This book pulled me along as quickly as anything has since The Sisters Brothers. An adult fairy tale with one foot in childhood and another in contemporary horror, I felt true dread for the seven-year-old protagonist several times; he doesn't quite understand how horrible a mess he's gotten himself in sometimes, but with the perspective of age, we do.

The Hempstocks, his neighbors down the lane, are a delight. They're just who you think they might be when they first appear, but also more. (I think Old Mrs. Hempstock may have been partly inspired by Galactus.)

I enjoy the way Gaiman's supernatural world doesn't lean too hard on the mythology of olden times, but rhymes with it. That way we get to experience the world of this book fresh, just as the protagonist does.