Although anime is a flexible medium, it is notoriously fickle when it comes to horror, often veering into horror-adjacent topics but failing to fully engage. With horror providing a fascinating spectrum across which viewers can feel fear, terror, or be disturbed, anime has had many opportunities to strike this balance over the years.
Some horror anime are dark to the point of being gratuitous, but that’s part of their charm. They are more concise than the usual offerings due to their niche nature, lasting one to two classes each, providing a perfect opportunity for a binge. With Halloween approaching, any of these dark horror anime would be a perfect addition to the watchlist.
Higurashi: When they cry
Don’t let this anime fool you: Higuracshi: When they Cry is a sinister adaptation of its visual novel source material. Following Keiichi Maebara, he settled in the small village of Hinamizawa in 1983, Higurashi The facade of a slice of life begins to fade as a horrible secret is revealed. It’s a fantastically subversive psychological horror anime beneath the surface.
Under its immediate appeal for the slice of life, Higurashi the sinister intent shines through as viewers pay close attention to the shifts in mood among the story’s stars. The village residents are clearly hiding strange rituals going on, and as more people mysteriously disappear, a wave of paranoia and terror will sweep viewers away with this anime’s chilling narrative.
Corpse Festival: Tortured Souls
Based on a series of grotesque games, Corpse Festival: Tortured Souls is about as gratuitous as anime violence can get, as it creatively eviscerates its cast to the annoyance of viewers. There are many anime adaptations, including Tortured souls OVA collection is most commonly recommended.
Corpse Festival: Tortured Souls follow the students of Kisaragi Academy where his classmates perform a friendship charm ritual as a farewell to a friend who is about to transfer. However, they are then immediately transported to Heavenly Host Elementary School located beneath Kisaragi’s foundations, where the vengeful spirits reside. It’s a meat grinder of an anime, promising emotional damage to its viewers.
Elfen lied
An example of how dark fantasy genres mixed with science fiction can generate fascinating horror and social commentary, Elfen lied holds up a mirror to humanity to show its cruel tendencies. As an adaptation of the hit Weekly youth jump manga, the anime from studio Arms presents an alternative ending to the 3 years of the manga in a single season.
In a world where humanity feels threatened by the Diclonii humanoids, mutants with horns and strange powers feared as the destruction of humanity, Elfen lied follows Lucy, a Diclonius. Lucy escapes from her inhumane confinement as a research subject, which is where the story begins. The controversial anime juxtaposes Lucy’s predicament with the conspiratorial and cruel biased tendencies that humanity can exhibit.
Another
An excellent supernatural mystery from PA Works, Another is not a simple gore and shock value fest, weaving a fascinating story into its 12 episodes. However, at its core, its horrific nature and supernatural elements mean that Another a stellar horror anime recommendation. Class 3-3 of Yomiyama Middle School is the scene of an infamous death from the past.
26 years later, in 1998, Kouichi Sakakibara joins the class and quickly meets Mei Misaki, after which a series of strange and horrific deaths engulfs the students and their families. Seeking to stop this, Kouichi and Mei set out to uncover the truth about 3-3’s past.
Ghost hunting
For shojo fans, this is a great example of how demographics defy expectations, much like MAPPA does. Banana fish, offering a scary story but with some romantic twists. Ghost hunting is also a great example of JCStaff’s strong output when not struggling with an expected anime follow-up and its toxic fandom.
Ghost hunting follows Mai Taniyama, a girl who is revealed to have a sixth sense, and joins the Shibuya Psychic Research Company and its director, Kazuya Shibuya. Even if it starts out as a monster treatment of the week, Ghost hunting the gripping narrative takes darker turns as the series progresses, although die-hard fans would have preferred its 25-episode run to be longer.
Boogiepop Ghost
Any Madhouse anime has a good chance of being a good recommendation to curious fans, and Boogiepop Ghost is no exception. It is beloved for its soundtrack and overall sound design, but its visuals are just as deliberate in depicting its psychological horror elements by reflecting the emotional states of its characters.
Naturally, Boogiepop Ghost is an idiosyncratic affair that strives to stand out from the pack. With the murders being linked to a mysterious shinigami known as Boogiepop, the anime’s story is told through the lives of those affected during the same time period. Boogiepop Ghost gives fans bits of truth that only really make sense when fully assembled.
Devilman Crybaby
Beyond a somewhat excessive display of sex and violence, Devilman Crybaby is a critique of how humanity deals with fear and how individuals confront and process trauma. Following Akira Fudo, the series is a bold recreation of Go Nagai’s film. Devilman a manga that starts off bright and minimalist, only to become hopelessly dark by the end.
Maybe one of Devilman Crybaby Science SARU’s virtuoso monster creations, with demonic creatures terrorizing unsuspecting audiences, are a remarkable offering as a horror anime. However, as Akira soon testifies, humanity’s solution to the diabolical threat is far more destructive, causing an eschatological extinction event. Over the course of eight episodes, prepare to be mesmerized, horrified and devastated.
girl from hell
Something crowd-pleasing among the horror crowds, girl from hell is a dark horror anime centered around revenge, allowing people to use the titular Hell Girl to send others towards a fate of eternal torment. Studio Deen’s interpretation of this original anime brings the formula to life.
Defended by its fans despite its dark premises, this anime offers a dark answer to those who wish to inflict harm on their attackers. Yet the anime highlights the bigger picture when this vengeance is granted, with those sent to Hell often leaving a ripple effect inflicting pain and suffering on those left behind.
School-Live!
Perhaps one of anime and Japanese pop culture’s most interesting twists on the genre beyond J-horror tropes is that of psychological horror creeping into the façade of an innocent school setting. Hosted by Lerche, School-Live! adapts Norimitsu Kaihō’s chilling manga telling the horrible truth in a wholesome guise.
Yuki Takeya is a member of the School Living Club at Megurigaoka Private High School, bound by club rules to never leave the school grounds. However, this is all just an illusion on Yuki’s part to deal with the trauma of a much darker reality. Without spoiling anything, this horror anime is a perfect Halloween binge with only 12 episodes.
Summer Hikaru is dead
A recent addition to the horror anime catalog, Summer Hikaru is dead is far from the most free entry, but its eerie and psychological elements show that CyGamesPictures knows how to liven up horror. The anime quickly left an impression on its Netflix audience, getting a season 2 renewal.
Yoshiki Tsujinaka is the protagonist of this tale whose friend, Hikaru Indo, mysteriously returns after months of disappearance. As Yoshiki discovers the truth that Hikaru died and was taken over by a strange supernatural creature, the real story begins. It’s riveting and darkly beautiful, using horror twists about identity and grief to make the experience hit home.
