'ParaNorman' and the top paranormal kid's flicks

BY ERIN WOLF

ParaNorman is an upcoming 3D stop-motion animated comedy thriller adventure film set to be released on Aug. 17, 2012.

The movie is about a misunderstood local boy named Norman Babcock who has the unique ability to speak with the dead. Once he finds his hometown of Blithe Hollow under siege from a centuries old witch's curse, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and zombies to save his home.

The paranormal has been present in American pop culture cinema for years, but its impact on the demographic of children viewers is often overlooked. To celebrate the long anticipated cinematic return of the Paranormal genre to children's films with ParaNorman, here is a list of the top paranormal kid's movies of all time.

Welcome back to your freaky childhood (after the jump).

Casper the resurrected ghost

It didn't take a seance to bring back the boy ghost who looks a little too much like Richie Rich, just a business deal for comic book rights.

Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the friendly ghost and paranormal pop culture icon, Ardden Entertainment will be releasing new Casper comics in Halloween, reports Comic Book Resources. The books will also feature other Harvey Comics characters such as "Wendy the Good Little Witch" and "Hot Stuff the Little Devil."

Based on the looks of the first two covers, Casper "and the Spectrals" will be fighting crime and doing way more than he ever did in previous comics and cartoons. In fact, a trip to the Ardden site reveals:

"When an ancient entity known only as the Volbragg threatens both New York and Spooky Town, Casper and his friends are forced to band together and defeat an
unimaginable evil!"

Of course they are. The only thing I'm left wondering is how a ghost can keep that backpack from falling right through him.

-aaron sagers