Question

What are motifs and conventions used in Coraline that identify this film as gothic genre? Please help!!

Answer 1

The general characteristics of gothic novels - shamelessly pillaged from David R. Saliba, A Psychology of Fear: The Nightmare Formula of Edgar Allan Poe (Lantham, MD: University Press of America, 1980), pp.27-28 -

1. There is a victim who is helpless against his/her torturer;

2. There is also a victimizer who is associated with evil and whose powers are immense or supernatural;

3. The setting of the gothic story is at some point within impenetrable walls (physical or psychological) to heighten the victim's sense of hopeless & isolation (the central gothic image is the cathedral or haunted mansion within which the victim is imprisoned);

4. The atmosphere is pervaded by a sense of mystery, darkness, oppressiveness, fear, and doom to recreate the atmosphere of a crypt (a symbol of spiritual death and a "vehicle for presenting an eternal victim") ; and finally,

5. The victim is in some way entranced or fascinated by the inscrutable power of his/her victimizer.

This sounds pretty much like Coraline to me.

Answer 2

(source:internet)