14 Best Scary Anime That You Should Watching Update 03/2024

Best Scary Anime

Even the most ardent anime fans would be shivering at the sight of these spooky tales.

Even though it may look like it, it’s not easy to make a scary anime. For starters, the frame-by-frame tension and shock value of horror movies are difficult to express in hand-drawn cartoons. That’s why there are less and fewer scary horror anime out there. Everyone has a particular place in their hearts for the handful of authentic horror animes that exist.

“Horror” isn’t something we’re talking about in the same way as Scary Movie, which focuses more on gore and action than on horror. The best horror anime, on the other hand, elicit chills, a sense of dread, and frightening landscapes that live-action films simply cannot. When it comes to freaky, scary, and harrowing movies, these are some of the best.

Mark Sammut updated this page on 12 October 2021: The media has no issue generating joy, sadness, anger, disgust, or comfort from viewers; nonetheless, terror often feels like an exception to this rule.. Many psychological thrillers succeed in making viewers dread for the lives of their favorite characters, but horror arouses a fear in viewers that extends far beyond the plot. This is something that some of the best horror anime achieve, while others mix in thrills, excitement, and just plain fun on a regular basis. A few more entries have been added to this article to help folks who want to celebrate Halloween in an anime-themed way.

The Garden of Sinners, Berserk, Parasyte, and Monster all contain far too few genuine scares to be included. In any case, they’re incredible.

1. Ghost Stories (English Dub)

Ghost Stories (English Dub)

If you’re looking for something truly scary, you’ll need to check out Ghost Stories. It’s a typical monster-of-the-week style of anime in Japan, in which young people encounter scary events and become afraid as a result. Nothing special here; it’s only adequate entertainment.

As a result of the English Dub, popular abbreviated series like TeamFourStar’s were able to get their start. The generic horror anime is now a joke. In spite of the Dub’s immature and “for adults” comedy, it gets a lot of genuine laughs and makes the characters far more memorable than their original portrayals.

2. Happy Sugar Life

As the film progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with the ever-increasing level of chaos. Some people have noble intentions, but there are no typically “good” characters, and this includes Satou, the main character’s girlfriend. Violent deaths, dismal themes, terrible events, and uncomfortable scenes abound in the anime. Happy Sugar Life is almost always suspenseful, even if it isn’t horrifying.

The best way to appreciate this horror anime is to watch it all in one sitting over the course of a few days.

3. Ajin: Demi-Human

Ajin (Ajin Demi-Human)

Fast-paced, action-packed, and filled with moral ambiguity are just some of the words that come to mind when discussing Ajin’s inconsistent CGI animation. This world has a species known as “Ajin,” and if a person becomes one, they are immediately imprisoned for a life of torment. Unfortunately for Kei Nagai, he has to learn this the hard way and is soon forced to flee.

Because it doesn’t portray either the Ajin or humans as purely wicked or benevolent, the Netflix original series Ajin succeeds. To each circumstance, it adds an aspect of mystery and suspense.

4. Hell Girl

A lesson or a depiction of social issues may be found in the majority of horror films and television series. Bullies, thieves, and cheats are just some of the social outcasts that Hell Girl is on a mission to punish.

Anyone in the anime can turn to the mysterious “Hell Girl” for help if they find a mystery website and express their grievances there. The girl from hell will then exact her own brand of savage punishment on the guilty parties.. Disturbing in its depiction of vengeance and revenge, it portrays the darkest desires of our society.

5. Another

Another

A Venn diagram of the two genres would presumably show that “school” is most likely to be the common ground. In fact, the Yomiyama North Middle School is one of anime’s most spooky places.

One student committed suicide in the past, and her classmates assumed she was still alive in order to deal with it. An evil spirit was summoned by this, which led to many more suicides and fatalities among the students and their families over the years, not to mention those of the students’ friends and family members.

6. Corpse Party: Tortured Souls

This school is a meat grinder in comparison to Another’s slaughterhouse. Heavenly Host Academy was demolished to make way for Kisaragi Academy, which was built on top of it. Heavenly Host Academy, on the other hand, was a long-abandoned building that had once housed serial murders, rapists, and various other outliers whose spirits had been imprisoned there.

In addition, despite its destruction, the Heavenly Host Academy continued to exist in another reality. As a result, students from Kisaragi Academy will have the opportunity to visit Heavenly Host Academy for their own unique brand of lethal extradimensional field trips.

7. Devilman Crybaby

Devilman Crybaby (2018) is more disturbing than unsettling. An outcast protagonist who merges with another being in order to become more relevant appears to be the case at first glance. Although this demon in the anime appears to be a nice shonen type, it is in fact a demon in this situation. No, Devilman Crybaby’s demons are those that the Bible forewarned everyone about: aggressive and overly sexualized.

As a result, viewing Devilman Crybaby as a family is not recommended. Those that surround the main character while he fights his demon host become infected with the same ailment, and eventually their world becomes a satellite for hell. It’s a whole horror package, including demonic imagery, explicit pornographic themes, and gruesome bodily terror.

8. When They Cry

When They Cry

When They Cry, also known as Higurashi, puts up a friendly front. While the majority of the audience is likely to assume it is a nice and cheesy anime about teen hormones and provincial school life, it is actually a murder fest.

According to the local mythology, the protagonist’s hometown holds a provincial festival every year. There were numerous stories of local deaths and disappearances in the days leading up to the event.

9. Elfen Lied

A modern spin on the monster girl myth, Elfen Lied is a twisted and modern take on the horror genre. But in Elfen Lied, the primary monster human is a Diclonius, a powerful being that has become the target of experimentation in the anime until she determined that she cannot take it longer and breaks free in the deadliest way possible. Instead of being a vampire or werewolf,

After escaping captivity, the monster girl will be forced to unleash her true nature and potential due to a variety of situations. The quantity of blood and violence in this program is enough to make anyone give up cranberry juice or any other red beverage for a few days or even a few weeks.

10. Ghost Hunt

Ghost hunting is as simple as it gets in a horror anime, and that’s exactly what Ghost Hunt is all about. Shibuya Psychic Research is the story of a group of high-school students who name themselves the “Shibuya Psychic Research.”

Even while it isn’t as gory as some other anime, Ghost Hunt explores various themes, including religion and cultural differences as well as the paranormal, which often has tragic beginnings. There are some spine-chilling payoffs for Ghost Hunt viewers who are patient, but nothing too extreme or nightmare-inducing.

11. Yami Shibai

Yami Shibai

Yami Shibai or Japanese Ghost Stories might be likened to a sleep paralysis episode, depending on how the spectator experiences it. Japanese urban legends are featured in a series of short stories or episodes in this animation.

Although the graphics aren’t quite up to snuff, they’re usually what sells a show rather than the animation. Japanese culture, tradition, and hyper-imaginative narratives all have a role to play in each story. Make sure the lights are off and you’re the only one watching this one.

12. Mononoke

Regarding atmosphere, Mononoke does an outstanding job without even attempting. It more than makes up for its strange graphic style and visuals what it lacks in cohesive plot. Japanese erotic artworks are used as influence for Mononoke’s aesthetic, which is an unusual decision to say the least.

In terms of plot, Mononoke follows the exploits of an exorcist simply known as “Medicine Seller.” Exorcism isn’t a one-step process, and he must study the ins and outs of spirits he is exorcising, opening up fresh scary windows into the otherworldly animals’ strange and alienating world.

13. Shiki

This Japanese take on vampires is unnerving and horrifying to watch, but words aren’t enough to express it. At the beginning of the novel, a series of strange murders occur in a little town in the province of Quebec.

Also, the arrival of an old clan in the town’s outskirts coincides with these murders. It may appear simple at first, but the plot twists and dark portrayal of human nature in the anime make it well worth seeing for any horror enthusiast.

14. Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue

Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue, like The Garden of Sinners, is a psychological thriller rather than a horror picture, but the anime has one feature that accentuates its terror factor: a truly vulnerable protagonist. Mima Kirigoe is being hounded and tormented for leaving the idol industry to pursue acting. Mima’s mind is torn apart by Perfect Blue, which causes the barrier between reality and fiction to become increasingly hazy.

Me-Mania, from Perfect Blue, should take over if the psychological component isn’t enough to make you jump.