Feb 12, 2008 By Lou Gaul, Calkins Media Film Critic 4 min read

With the war in Iraq, the constant threat of terrorism and the downturn of the economy, people of all ages are being constantly bombarded with bad news.

In the eyes of illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi and writer Holly Black, who met while working together in New York on a gaming magazine and teamed on the book series “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” that makes this the perfect period for people to embrace imaginative entertainment. “In this time, you need fantasy,” the 38-year-old DiTerlizzi said during a telephone interview from Los Angeles to promote the film adaptation of “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” opening Feb. 14. “It can help you escape from the news, if only for an hour. Fantasy can also lead to a dialogue about things.

“That’s why the ‘Lord of the Rings’ (trilogy) has survived, because it talks about (universal) truths, such as to appreciate the good things in life, you have to go through some bad things.”

“I grew up in the time of the Cold War, which meant that everything could end,” recalled the 36-year-old Black, a New Jersey native. “We have gone on and, hopefully, we’re headed to a better future in which we’re wiser as people.

“I’ve had some discussions about the difference between horror and fantasy. Fantasy views the unknown with a sense of awe and hope.

“To write about fantasy, you have to have the sense that the unknown is not a terrifying thing, no matter how dangerous it might seem.”

“The Spiderwick Chronicles” consists of five books (“The Field Guide,” “The Seeing Stone,” “Lucinda’s Secret,” “The Ironwood Tree” and “The Wrath of the Mulgarath”). It tells the story of a single mother (Mary-Louise Parker of HBO’s “Angels in America”) whose limited resources force her to move her three children (Irish actress Sarah Bolger of “In America” and, as identical twins, British actor Freddy Hightower of “Finding Neverland”) to a remote house owned by a distant family member.

Once there, the children discover that goblins and other creatures reside right outside their door and are constantly plotting a home invasion.

According to Black, she and her co-creator were fortunate with the 2003 release date of the first “Spiderwick” installment.

“We were lucky to be in a fantasy renaissance,” she said. “The events in the ‘Spiderwick’ books can happen in anyone’s back yard. The world (in the books and film) is weird, but the fantasy element provides a great way to be able to talk about things, like the anger of Jared (one of the twins who’s furious after his father leaves) and the divorce the mother is going through.”

“We didn’t want to write about (unrealistic) kids who live in a land far, far away,” added DiTerlizzi, a Florida native. “We wanted modern-day kids in modern-day circumstances.

“We’ve seen families being destroyed through separation and divorce, and we wanted to write about kids who rely on their own resourcefulness.”

The two also attribute the success of J.K. Rowling with helping Hollywood turn “The Spiderwick Chronicles” into a big-budget movie.

“With the ‘Harry Potter’ films doing so well, studios were looking for other stories to translate and adapt,” said DiTerlizzi, who named Ridley Scott’s “Legend” (1986) and two Jim Henson pictures, “The Dark Crystal” (1983) and “Labyrinth” (1986), as his favorite fantasy movies. “They (director Mark Waters and his creative team) sent us the script and we gave them notes (about details that should be included to match the books).

“It made for a great experience for everyone.”

Black and DiTerlizzi have continued the series with “Beyond The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1: The Nixie’s Song,” which arrived in stores Sept. 18, 2007. It will be followed by two more titles, being released in the fall of 2008 and 2009.