The Spiderwick Chronicles

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a series of children's books by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into Spiderwick Estate and discover a field guide, written by their great-great-uncle Arthur Spiderwick, detailing a world of faeries that they never knew existed.

It consists of the following books:

  1. The Field Guide
  2. The Seeing Stone
  3. Lucinda's Secret
  4. The Ironwood Tree
  5. The Wrath of Mulgarath

A sequel series, Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, has two step-siblings having to find a way to stop a rampage of fire breathing giants threatening the state of Florida.

Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles consists of:

  1. The Nixie's Song
  2. A Giant Problem
  3. The Wyrm King

There are also some companion books, including a reproduction of the Field Guide itself.

The original series was adapted into a film in 2008. It omitted the elves, dwarves and dragons in the books and altered much of the ending.


Tropes used in The Spiderwick Chronicles include:

The film provides examples of:

Jared: "Steel. Cuts and burns."
Helen (still rather confused): "Well, thank goodness we're New Yorkers."

  • Car Fu
  • Curse Cut Short: The lead goblin mumbles "Oh, sh-" as the stove full of tomato sauce explodes.
  • Disappeared Dad: The dad in question not only left the family, but is lying to Jared about coming to see him. He can't, because he's found another woman.
  • Fake American
  • Hold the Line: The Grace family defends their house against Mulgarath and the Goblins.
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: Dr. Rosen is a Researcher of Magic.
  • Talking to Himself: Freddy Highmore played both Jared and his identical twin Simon in the film version. A CMOA for the actor, as their personalities are complete opposites.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Thimbletack loves his honey, and Hogsqueal loves his birds.
  • Tricking the Shapeshifter: Jared throws the book into the air, forcing Mulgarath to take crow form to grab it. Shortly thereafter he runs into a very hungry Hogsqueal, much to his detriment.
  • Tomato Sauce Weakness: Vinegar and salt are also effective.
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