10 Family Friendly Horror Films To Scare Kids (And Their Parents) This Halloween

Pixar may have the awards kudos, Ghibli the sweeping artistry and Aardman the homespun British charm, but for many discerning animation fans, it's offbeat Oregonian stop-motion studio Laika to whom they turn for beautifully animated tales of oddballs, freaks and outcasts.

ParaNorman, Laika's sophomore feature, stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as the titular Norman, an 11-year-old boy whose ability to speak to the dead leaves him disbelieved, isolated and bullied by other kids, but proves invaluable when the spirit of a witch resurrects a bunch of zombies to attack the town.

Its Anglo-American directing team of Sam Fell and Chris Butler hadn't quite struck gold with their previous feature, The Tale Of Despereaux, but ParaNorman plays perfectly into their respective experience (Fell working with Aardman on the oddball humour of Chicken Run and Rex The Runt, Butler providing gothic art for Corpse Bride and Coraline).

ParaNorman is funny, a little spooky, with some occasionally gross stuff for kids, but mostly it's a film with a very big heart. Everyone from the vengeful witch (who is revealed to be just a child persecuted by the town three hundred years ago) to Norman's chubby best friend and his jock brother (revealed to be gay in a moment that remains fairly unique in mainstream kids' animation even six years later) are treated with empathy.

A quality combination of creepy content and a positive message should appeal both to outsider children and their parents.