomping on it to death. [[spoiler:Having been feeding off the cat to keep herself alive, she begins feeding on her neighbor to take the cat's place. Formerly handsome and muscled, the man now looks emaciated and dead as the woman slowly devours him alive. Small scraps of meat are still on his bones, like what you see on half-eaten chicken wings. What's worse is that the man clearly wants to die, but for some unexplained reason he's in the, now young, woman's thrall]]. The apparent indifference of the protagonist to his old friend's situation only makes it more disturbing.

* ''Click-clack the rattletrap'' is narrated by a young man who's babysitting for his girlfriend's little brother. The little boy tells him about click-clacks, which hang around in old houses and strip you out of your skin, then leave it hanging. They then possess other people's bodies. The narrator takes the little boy's hand and they climb up to the bedroom at the top of the house, going up the creaky old stairs as they do. At the top, they see one door left open, with ''things'' hanging inside. [[spoiler: The little boy pushes him in, and the door slams shut]].

* As does ''NightmareFuel/TheSandman''.

* The short story "The Problem of Susan" is an interesting read, discussing the importance of children's stories and the rather cruel treatment of Susan in the Narnia books. Then, at the end of the story, we are treated to a {{Squick}}ily allegorical dream sequence involving someone getting eaten by a lion, but still living, thus having to watch their siblings get eaten before their very eyes. And then there's bestiality. Seriously.

** There's also the shock factor of [[BigGood Aslan]] [[ShockingSwerve suddenly]] committing [[FaceHeelTurn betrayal]] and brutality. You'll never see him the same way again...

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQC0QVXa33o "Koumpounophobia"]] video made to tie in with [[WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}} the ''Coraline'' film]], in which Gaiman talks about buttons and a fear of them. In the video includes a SurpriseCreepy clip from the beginning of WesternAnimation/Coraline where a doll gets [[EyeScream its button eyes removed]] and its mouth unsewn. The scariest part is at the end, where Gaiman puts [[BlackEyesOfEvil buttons over his eyes]] and then [[PsychoticSmirk smiles]].

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQC0QVXa33o "Koumpounophobia"]] video made to tie in with [[WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}} the ''Coraline'' film]], in which Gaiman talks about buttons and a fear of them. In the video includes a [[SurpriseCreepy surprisingly disturbing]] clip where a puppet gets [[EyeScream its button eyes removed]] and its mouth unsewn. The scariest part is at the end, where Gaiman puts [[BlackEyesOfEvil buttons over his eyes]] and then [[PsychoticSmirk smiles]].

* One short story gave a focus on a Duke who was TheStoic and was described as a borderline [[TheSociopath sociopath]] who struggles to understand concepts of compassion and love before undergoing to "save" a queen only for his own understanding of said concepts in a ''very'' unnatural MindScrew journey. The Duke in question? '''''[[Music/StationToStation The Thin White Duke]]'''''. Yes, Neil wrote an origin story for Music/DavidBowie's character! And it as horrifying and unsettling as the character and what [[LostInCharacter Bowie himself became for a short period of time]].

** There's also the shock factor of [[LawfulGood Aslan]] [[ShockingSwerve suddenly]] committing [[FaceHeelTurn betrayal]] and brutality. You'll never see him the same way again...

* As does NightmareFuel/TheSandman.
* And NightmareFuel/{{Neverwhere}}.
* The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQC0QVXa33o "Koumpounophobia"]] video made to tie in with [[WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}} the Coraline film]], in which Gaiman talks about buttons and a fear of them. In the video includes a [[SurpriseCreepy surprisingly disturbing]] clip where a puppet gets [[EyeScream its button eyes removed]] and its mouth unsewn. The scariest part is at the end, where Gaiman puts [[BlackEyesOfEvil buttons over his eyes]] and then [[PsychoticSmirk smiles]].

* "Babycakes", by Neil Gaiman; a little piece written for PETA that's about exactly what the title says.

* [[''Don't Ask Jack'' http://thebusyteacherspage.com/wp-content/teaching/Language%20Arts/Short%20Stories/Dont%20Ask%20Jack%20-%20Neil%20Gaiman.pdf]], three pages about a ScaryJackInTheBox in which nothing particularly bad actually happens, but manages to be utterly chilling regardless. Listen to Gaiman himself narrate it [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScaryJackInTheBox here]].