History NightmareFuel / Coraline

** If anything, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8Js55gs_6E the music during that scene]] can certainly scare the crap out of you, especially if you listen to it in the dark.

* The name "Beldam" may be a refference to Le Belle Dam Sans Merci, a figure from French folklore who would trick travellers into entering her world and eat their very life away from them. This may add another layer of creepiness to the story for those with a detailed knowledge of folklore, as it gives the audience a little hint that the Other Mother may not only have been doing this for centuries, but she may not even be confined to that house!

* In the audiobook, the rats' 'song' is heard as a breathy, hissing chant with little semblance of a tune. It comes right the hell out of nowhere and is arguably the creepiest part of the whole story. And the book is narrated by the author so you know this is the way the song was ''meant''. [[ItGotWorse And then in a later chapter it happens again.]]

** The there is the fact that [[spoiler:the other children were trapped there until their death - [[ItGotWorse and even beyond it!]]. The only thing Coraline can do for them is release them into proper afterlife...]]

* ''She wants something to love, I think, something that isn't her[[beat...]] Or maybe she'd just love something to eat.''

* ''She wants something to love, I think, something that isn't her[[{{beat}}...]] Or maybe she'd just love something to eat.''

* ''She wants something to love, I think, something that isn't her[[...{{beat}}]] Or maybe she'd just love something to eat.''

* ''She wants something to love, I think...something that isn't her.{{beat}} Or maybe she'd just love something to eat.''

* ''She wants something to love, I think...something that isn't her.[[{{beat}}]] Or maybe she'd just love something to eat.''

--> She's a peach, she's a doll, she's a pal of mine
--> She's as cute as a button in the eyes of everyone who's ever laid their eyes on Coraline

--> Our eyes will be on Coraline!

-->''Other Mother'': '''''[[{{Yandere}} DON'T LEAVE ME, DON'T LEAVE! I'LL DIE...I'LL DIE WITHOUT YOOOUUUU!]]"'''''

* "He pulled a ''loooong face...'' '''''and mother didn't like that. Not one bit."'''''

[[caption-width-right:350:"She said that she loved us, but she locked us here and ''Ate Up Our Lives''"]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"She said that she loved us, but she locked us here and Ate Up ''All Our Lives''"]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"She said that she loved us, but she locked us here and Ate Up ''All Our Lives'' "]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"She said that she loved us, but she locked us here..."]]

-->''Other Mother'': '''''DON'T LEAVE ME, DON'T LEAVE! I'LL DIE...I'LL DIE WITHOUT YOOOUUUU!"'''''

*** I could never shake off the feeling that the Other Mother was ''directly'' on the other side. Like '''right there,''' ready to eat Coraline the instant she got her hand on her.
** It doesn't help that after they [[spoiler: throw the hand and the key inside the well]]. If you listen closely, you can hear the Other Mother whispering 'No'.

** The lyrics of that song are terrifying, but this troper was really freaked out by the last two lines.

** Oh, there is a crap load of foreshadowing in that song without the button thing; for instance [[spoiler: "our ''eyes'' will be on Coraline" references that the doll sees ''all'' and by all, they mean all. Your adventures in the woods, your yearning for a more interesting life, your parents who can easily be replaced... After I saw the movie I could never hear that cutesy tune without a shiver running down my spine.]]

* The scene after Coraline [[spoiler: throws the cat at the Other Mother and her ''eyes get clawed off'' and she turns the room into a web. That part was actually so disturbing that this troper's brother and his girlfriend (ages 22) both curled up into little balls on the couch watching with utter terror as the scene got scarier and scarier by the second. And rightfully so.]]

* The cover of the book almost gave this troper a heart attack when she saw it in fifth grade. The girl is evidently Coraline (or a mirror reflection of her) -- her body looks mostly normal, but her neck is huge and very awkward and her face looks like it had buttons sewn onto them once, then removed, leaving big hollows where they once were.

** That and the theme of [[spoiler:[[AdultFear children being so easily lured away by adults other than their parents though entertainment and tasty food]]. DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything]]

* "...so I fixed him!" [[spoiler: With a [[BodyHorror literally]] SewnOnGrin !]]

* The Other Mother, in the book, swears on her mother's grave. Coraline was surprised that her mother was dead. The Other Mother's reply? "I put her in there myself. And when she tried to climb out I just slammed the coffin door down harder."

--> Makin' up a song about Coraline/ She's a peach, she's a doll, she's a pal of mine/ She's as cute as a button in the eyes of everyone who's ever laid their eyes on Coraline/ When she comes around exploring/ Mom and I will never ever make it boring/ Our eyes will be on Coraline!

* YourMilageMayVary, but this troper was always very disturbed about how the Other Mother can see exactly where you are in her world. There's a particularly disturbing paragraph in the book, where Coraline thinks about whether or not her other parents are actually asleep in their bedroom. She finally settles for 'It would be empty until the exact moment you opened the door'.

* "...so I fixed him!"