It’s that time of year again, where black magic is in the air and ghoulies and ghosties are coming out to play. A lot of us get excited for the spooky holiday by watching things that get us in the Halloween spirit. And when it comes to anime, there’s a lot of shows to bring you bone-chilling terror and supernatural madness. Monsters, blood and gore, ghosts, or psychological horror- there’s an anime for every Halloween mood. So let’s buckle up for some anime to watch on All Hallow’s Eve! Do you have any suggestions to add to the list?
Naoki Urasawa's 'Monster'
When it comes to psychological horror, Monster is often the first anime that comes to mind. It doesn’t feature anything supernatural- the titular “monster” is all too human, but that may be the most terrifying thing of all. An up-and-coming young brain surgeon by Kenzo Tenma makes the choice to save the life of a child before saving the life of the mayor, despite suspecting it will affect his social standing. The child lives and the mayor dies…and years later, Tenma discovers this child has become a killer so horrifying those around him refer to him as a “monster”. Tenma is drawn into a chilling cat-and-mouse game and forced to confront some thorny moral issues.
Monster is a sprawling series at 74 episodes, but its well worth a look for anyone who enjoys tense thrillers and the haunting atmosphere of the anime is perfect for Halloween.
Parasyte
For many, there’s nothing more terrifying than body horror. Losing control of your own body, watching it be invaded and transformed into something grotesque- it’s an idea that makes your skin crawl (but hopefully not literally).
Parasyte is all body horror all the time. The anime tells of a world where parasite-like aliens invade, crawling through human’s ears and taking over their brains But one parasite fails, and burrows into the right arm of its host, a young man named Shinichi Izumi, instead. Since the parasite never reaches Shinichi’s brain, they are now two fully conscious beings sharing the same body.
Parasyte doesn’t stop at body horror though, it also features cannibalistic serial killers and lots of tense fights.
The original Parasyte manga was published in 1989, but a modern anime adaptation titled Parasyte –the maxim- came out in 2014. The series spans 24 episodes.
Tokyo Ghoul
If you’re a zombie fan, Tokyo Ghoul will appeal to you. It’s not quite a zombie anime, but the creatures depicted in the series are very similar. Tokyo Ghoul takes place in a world where supernatural beings called ghouls live secretly among humans. These beings are stronger and faster than humans and they need to eat human flesh to survive. When a young man named Ken Kaneki is attacked by a ghoul, he receives surgery that makes him a “half-ghoul” so he can survive. The series focuses on him trying to deal with this state of affairs.
This anime has plenty of blood, cannibalism, body horror and scares to go around. It has two seasons that are 12 episodes each.
Hell Girl
Hell Girl features a lot of different types of horror: the horror of mortality, the horrors that humans inflict on each other and horror bought on by supernatural beings. The premise of that series is if a person truly wishes to enact revenge on another, there’s a website they can visit that only shows up at midnight. Through this “Hell Correspondence”, you can type in the name of the person you hate and they will be sent to Hell immediately. But there’s a price- anyone who does this will also go to Hell after they die.
The person who carries out the revenge for her clients is the titular Hell Girl, Ai Enma. She looks like an ordinary young girl, but she’s been around for a very long time. She will torment her targets with frightening visions before ferrying them off to hell in a ritualistic fashion.
The series mostly features mostly self-contained episodes focusing on the plight of whoever has contacted Hell Girl this time, but there’s also an ongoing story arc dealing with a reporter and his daughter investigating the strange happenings bought on by Ai and trying to discover exactly who-or what- she is.
A lot of Hell Girl focuses on the cruelty people do to each other and what drives people to revenge, whether it’s worth it in the end and so on. Some of the people Hell Girl is hired to take care of truly deserve their fate, but others actually don’t. While it’s often a bit subdued, there’s both psychological and supernatural horror to be had here. Hell Girl spans three seasons that are 26 episodes each.
Paranoia Agent
Paranoia Agent is an anime by the late Satoshi Kon, who is an incredibly influential and acclaimed animator. Kon is a master of the medium, so his work is always worth checking out. This particular work tells a grisly tale where Tokyo is being terrorized by a mysterious (and apparently supernatural) little boy who targets them with vicious assaults. These incidents escalate as the public becomes more and more fearful.
Like much of Kon’s work, this anime deals with the thin line between reality and fiction. It quickly becomes hard to tell what events are real and what are a product of mass hysteria and delusion. Not being able to trust your own mind is a horror in itself.
Paranoia Agent is a 13-episode series.
Hellsing
Hellsing is another one that’s not exactly a horror anime in structure, but fits right in with Halloween regardless, featuring lots of vampires, zombies and other horrifying creatures. Also it is extremely violent, bloody and explicit. Definitely M-for-Mature.
The anime focuses on an organization founded by Van Helsing (GET IT) which fights vampires and other vampires. And, paradoxically, a member of this organization happens to be the most powerful vampire out there, Alucard (in case this super clever classical codename fooled you, that’s Dracula).
After being defeated by Van Helsing a century ago, Alucard swore loyalty to his family. Loyalties aside, he’s still not a very nice person. His current commander is a lady who goes by the mouthful-of-a-title Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing,
The anime has a lot going on, but the most important thing to know about it is that they fight a battalion of vampire Nazis, which is amazing. If you’re a fan of tons of slaughter and sadism, this series has it all. While looking into the series, be aware that there’s a 10-episode OVA series called Hellsing Ultimate and a 13-episode anime that exists entirely separately and doesn’t share continuity. Ultimate is closer to the original manga.
Soul Eater
Soul Eater isn’t a horror story, despite some dark moments, but a Halloween aesthetic and atmosphere dominates this anime. The series is set in Death Weapon Meister Academy, an absolutely ghoulish looking place that’s run by the grim reaper himself. At the academy, students partner up to fight demons, witches and assorted evil. The series focuses on Maka Albarn and her partner Soul, who can transform in a scythe that Maka then weilds to take out the supernatural baddies.
Despite the atmosphere, Soul Eater follows the structure of a fighting manga rather than a horror story, showing the heroes rising to the challenge of bigger and badder foes. It’s an anime filled with explosions and slapstick and action scenes, rather than a consistently grim journey into the scariest depths of despair. It is filled to the brim with spooky creatures however, so it fits right in at any Halloween viewing party. Soul Eater spans 51 episodes.
Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories
If you’re looking for something with a different animation style and want to learn more about Japanese myths and legends, this anime is a great choice. The limited style of animation is based on a Japanese art called “paper play”, which originates from the “picture scrolls” seen in Buhddist temples. Each episode features a self-contained story delivered by a mysterious “story teller”. It’s definitely a unique anime that gives the feel of listening to scary stories told ‘round the campfire. And each episode is typically only four minutes long, so if you want some bite-sized Halloween horror, it’s perfect for that.
The series is three seasons of 13 episodes each.
Ghost Hunt
Ghost Hunt is a series about a group of teenagers who, well, hunt ghosts. The series consist of several short arcs that deal with specific supernatural incidents, which usually include a good dose of death and tragedy. This anime’s a little less intense than some of the other horror fare, being more mystery-oriented and featuring some comedy, so it’s a good choice is you don’t feel like you can handle really nasty stuff.
The series is 25 episodes long.
Higurashi When They Cry
Higurashi When They Cry is one of the better known horror anime out there. The teenaged protagonist moves to a sleepy little town only to find it’s not so sleepy after all. The town is plagued with murder and disappearances and we soon learn that nothing is what it seems. Higurashi combines murder mystery and horror in an effective way, featuring a lot of killing but also exploring the terror of becoming consumed with paranoia.
Higurashi is a 25 episode series. There’s also too many follow-up shows, side-stories and alternate continuity spinoffs to list. Definitely a popular series where it comes from.