It’s no doubt that spooky television characters have been pushing children into alternative culture for a long time. I, myself, would watch such characters all day wanting to be more like them. In today’s society alternative culture’s slowly becoming much more accepted and certainly more accessible to find online or in everyday television shows. Here’s a little list of a few alternative cartoon characters that any age group can enjoy.
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The Grimm Adventures of Billy and Mandy
This is the tale of two children, Billy and Mandy, and their adventures with their good friend the Grimm Reaper. The episodes are a combination of comedy and horror and while there are over six seasons the episodes are easy to watch out of order. The series holds a lot of smart plot lines and intelligent humour among that meant for children. For great video reviews check out Colour Me Goth, I love watching them – they’re very well put together.
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Lenore: The Cute Little Dead Girl
This cartoon spin off of Roman Dirges comic by the same name follows Lenore (Edgar Allen Poe’s Lenore) in her life after coming back from the grave. There’s something just not right about this little girl that sees nothing wrong with killing all of the pet shops hamsters or throwing knives at the people that lust for her attention. This series is chilling enough for adults – plus the all episodes combine to about movie length. You can watch them all here since they aren’t on the official website anymore or click here to watch my most favoured episode for a preview (it’s only three minutes).
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Growing up Creepie
You can check out my very, very old review where I talk about “Goth’s in the mainstream“- but beware of terrible spelling. This series is a combination of cartoon, teen drama and documentary on bugs and creatures. While the main character, Creepie, stumbles through the events of high school and attempts to fit in all while growing up with a family of assorted bugs. It’s definitely more suited towards a younger audience but the information about creatures would be interesting to any age.
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Daria
You guys must know how much I love Daria by now. For the record I freakin’ adore it. This series is an adult animated program following the sarcastic, witty and darky humoured main character Daria and her also sarcastic and artistic best-friend Jane Lane. We follow them from the Morgendorffer’s move to the dismal town of Lawndale through in their high school trials and tribulation up until their graduation. This isn’t a series (I hope) that will be forgotten very soon.
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Ruby Gloom
It certainly makes me laugh that Wikipedia states “Ruby Gloom was originally aimed towards a gothic crowd but was later adapted for kids.” The main character, Ruby is a 10 year old girl who can find happiness in anything. The series follows her and sometimes her friends around the mansion they live in solving their daily problems. This isn’t a series I have particular history watching but it has never failed to entertain the young me.
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Beetlejuice
It’s ridiculous that I was just about to finish this when I remembered good old Beetlejuice! Loosely inspired by the eighties film directed by Tim Burton and a film that every Goth should know! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to see many episodes of the original series since they’re so hard to find online. The plot is certainly separate from the film, following young Goth, Lydia and her friend, Beetlejuice wandering the underworlds filled with monsters, ghosts, zombies and ghouls. You can watch the first episode here on Youtube officially.
Did you watch dark cartoons growing up? What other cartoon do you think I should have included?
The Walrus Room 
