History NightmareFuel / Coraline

* [[HumanoidAbomination The Other Mother]] in general. A monstrous witch whose powers are fueled by the souls of the children she captures. She disguises herself as the perfect parent to lure children into the Other World by giving them love, tasty food, toys, and everything a child could want, only to trap them in a dark room and suck up their life energy. When Coraline, the next would-be victim, starts seeing through the facade and resists her, the Other Mother's appearance becomes severely emaciated to the point of turning into a [[DemBones skeletal,]] [[AnimalisticAbomination spider-like monstrosity]] towards the climax. Her VillainousBreakdown when Coraline defeats her reminds one of an emotionally abusive parent who tries to prevent the children she torments from finally leaving her. Finally, her behavior in luring children to the Other World is akin to a serial killer, one who specifically targets unsuspecting children by luring them in with "treats and games to play" so she can kill them.

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

* The Other Mother's real form and real real form. She even almost resembles a [Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl]

* The Other Mother's real form and real real form. She even almost resembles a Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl

* The Other Mother's real form and real real form.

[[/folder]]

** The whole NothingIsScarier approach during that scene. Coraline walking down the dark isle with the dog-bats above and then noticing a giant candy wrapper wrapped over ''something'' (and it's '''not''' candy) that's hanging from the ceiling. The whole time you're just waiting for something to pop out or wondering what the hell is ''inside'' that giant candy wrapper.

** The build-up to that reveal, when his all you saw was his uniform doing some [[UncannyValley unsettling acrobatics]] while his head appears to be ''missing'' was also pretty damn frightening.

-->''[[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/the-nut-job-great-adventures/images/f/f3/Buttons.png/revision/latest?cb=20200324215430 "Black Is Traditional."]]''

* One line. One shot.

--->'''Cat:''' [[CrapsacchrrineWorld You probably think this world is a dream come true...]] ''[[CrapsacchrineWorld but you're]]'' '''''[[CrapsacchrineWorld wrong.]]'''''

--->'''The Cat''': She wants something to love, I think, something that isn't her... [[WhamLine Or maybe she'd just love something to eat.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:She wants something to love, I think. Something that isn't her. Or maybe... she'd just love something to eat.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:She wants something to love, I think. Or maybe... she'd just love something to eat.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:She wants something to love, I think. Or maybe... she just loves something to eat.]]

** Even when Coraline tricks the hand into falling into the well, even as she's hauling the boards back over the opening she's thinking 'se didn't want anything to get in. She didn't want anything to ''ever'' get out.'

-->Other Mother: ''...You may come out when you've learned to be a loving daughter.''

* The Beginning of Chapter 3, ''What's Wrong Wybie?'' Coraline and Wybie suddenly finds themselves in a dark, creepy forest. From the word go, you learn that something is wrong with Wybie. He's becoming increasingly unsettled and nervous. A disembodied voice calls out for him and he runs away into the darkness. After following him, avoiding deadly rats out to kill you, you reach Wybie in a crouched fetal position. He looks up and mysteriously has Button Eyes himself. Suddenly a ''sickening outstreched ghost hand'' reaches out of a nearby hole, grabs Wybie by the head and pulls him into the hole [[BigNo screaming]] as Coraline looks on in abject horror.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghostly2_8837.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"She said that she loved us, but she locked us in here... and ''ate up our lives...''"]]

In keeping with policy, this page is spoilers off. Proceed with caution.

* Remember the rats from the movie? They're back. They are common enemy Mooks and come with [[RedEyesTakeWarning glowing Red Eyes]], and they're out for blood. To make matter worse, they also start to appear in the Barn later in the game. The implications surrounding are up to you.

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

-->'''Other Mother''': (screaming) '''''"[[VillainousBreakdown DON'T LEAVE ME, DON'T LEAVE ME!! I'LL DIE WITHOUT YOU!!!]]"'''''

-->''Sssorry... ssssooo sssorry... M-mother making meeeee...''

-->Other Mother: ''"...You may come out when you've learned to be a loving daughter."''

--> She spied on our lives, through the little doll's eyes. And saw that we weren't happy. So she lured us away, with treasures and treats, and games to play. Gave all that we asked, yet we still wanted more. So we let her [[EyeScream sew the buttons]]. She said she loved us... but she locked us up here. And ''ate up our lives''.

--> She left us here... She stole our hearts, she stole our souls, and she took our lives away, and she left us here, and forgot about us in the dark.

** That tall ghost girl's face, which is stuck in a permanent scream...Many fans have suggested that she died ''screaming with agony and/or terror''.
* On Coraline's first night in the Other World, after the other Mother suggests to play hide and seek in the rain, Coraline asks, "What rain?" as there is no rain to be spoken of. A second later, lightning flashes and rain begins. But look closer at the lightning bolt, and it looks ''very'' similar to a needle-like, clawed, and out-stretched hand...

-->'''Coraline''': "You're just a copy she made of the real Mr. B."
-->'''Other Bobinsky''': "[[WhamLine Not even that...]] ''[[VoiceOfTheLegion anymore]]''."
-->(Coraline takes off his hat, revealing that he's only a ''[[TheWormThatWalks swarm of rats)]]''.

--->'''The Cat''': "She wants something to love, I think, something that isn't her... [[WhamLine Or maybe she'd just love something to eat.]]"

** Right before then: "You ''dare'' disobey '''your''' '''''MOTHER?!!"'''''

** It doesn't help that after they throw the hand and the key inside the well, you can hear the Other Mother whispering ''"No"''.

** The little ghost children in general (except for at the end, where they're kind of cute). Seriously, think about it - ''dead children'', talking about the horrors of the Other World in a distinguishably childlike way, looking like they just crawled right out of the UncannyValley, all with buttons in their eyes.

** The (admittedly rather obscure) musical adaptation has a short little ditty called "The Greeting Song," which makes excellent and frightening use of LastSecondWordSwap.

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

-->''Thief! GIVE IT BACK!''

* Ever wanted to see a button-eyed Coraline for yourself? The Book and the film inferred and threatened it. The game gladly ''shows'' it. Enter a special CheatCode to give Coraline button eyes ''permanently''. It's just as unsettling as it looks.

[[folder: The Video Game]]

* The Cat's summary of the Other Mother: ''"She wants something to love, I think, something that isn't her... Or maybe she'd just love something to eat."''

-->'''Other Bobinsky''': "[[VoiceOfTheLegion Not even that...]] ''[[VoiceOfTheLegion anymore]]''."

* The GameOver screen in the Console game. You get a nice shot of Other Mother caressing Coraline as her body slowly falls limp as her button eyes start doing their work. The screen is ''pitch-black'' with the words '''STAY FOREVER''' placed over in a large, creepy font. Unlike the other stories, this is [[YouBastard 100% YOUR FAULT]]. ''You'' failed, and [[ItsAWonderfulFailure the game won't let you off the hook]].

The Coraline video game [[MainstreamObscurity is relatively unknown]] to many and you'd think with a more lax medium like video games there wouldn't be much to be scared about compared to the other versions. You'd be very wrong...
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* Ever wanted to see a button-eyed Coraline for yourself? The Book and the film inferred it. The game gladly ''shows'' it. Enter a special CheatCode to give Coraline button eyes ''permanently''. It's just as unsettling as it looks.