That night, Coraline is awakened by the sound of a mouse and follows it to the small door. She discovers that the brick wall has disappeared, replaced by a long corridor to another door. At the other end, Coraline finds herself in the "Other World," which is inhabited by her "Other Mother" and "Other Father", doppelg?ngers of her parents except for having black buttons in place of eyes. In sharp contrast to her real parents, the Others are attentive to Coraline. She decides to stay the night in the Other World, but when she awakes the next morning, she finds herself back in her bed in the real world.
Coraline continues to go to the Other World at night, and is entertained by Other versions of her neighbors, including the Other Wybie, who has been rendered mute by the Other Mother. During one visit, Coraline encounters the black cat from her own world. Having the ability to talk in the Other World, it warns Coraline of the dangers of the place, but Coraline pays him no mind.
That evening, the Other Mother invites Coraline to stay in the Other World forever. Coraline is eager to accept until she is told she must have buttons sewn on her eyes. She refuses and tries to return home. This angers the Other Mother, who thrusts Coraline through a mirror into a small room. There, she encounters the ghosts of children who had lost their eyes and souls to the Other Mother. The Other Wybie helps Coraline escape home, but she finds her parents have disappeared. Armed with the seeing stone provided by Spink and Forcible, Coraline sets out to free the ghosts and rescue her parents.
On the advice of the cat, Coraline challenges the Other Mother to a game. If she can find her parents and the eyes of the ghost children, everyone goes free; if she loses, she will stay in the Other World forever. With the help of her seeing stone, the black cat, and the Other Father, Coraline outwits the inhabitants who guard the eyes of the children. Forewarned that the Other Mother will never let her leave regardless of the game’s outcome, Coraline tricks her foe into opening the door to the real world while she grabs a snow globe which contains her parents. Coraline eludes the Other Mother and barely escapes, closing the door to the Other World on the Other Mother's now mechanical hand and severing it. Coraline locks the door in the real world and finds her parents safe and sound, with no memory of the experience.
The next night, Coraline is visited by the ghost children one last time. They tell her she is still in danger while she has the door key. To keep the Other Mother from ever kidnapping another child, Coraline decides to drop the key down a well located on the property. The Other Mother's severed hand, which has made its way into the real world, stalks and attacks Coraline, but with the help of Wybie, the hand is destroyed. The pieces are dropped down the well with the key.
With their catalog complete, Coraline's parents are finally able to spend time with her. They hold a garden party for her and the neighbors, including Wybie’s elderly grandmother (whose twin sister was one of the ghost children), to whom Coraline has much to tell.