6 Horror Anime Shows To Scare You Silly

Ah! The day of the ghosts and ghouls is upon us. Come out you hideous freaks, rise you bloody vampires, howl you furry werewolves! This is our night fellow horror fanatics.

And this year’s Halloween apparently got an early start, with the creepy clown sightings in the western hemisphere which spread to other parts of the world. Was it a promotion for Stephen King’s Pennywise, or just a one-off incident that caught people’s fancy? Don’t know, but it did set the mood for the creepies and freakies out there.

But not everybody may be interested in going out dressed up in costumes. So for those of you homebodies who like me want to sit at home, switch off the lights, put on a headset, and watch horror flicks, here’s a recommendation list of six horror anime shows that will creep you out this Halloween.

Shiki

If you think the Twilight series of books and movies has ruined the good old reputation of vampires, well, this show will revive the fear of those blood suckers right away.

Shiki translates to corpse demon, or in one word means vampire. It’s a story about a small rural town in Japan, where villagers start mysteriously dying after a new family arrives. This leads the local doctor to investigate the deaths and he discovers the handiwork of vampires.

In any good horror story, you want to be able to connect with the characters in the story. You want to feel something for them. And this series does that well.

All the characters in the story are interesting, to say the least, and the plot is easy to follow. The animation is top notch.

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories

Do you look back fondly to those old ghost stories you listened to as a child? Maybe they were campfire tales or something your grandfather would narrate.

Yamishibai will take you back to those good old times of goosebumps. The first thing you’ll notice about the series is the unique animation work. It’s not motion animation. It’s like watching cutout puppets and has a folklore effect.

The show is a collection of short stories, with each episode lasting no longer than 3-4 minutes. So you could probably watch the whole show in one night.

If you think horror shows are all about blood and gore, this series will prove you wrong. Each episode is a new story and will give you the creeps without an inch of violence.

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress

No horror list is complete without the resurrection of the dead. Kabaneri is a zombie apocalyptic series where a virus transforms humans into Kabane (corpses) with glowing hearts that need to be destroyed to kill them. However, the glowing hearts are protected by a thick layer that is hard to penetrate.

Post-apocalypse, people have built fortress train stations to protect villages, and fortified trains are used to travel outside. The plot revolves around a group of villagers who escape after a zombie attack and are traveling to seek shelter.

One of the protagonists who is an engineer builds a steam gun powerful enough to pierce the heart of a Kabane. However, the protagonist is bitten by a Kabane, but before he can turn into one, he manages to stranglehold the virus from reaching his brain. He discovers it’s possible to not turn into a complete zombie and still possess the strength of one – a hybrid zombie of sorts or a Kabaneri.

The series begins with quite a quick pace but curves down to a more slower flow in between before catching up speed again. However, the storyline manages to hold interest even in the slower pace. The animation work is brilliant.

Higurashi When They Cry 

W-E-I-R-D…

That is the best word I can find in my limited vocabulary to describe this series, and…

AWESOME!

That is the other word I would use to describe it.

It’s not a series of a few characters and a singular plot. The series has multiple story plots completely different from each other with the same characters.

It’s like being stuck in one point of time in multiple universes with a very Twilight Zone-esque feel to it. All the story plots involve murders in the most gruesome way possible, with a different character coming out as a murderer in different stories. You would never expect these cute animated characters with their puppy antics to get so dark, so fast.

How dark you ask? There are body parts being sliced and diced, finger nails ripped out, skulls smashed on the ground, and more.

Another

Another is a 12-episode mystery horror anime that revolves around a particular class, 3-3, of Yomiyama Middle School that leads to gruesome deaths.

One of the students, Misaki, in the 1972 batch dies midway during the school year. Traumatized, the students and teachers begin to act as if Misaki isn’t dead and even leave an empty desk for her in class.

The tradition continues year after year, and sudden deaths begin to occur in connection with Misaki.

The storyline is intriguing and gripping, though a little slow paced. But once you begin watching, you can’t help but be curious about how it all ends.

Corpse Party

Survival horror is a sub genre that can get really gruesome, really fast. It’s not for people with weak stomachs. Corpse Party, even though an anime, is no different.

Get ready for blood, gore and flying body parts, because that’s what Corpse Party excels at. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not all just violence and gory. This anime series does have the substance to provide the right amount of scare and creepiness in the mix of all that blood.

The story revolves around a high school that was built over a former elementary school that was torn down after mysterious murders and disappearances occurred. One night a group of students begin telling ghost stories and one of them performs a charm. Suddenly, an earthquake sends the students into an alternative universe where the former elementary school exists and is haunted by ghosts of the children who were murdered.

This one is not for the squeamish. From knives poking into the eyes to ghosts with half a head, this one is a horror gore delight.

And on that note, we come to an end of this post, I hope you’ve enjoyed this list of horror animes.

Have a fun Halloween my creepy crawlies!