The paper examines what happens when a text “illustrates” images originally conceived to adorn other fictions, how it relates to narrative tension (Baroni) and especially how it builds up expectations that vary according to the target audience (the children, who discover the illustrations set in the new narrative; the adult readers who are aware of the original stories). The case study is based on a book for children by German author Walter Moers, A Wild Ride Through the Night. Suggested by 21 illustrations by Gustave Doré (2001). The analysis shows that the anticipation built up by the images is in tension with the narrative imagined around them. The images thus operate both as pause and catalyst, engaging a dialogue with the narrative and the readers’ previous knowledge, acting as an invitation to look beyond and differently