"Click-Clack the Rattlebag" by Neil Gaiman

[[deleted user]]

This is our discussion of the short story....

"Click-Clack the Rattlebag" by Neil Gaiman

From the anthology Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman. See Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances discussion hub for more info on the anthology and pointers to discussion of its other stories.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I liked this one, although I saw the ending coming a mile away. Clever and quick, just the way I like my short stories. Reminded me of some of the stories in Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts.

[Donald]

This was one of my favourites, though I've read it before (or maybe listened to Neil read it at some point - the thought of his voice going "Click-clack" triggers something, no pun intended).

It's just a short and sweet ghost story, and a bit of fun.

[Donald]

Neil Gaiman reading this story at the New York Public Library:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imLja...

[Emily]

I listened to Neil read this in 2012 (he claimed it was the first time he was reading it for an audience, but he probably says that a lot) and again at a performance last night. I could listen to him read for hours.

I reread this story after the show (I still haven't finished the intro to Trigger Warning, though.) It's a short and shivery ghost story--a bit of fun that I don't tire of.

[[deleted user]]

Emily wrote: "I listened to Neil read this in 2012 (he claimed it was the first time he was reading it for an audience, but he probably says that a lot) and again at a performance last night...."

Once upon a time (October 2012 to be precise) Gaiman released his own narration of "Click-Clack the Rattlebag" for free on Audible. (It's not there any longer, I just checked.)

(He also released (in May 2013) both his readings of his short stories "Cold Colors" and "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" for free on Audible, together with a couple of sample chapters to promote his then latest novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane.)

[Emily]

Thanks, G33z3r! I almost ALWAYS miss out on audio books. The only time I ever think to use them is when I'm at the library and planning to take a long drive.

Last night he also read "The Master Builder" from his Norse Gods book, June from "A Calendar of Tales" (also in Trigger Warning), a poem "The Day the Saucers Came" (which can be found on YouTube, as well as deleted scenes from the upcoming "Good Omens" series being made for Amazon. He also recited Lewis Carroll's "The Jabberwocky" which was brilliant.