Bones of the Moon

Infobox Book |
name = Bones of the Moon
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll
author = Jonathan Carroll
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Horror, Fantasy novel
publisher = Century Press
release_date = 31 May 1987
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 216 pp (1st ed. HB)
isbn = ISBN 0-7126-1504-0 (1st ed. HB)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Bones of the Moon" is a novel by Jonathan Carroll, depicting the real and dream life of a young woman, Cullen James. Like many of Carroll's works, this work straddles the horror and fantasy genres.

Plot introduction

Cullen James is a young woman dwelling in two worlds. A happy housewife by day, by dream she is one of several questers after the Bones of the Moon. Somehow, though, one of these worlds is starting to carry over into the other, in frightening ways.

Explanation of the novel's title

The Bones of the Moon are five bones that give power over the dream world in which Cullen James spends her time.

Plot Summary

Living in New York, Cullen James's best wishes were being fulfilled. Her best friend marries her; she travels in Europe; she has a baby daughter. But strange dreams begin to intrude.

By night, in dreams, she begins to visit a strange land called Rondua, where the sea is full of fish with mysterious names, where she and a huge, behatted dog escort a young boy named Pepsi across places such as the Northern Stroke, the Mountains of Coin and Brick, the Plain of Forgotten Machines.

As her days become more disjointed and episodic, her dreams grow in intensity, and she learns more about the adversary she and her dream friends race against, searching for the last of the Bones of the Moon. Bit by bit, the events in Rondua start affecting her life on earth, intersecting in unpleasant, then frightening ways.

Characters in "Bones of the Moon"

*Cullen James, a young woman living in two worlds
*Danny James, her husband
*Mae, their daughter
*Pepsi (in Rondua), a young boy collecting a set of the Bones of the Moon
*Mr. Tracy (in Rondua), a dog the size of a hot-air balloon, wearing a bowler hat
*Weber Gregston, a movie director
*Eliot, her upstairs neighbor
*DeFazio (in Rondua)
*Alvin Williams, the Axe Boy, a polite young man who kills his mother and sister
*Jack Chili, the ruler of Rondua

Major themes

*The novel deals heavily with the emotional consequences of abortion.

Allusions/references from other works

*Weber Gregston, a minor character in this novel, is the main character in A Child Across the Sky
*The "A Game of You" story arc of the Neil Gaiman "Sandman" comic book is heavily influenced by this novel, acknowledged in the preface to the graphic novel of the same name.

Release details

*1987, UK, Century (ISBN 0-7126-1504-0), Pub date 31 May 1987, hardcover (First edition)
*1988, USA, Arbor House (ISBN 0-87795-937-4), Pub date ? January 1988, hardcover. (Dustjacket by Thomas Canty, altered ending)
*1989, UK, Legend Paperbacks (ISBN 0-09-949870-7), Pub date 21 September 1989, paperback
*1990, USA, Avon Books (ISBN 0-380-70688-1), Pub date ? September 1990, paperback
*2002, USA, Orb Books (ISBN 0-312-87312-3), Pub date ? May 2002, paperback