Delight In Trembling

The Graveyard Book was published in 2008, and it was written by Neil Gaiman—the famous British writer who is considered one of the most shining star in contemporary occidental literary world. As soon as the novel was published, it became a best seller and a favorite of various awards and honors which include Newbery Medal, Carnegie Medal, Hugo Award and so on. The novel is about a story of Bod, a boy raised in a graveyard by the resident ghosts with a vampire as his guardian after his parents are murdered. It is a touched story of life and growing up.In this thesis, by analyzing the representation of horror and the appropriate use of it as well as horror's value in the novel, the author of the thesis intends to explore how the novel manages to blend the element of horror into a story for children and make this element fun and enlightenment for children at the same time.This thesis consists of six parts. The first part is a brief introduction to Neil Gaiman and his work The Graveyard Book, and summarizes the current studies on this novel abroad and in China.Chapter One is a brief introduction to horror in children's literature by giving an analysis of horror, some horror fragments in children's literature and the formation of horror children's literature.Chapter Two analyzes the representation of horror in the novel from the aspect of characters, the design of episodes and some other aspects such as details, the way of narration and setting.Chapter Three represents the appropriate use of horror in the novel from the aspect of directing readers'emotion, the adjustment of pictures, the design of the subject matter, the use of the element of humor as well as the reasonable ending.Chapter Four mentions the value of horror in the novel from the aspect of its help in children's emotional development and knowledge accumulation.The last part serves as a conclusion of the thesis, which reinforces the argument that the element of horror in The Graveyard Book is instructive, appropriate and valuable. Moreover, it stresses the value and significance of the thesis.