People who don’t watch horror, fantasy or sci-fi movies sometimes underestimate their power -- the awards industry generally discounts them. Sure, some movies simply scare, and that’s fine, but many take us into brain places we’re hesitant to go, pushing us past our own "No Trespassing" mental signposts. Put people in terrifying and unfamiliar situations, strip away polite conventions, and you have a perfect canvas for exploring big topics like integrity, values, prejudice, and what it is that makes us human. Fear, after all is, a core, unifying emotion.

If you are a horror movie fan, I’m obviously saying what you already know.

So instead of listing deep-thought horror flicks, below are three examples of crazy good writing and art double timing as cartoony entertainment (two Cartoon, one indie game), all with a loose connection to horror. I guarantee, all three have monsters. Importantly, they are all accessible, known beyond the range of hardcore indie enthusiasts.

I pick these, because, like horror movies, they could be discounted too soon, yet all three tackle big topics in unexpected ways.

Created by Rebecca Sugar, Steven Universe is now in its third season. I love everything about this kid's cartoon, the humor, animation, music, and themes. Comic book and graphic novel folks have long known how animation can go deep, but comics have always been slightly separate, just kicking about outside the fringes of mainstream.

Steven Universe isn't even slightly hidden away, but parades around in plain site on Cartoon Network, unnoticed by many because of its silly and sweet appearance -- you just might not guess how much is going on there. The story follows Steven, a normal looking kid sporting an identifying shirt (just like Charlie Brown did), and his alien friends, The Crystal Gems: Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl, and in later seasons Periodot and Lapiz. Steven is actually part gem, and identity plays a big part in the show.

Even at the core, the basic idea of the show is heavy: The Crystal Gems were sent to destroy earth and in choosing to protect it have severed their ties to their homeworld. Steven doesn't understand  how he will age or develop, and he's figuring out his place in the world. Steven Universe has an  innocent playfulness that keeps your emotional guard dogs from waking, allowing the show to dig into all kinds of things: self sacrifice, personal responsibility, violence vs. understanding, destiny, kindness, even LGBT themes. Steven Universe is amazing, and rather than being an adult cartoon masquerading as a kid's cartoon, it's both, simultaneously.

You know, Adventure Time, Come on Grab Your Friends? Or Makin' Pancakes, Makin' Bacon Pancakes? This Cartoon Network classic was created by Pendleton Ward. A newcomer to this show would probably look at its goofy humor and never guess the World of Ooo is actually a post nuclear holocaust future. The show is weird, funny and pretty much kid safe, but it tackles a lot, with some heart-breaking stuff hidden beneath the surface of its cartoon silliness if you care to look. 

I could talk days about Adventure Time, but instead I'll take a take a tiny crumb from the show as an example. Introduced at the show's beginning is Ice King, a narcissistic wizard.  As the show progresses, Adventure Time takes tangents into the origin stories for characters, and it is eventually revealed that Ice King was once the human Simon Petrikov, some 1,000 years prior. 

Unless an author is specifically going to spell out her or his symbolism, I think it's pretentious for anyone, including myself, to start spouting off about what such and such scene means, but let's say there is A LOT a viewer can get from Ice King's origin story. As Simon, he protects a young child, Marceline, in a burned out wreck of a world, and in the current world of Adventure Time he no longer remembers his former self or his relationship to Marceline, having lost his mind under the influence of a magical crown. The teenage-looking Marceline, now more than 1,000 years old as Marceline the Vampire Queen, still remembers the kindness of Simon.

Is it too far to say there are aspects of dealing with Alzheimer's disease here? I have no idea if the writers thought that and actually don't care if they did. I see it. There's content here and correlations. These stories aren't simplistic allegories, but rather embrace all kinds of real world issues, never pretentious, never overt, never in your face. There's thought and emotion behind the humor. It's really, really good stuff.

Inspiring legions of rabid fans, Undertake is a flippin' remarkable RPG game by Toby Fox. This is unrecognized art for this era. Like Adventure Time and Steven Universe, Undertale appears at first to be just a funny game, and then, BAM, it takes you in unexpected directions. This isn't just a game, it's something .... else. 

I've been playing indie video games for years, so I know there's cool writing out there. As a fan of escape-the-room, horror, and art games (many which I found through Jay Is Games), I know you don't need realistic graphics to deliver high impact, and it's usually been the ones that don't look like they could be intense that rattle me to the core. Most of them, though, remain somewhat obscure. Not Undertale.

First of all, know that this is a true RPG game, not some moral tale based on a sloppy game executive  -- that would feel cheap. No, it's very much a real, playable game. Also know, it has it's own distinct sense of humor. It operates on multiple levels, but it does that in the context of the world's humor. That doesn't mean there are scenes that can truly shake you.

Revolving around the role, and normalization, of violence in our culture, this meta game follows a child who has fallen into the realm of the monsters, a collective of beings locked away from the outside world following a war waged against them by the humans. This game seems to work on a subconscious level. You could try to deconstruct its meanings, but the whole is much more than the pieces, and the journey so much of the story. By the time you're done you'll have encountered many aspects of modern life and may find yourself considering the role of personal responsibility in the world. It's impossible to really describe, and I feel like the first rule of Undertale is you don't talk about Undertale, so I'll stop, but know that Undertale is real art, as far as I'm concerned.