Watch: Get spooked this Halloween with the darkly gorgeous 'ParaNorman' trailer

Just in time for Halloween, HitFix invites you to check out this gorgeous new trailer for the supernatural-themed new animated film "ParaNorman", which follows the title character (voiced by Kod Smith-McPhee), a "ghost whisperer" who must use his powers to combat a centuries-old curse that has resulted in his small town being besieged by zombies, witches and ghosts, among other monstrosities.

The dialogue-free first spot for the film (which fittingly features the classic 1966 Donovan track "Season of the Witch" for its duration) plays more like a teaser, as we watch Norman facing down a host of terrifying creatures including what appears to be a toilet paper monster, an insect-spouting teddy bear, and a gigantic (climactic?) cloud entity that's seen shooting green lightning from its enormous glowing maw (and which also looks a bit like "The Beast" when it emerges from the "closet portal" near the end of "Poltergeist"). 

In addition to Smit-McPhee ("Let Me In", "The Road"), "ParaNorman" also features the voices of Casey Affleck, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borsteiin, Jodelle Ferland, John Goodman, Bernard Hill, Anna Kendrick, Leslie Mann, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Elaine Stritch. The 3-D stop-motion film comes from Laika, the famed animation studio that produced the 2009 Henry Selick hit "Coraline". It was directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell, the latter of whom previously helmed both "The Tales of Despereaux" and "Flushed Away".

"ParaNorman" is slated to hit theaters on August 17th, 2012. What do you think of the trailer?