We curated a list of the best horror anime. Check it out!
People of several generations have been fans of horror movies. Horror is not the ideal genre for the light-hearted. Movies like Conjuring and Poltergeist have terrified several people with their jumpscares and story plots.
If you think horror anime isn’t frightening unlike live-action horror movies, then you’re wrong. With several horror movies and shows, anime artists have excelled in this genre to provide the best horror shows of all time.
Horror anime has garnered several fans throughout the world. Anime has diversified from ghosts to ghouls and monsters to zombies etc. With Halloween around the corner, we have prepared a list of the best horror anime shows for you with interesting and spooky storylines.
Keep in mind that some shows may contain disturbing scenes that may not be suitable for everyone.
Best Horror Anime: Quick Summary
| Best Horror Anime | Director | Editor’s Rating |
| Death Note | Shusuke Kaneko | 9/10 |
| Another | Tsutomu Mizushima | 9/10 |
| Higurashi: When They Cry | Chiaki Con | 8/10 |
| Ghost Hunt | Akira Mano | 8.5/10 |
| Vampire Knight | Kiyoko Sayama | 7/10 |
| Corpse Princess | Masahiko Murata | 7.5/10 |
| Blue Gender | Masashi Abe Ryosuke | 7/10 |
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Top Horror Anime
Death Note
This is one of the famous horror anime series which was released in 2003 and has been trending currently. The series revolves around a high school boy called Light Yagami who comes across a bizarre black notebook in his college. He tests the book and finds out that it has the power to kill anyone if a person’s name was written on it, but the writer must know the face of the person.
Light decides to use it for a good purpose and writes a criminal’s name on it. Once the criminal dies, Light perceives the extreme power of the book and keeps it with him. He then continues to write the names of cold-blooded criminals which results in terminating all the criminals on the face of the earth.
However, things take a turn when the police find out there’s someone behind the killings of all criminals. A detective called L takes up the case and finds out about Light and his bizarre book.
As for the book, it was dropped by a Shinigami also known as God of Death who did so out of boredom to see what would one do with it and he was impressed with Light’s actions.
If you’re looking for a horror anime that isn’t very frightening then this is your go-to pick. It’s very intriguing to watch and is suitable for all age groups and does not contain any extreme graphic scenes or language.
Another
This horror anime series was released in 2012 and features the story of the death of a student called Misaki who died 26 years ago. After his death, the students and the teacher decide to carry on as if Misaki was still alive.
The protagonist of this series is a boy called Sakakibara Koichi who’s a new transfer student to the class. Koichi realizes that he’s surrounded by a mystery in the classroom and becomes suspicious of his classmates’ behavior.
He befriends a girl in his class called Mei Misaki, a quiet girl who wears an eye patch and is ignored by everyone in the class. Suddenly strange incidents occur in the class as some students and their relatives start dying in mysterious ways.
This leads to Koichi learning about the death of Misaki and how the dead student starts appearing in graduation photos. He also realizes that his class is under a curse after Misaki’s death.
Koichi puts together a team of his classmates including Mei and plans to put an end to the deaths revolving around the classroom.
On his quest, he finds out about an old videotape in his school that contains the details to end the curse. This series has mediocre scary scenes and also a mystery aspect that keeps you hooked till the end.
Higurashi: When They Cry
This anime series features bizarre events that take place in a village called Hinamizawa. During the summer of 1983, Keichi Maebara, the protagonist of the show, visits Hinamizawa.
He befriends four girls called Rena, Mion, Satoko, and Rika. Keichi and his friends visit the annual village festival dedicated to the village’s deity Oyashiro.
However, Keichi would discover the gruesome deaths and unsolved mysteries that revolve around the village. Some superstitious villagers would call this the Oyashio’s curse and claim that the god punishes anyone he doesn’t like.
After the festival, a series of brutal and mysterious deaths occur around the village. This includes the death of a photographer who slits his throat with his own hands and a burnt body of a nurse.
These incidents made Keichi become more curious and traumatized as he asks his friends to explain what may have caused this. His friends remain silent and ignore his questions which only makes him grow suspicious about them.
However, things take a wild turn in the climax of the show as it’s revealed that the incidents are not a cause of the deity’s punishments but rather an experiment carried out by the government which is a disease that causes people to experience homicidal rage.
To know what happens next watch Higurashi and trust me it gives you a new perspective for a horror anime. It contains several disturbing scenes so it’s ideal only for adults.
Ghost Hunt
This anime series revolves around the protagonist, Taniyama Mai who’s a high school student. She and her friends are obsessed with ghosts and always talk about ghost stories.
They come across a building near their school which was rumored to be haunted by people within the school. As the girls talk about the horrors surrounding the building they come across a 17 years old boy called Shibuya Kazuya.
He’s the founder of the Shibuya Psychic Research Company and was ordered by the school’s principal to investigate the stories circulating about the abandoned building.
Kazuya and his assistant work together to find out about the paranormal activities in the building and install a camera to collect useful footage.
However, Mai notices the camera placed inside the building and breaks it, and also physically hurts Kazuya’s assistant. When Kazuya learns about this incident he makes Mai pay for his camera by hiring her as his new assistant.
Mai reluctantly accepts the offer and starts to learn about the supernatural and paranormal occurrences in the haunted building.
This series is ideal for those who are interested in both mystery thrillers and horror genres.
Vampire Knight
This show is specifically for the fans of Twilight movies. It features the two different classes of the Cross Academy. One class is the Day Class for humans and the other is the Night Class for vampires.
Two students in the academy, Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are assigned disciplinary duties to ensure the vampires in the Night Class don’t prey on humans. Yuki notices that the boys in the Night Class are very handsome and she starts to have feelings for a pureblood vampire guy called Kaname Kuran.
However, Zero has a soft corner for Yuki and he has a lifelong hatred towards vampires although he himself is turning into a vampire after getting bitten by a pureblood vampire.
Yuki is caught up in her string of emotions as she is unsure about her feelings towards Kaname and also has a crush on Zero. Although this series is in the horror genre it doesn’t contain many frightening scenes.
Corpse Princess
The storyline focuses on the protagonist Makina Hoshimura who gets brutally murdered with her family. After her death, she turns into Shikabane Hime, a living corpse and she gets an offer from a priest to join the Kougon Cult.
She uses this opportunity to take revenge on the undead criminal organization known as the Seven Stars that’s responsible for the deaths of her family and hers.
Keisei Tagami, the cult priest and Makina’s previous friend helps her in her ambition to hunt down the people responsible for the murders.
The story takes a turn when the priest’s younger brother, Ouri finds out the dark secrets of his brother and gets attracted into the world of the undead.
Makina uses her MAC-11 machine gun to hunt down the undead corpses that lurk in the dark corners of the city. In order to reach heaven, she has to put an end to the undead organization and the crimes they commit.
Since the show contains zombies it’d be an ideal pick for zombie fans. There are cool action scenes in the series, however, some scenes are extremely violent.
Blue Gender
Blue Gender has the best combination of sci-fi and horror themes. The story takes place on earth which is conquered by space aliens called Blue. The aliens have destroyed most of humanity with only a few survivors who reside on a space station called Second Earth.
However, a man called Yuji Kaido is stuck on earth and gets help from soldiers who arrived on earth with a mission to reclaim the planet. They are forced to fight a bloody war to save themselves and the earth. This anime contains action and gore scenes and would be your choice if you’re into extreme violence.
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