31 horror films you need to watch this October

Coraline

The Plot

After moving into a new house in the run-down Pink Palace Apartments, Coraline discovers an escape from her apathetic parents and bizarre new neighbors in the form of a small door in the wall, beyond which is a bright and beautiful world that much resembles her own, only better in every way. The only strange thing is that all the people there, otherwise exact copies of her family and neighbors back at home, all have buttons sewn over their eyes. But despite that incredibly creepy factor, the Other World is pretty great; the food is better, her parents are more attentive, and everything about it seems designed to make Coraline happy. But Coraline soon comes to realize that the Other World—and her Other Mother—are not all that they seem.

The Breakdown

Who doesn’t love stop-motion, right? The animation in Coraline is a joy to watch, with awesome character designs across both sides of the magic tunnel. The story manages to evoke some element of childhood that resonates even in adulthood—the feeling that there is another world so close to our own, beautiful and tempting but there because it wants to consume us. Overall the movie is whimsical and a visual delight, but always leaning towards the scarier side of a modern fairy tale.

The Scare Factor

For being a kid’s movie, Coraline is actually pretty creepy. It has the feeling of a childhood nightmare that you can’t escape; overall, if you’re doing a marathon, this is a good one to cool down from some of the more intense horror without straying away from the fear element entirely.