Click-Clack The Rattlebag

1. What was the last scary story (or film) you encountered? What made that story (or film) scary?

2. What language technique has been used in the title ‘Click-Clack The Rattlebag’ to make it intriguing? What
do you think the title means? What does the title suggest will happen in the story?

3. Where is the story set and why is this scary?

4. Who is the narrator of the story? What do we learn about him throughout the course of the story?

5. Why do you think the writer, Neil Gaiman, chose to write the story in the first person? (Would the story be as
scary if it was written in the third person, from the perspective of an all knowing narrator?)
6. What do we learn about the little boy throughout the course of the story? What does the word ‘precocious’
mean?

7. ‘The front door is very slammy’, ‘The bulb’s gone’, ‘shadows’, ‘The moon was almost full’, ‘empty house’… Is
the story very different from other horror stories? What atmosphere is created by these horror elements?

8. ‘I felt like his big brother’? How does the narrator feel about the little boy?

9. ‘Click-Clacks are much scarier than vampires.’ What does the boy reveal about the Click-Clacks? What does
this knowledge reveal about the boy?

10. Where is the sister? Why is the boyfriend babysitting?

12. ‘There was that precocious amusement again’ from the boy. Is the boy innocent and naive as he seems?
13. How does Neil Gaiman make the ending of Click-Clack The Rattlebag suspenseful?

I heard things rattle gently, like dry bones in thin bags, in the slight wind. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Like that.

I would have pulled away then, if I could; but small, firm fingers pulled me forward, unrelentingly, into the
dark.

Quote How do these words create suspense?

‘like dry bones in

thin bags’

‘small, firm fingers

pulled me’

‘unrelentingly’

‘into the dark’

Neil Gaiman makes the ending of Click-Clack The Rattlebag suspenseful by…

This is shown in the line…

Here the writer has used…

The effect of this is…

Creative Task: In pairs or groups of three - Write a plot summary of a scary story you will present to the
class?

In order to prepare, answer the following questions?

a. Where will your story be set and why?

b. Who is your protagonist (name, age, status…)? Why will the audience care about this person?
 c. Who will accompany your protagonist?

d. What will be the monster/ghost/spirit…? What spooky features will this entity possess?

e. What will happen to your protagonist in your story?

f. How will your story end? What can you do to make the ending surprising?

Write your summary in the box below: