Top 10 alternative realities

Sam Leith is the author of two acclaimed non-fiction books, Dead Pets and Sod's Law, and the new novel, The Coincidence Engine, in which he "play[s] with the idea that only in a multiverse where every possibility had been exhausted could anything as improbable as our reality exist."

For the Guardian he named a top ten list of fiction's alternative realities, including:

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman's children's book is one that will entertain children and scare the willies out of their parents. After her family moves into a new house, Coraline discovers a locked door leading to an eerie mirror version of her home containing an Other Mother with button eyes and a greedy sort of love for the child. Would Coraline like to stay there forever? Lord, no. But the Other Mother doesn't take no for an answer.

Read about another title on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue