The Beldam (also known as the Other Mother, in reference to her motherly disguise) is the main antagonist in the 2002 book Coraline, as well as the 2009 movie of the same name. She is a malevolent inter-spatial shape-shifting witch/fae entity, who lures children into another dimension with the goal of consuming their flesh for strength and keeping their souls as her prisoners. Her original ...
The nightmare-inducing Other Mother in Coraline is based on a 17th-century horror mainstay in Eastern Europe named the Beldam - literally meaning ugly, old witch. A shapeshifter whose true form is a giant spider, she is known to lure and then feast upon her victims, most of whom are children - though she will munch on the occasional gentleman caller. This evil spider-witch pops up many times ...
Coraline ’s other mother is an evil shapeshifting entity and the novel’s main antagonist. She is sometimes referred to by the trio of lost children she keeps captive as “the beldam,” another word for witch. The other mother, as her name suggests, appears at first as a copy of Coraline’s real mother, Mrs. Jones. When Coraline uses an old key to open a mysterious door in her family’s ...
Fifteen years later, Coraline's re-release in theaters reminds us that its Other Mother villain is still one of horror's best mothers.
Coraline’s Other Mother Is Still One of the Scariest Moms in Horror
Everything you ever wanted to know about The Other Mother (The Beldam) in Coraline, written by masters of this stuff just for you.
In Coraline, the Other Mother is a very complex character. On the one hand, she's the undisputed villain of the piece, a devious, manipulative character determined to get what she wants.