Team Laika certainly likes weird creatures, don’t they? From Coraline’s freaky characters to the zombies of ParaNorman and the in-development Goblins, the Portland-based stop-motion gang is never happier than when strange things are running around their workshop. That tend is set to continue as Laika is now in production on The Boxtrolls, and has scored Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Elle Fanning, Toni Collette, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Jared Harris, Richard Ayoade, and Tracy Morgan as the voice cast.

Based on Alan Snow’s fantasy book Here Be Monsters, the team, led by co-directors Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable, are bringing to life the story of a place called Cheesebridge.

Legend tells of foul monsters lurking beneath the cobblestone streets. But in truth, they’re more a collection of harmless oddballs and have raised an orphan boy as their own.

Laika president Travis Knight labels it Dickens by way of Monty Python and put out a press release saying, “it is a visually dazzling mash-up of gripping detective story, absurdist comedy, and steampunk adventure with a surprisingly wholesome heart. At its core, like all Laika films, The Boxtrolls is a moving and human story with timelessness and powerful emotional resonance.”

That’s quite a voice cast they’ve gathered, which gives us hope this will maintain the high standards set by the company so far. The Boxtrolls is set for US release on October 17, 2014.