Fantasy author Neil Gaiman¿s 1996 novel Neverwhere is not just a marvelous self-contained novel, but a terrifically useful text for introducing students to fantasy as a genre and issues of adaptation. Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock¿s briskly written A Critical Companion to Neil Gaiman¿s Neverwhere offers an introduction to the work; situates it in relation to the fantasy genre, with attention in particular to the Herös Journey, urban fantasy, word play, social critique, and contemporary fantasy trends; and explores it as a case study in transmedial adaptation. The study ends with an interview with Neil Gaiman that addresses the novel and a bibliography of scholarly works on Gaiman.

Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock is Professor of English at Central Michigan University, USA, and an Associate Editor for The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. He is the author or editor of 26 books and almost 100 essays and book chapters on fantasy, horror, science fiction, and American literature and culture. Visit him at JeffreyAndrewWeinstock.com. 

1. Introduction: It Starts With Doors.- 2. Bridges to Fantasy: Neverwhere and Genre.- 3. "Mind the Gap": Neverwhere, Language and Intertextuality.- 4. "Falling Through the Cracks": Neverwhere as Social Commentary.- 5. Fidelity and Innovation: Adaptation, Transmediality, and the Neverwhere Megatext.- 6. The Key.