The 10 Best Horror Anime of All Time
Last updated: September 1, 2025
Anime has mastered the art of horror, blending psychological tension, supernatural dread, and disturbing imagery in ways few other mediums can match. Whether it's eerie folklore, gut-wrenching body horror, or mind-bending thrillers, horror anime explores fear from every angle—but don’t be scared! Watching media you enjoy is one of the best ways to learn Japanese.
From slow-burn psychological terrors to explosive, blood-soaked nightmares, here's a list of the best horror anime series out there—shows that truly stand out and offer a haunting experience that will chill you to the core. If you're a horror fan, these should be on your list:
Anyway! Ready to lose sleep?
Let’s explore the darkest corners of anime horror.
1. Death Note /『DEATH NOTE』
Death Note follows Light Yagami, a brilliant yet disillusioned high school student who discovers a mysterious notebook with deadly powers. When he writes a person’s name in the book while picturing their face, they die. Empowered by this godlike tool, Light begins a crusade to eliminate criminals and reshape the world, adopting the alias “Kira.”
Opposing him is L, a genius detective intent on stopping Kira. As the psychological cat-and-mouse game escalates, morality blurs, and the true cost of playing god emerges. One of the top horror anime of all time, this tense thriller explores justice, power, and corruption with supernatural elements and chilling intensity.
According to a review by an N3-level learner on Learn Natively, Death Note is “decently easy to understand if you know some police/detective lingo”.
2. Another /『Another』
In Another, a cursed class in Yomiyama North Middle School is plagued by mysterious, gruesome deaths. When transfer student Kouichi Sakakibara arrives, he notices something strange about his classmates—especially the quiet, eyepatch-wearing Mei Misaki, whom everyone else seems to ignore.
As he investigates the eerie happenings, a chain of brutal, unexplained deaths begins anew. With a suffocating atmosphere and escalating sense of dread, Another crafts a tightly woven mystery infused with supernatural horror. Each episode builds suspense as the students unravel the deadly secret tied to their class’s past. Without a doubt, this is a classic of the horror genre.
Warning: You may never look at an umbrella or set of stairs in the same way again.
3. Tokyo Ghoul /『東京喰種』
Tokyo Ghoul plunges you into a world where flesh-eating ghouls live hidden among humans. College student Kaneki’s life changes forever after a date turns deadly, resulting in a surgery that transforms him into a half-ghoul. Struggling to retain his humanity, Kaneki is thrust into a violent, divided world filled with brutal hunters, underground ghoul factions, and impossible choices.
The terrifying anime explores themes of identity, alienation, and morality amid visceral horror and unflinching violence. As Kaneki grapples with his new monstrous instincts, he must learn what it means to survive—and what it means to be human.
Most of all, I was impressed by the relatively low difficulty. As a mega popular action anime, I would have expected this to be relatively similar to other mega-popular action animes like Attack on Titan or Jujutsu Kaisen, but Tokyo Ghoul turned out to be way easier to understand.
4. Yamashibai: Japanese Ghost Stories /『闇芝居』
Yamishibai is an anthology horror series that draws from traditional horror elements found in Japanese ghost stories and urban legends. Each short, eerie episode is presented in a unique kamishibai (紙芝居, "paper theater") style, enhancing its folkloric and unsettling tone. A mysterious masked storyteller appears at dusk to share tales of haunted apartments, cursed objects, vengeful spirits, and inexplicable horrors.
Despite being just a few minutes long, each episode packs a disturbing punch, often ending with a chilling sense of ambiguity. With minimalist animation and atmospheric sound design, Yamishibai evokes primal fear through cultural myth and psychological terror, making it a must-watch for fans of classic Japanese horror.
With minimal dialogue and a spooky fairytale-esque nature, Yamishibai is a great horror anime that won’t scare you off with high-level Japanese.
5. When They Cry /『ひぐらしのなく頃に』
When They Cry begins innocently in the rural village of Hinamizawa, where a group of friends enjoys a peaceful life. However, beneath the surface lurks a dark secret tied to the annual Watanagashi Festival and a cycle of gruesome murders and pure horror madness.
As time loops and realities fracture, paranoia, violence, and psychological horror spiral out of control. The series expertly shifts from slice-of-life to sheer terror, using unreliable narratives and graphic brutality to disorient and disturb. Each arc peels back layers of a haunting mystery that ties together the supernatural, psychological trauma, and the fragility of sanity.
Over on Learn Natively, people are ranking this one as being around the JLPT N2 level (upper intermediate), so while this is one of our favorite horror anime, it might not be the best choice for people just beginning to learn Japanese.
Reddit on what makes the series challenging:
"...the main thing I'd keep in mind is that Hinamizawa is a rural town out in the sticks that is very isolationist, so it has a very heavy dialect that even stands out even in nearby Okinomiya. And while most of the club doesn't use this heavy dialect, most of them have their own verbal tics. This could be causing, or at least compounding, at least some of the difficulty."
6. Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre /『伊藤潤二『マニアック』』
These anime anthologies adapt the chilling works of horror master Junji Ito, known for his grotesque imagery and nightmarish concepts. Each episode presents standalone stories that dive into the macabre, bizarre, and surreal—from cursed spirals to living dolls, haunted intersections, and body horror beyond comprehension.
Though varying in execution, the series strives to capture the eerie tone of Ito’s original manga, blending psychological dread with visceral terror. They're best for fans of existential and supernatural horror that defies logic and taps into deeply unsettling fears lurking just beneath the surface.
7. Devilman Crybaby / 『DEVILMAN crybaby』
Devilman Crybaby reimagines Go Nagai’s classic tale with modern animation and brutal storytelling. It follows Akira Fudo, a sensitive teen who becomes a Devilman—retaining his human heart but wielding the powers of a demon. As he battles hidden demons infesting society, the lines between good and evil blur.
The show’s striking visuals, frenetic pacing, and explicit content create a deeply disturbing yet emotionally resonant narrative. Themes of identity, sexuality, war, and human savagery culminate in a catastrophic, apocalyptic climax. Devilman Crybaby is a visceral, heartbreaking experience that demonstrates how ordinary humans are more terrifying than any monster.
8. Parasyte /『寄生獣』
Parasyte follows Shinichi Izumi, a high school student whose right hand becomes host to a sentient alien parasite named Migi. While other parasites invade human brains and kill indiscriminately, Migi and Shinichi form a reluctant alliance. As more parasites begin terrorizing humanity, Shinichi must navigate increasingly violent encounters, facing not only external threats but also inner turmoil as his humanity wanes.
The anime blends action and body horror with deep philosophical questions about life, coexistence, and what it means to be human. With chilling transformations and moral ambiguity, Parasyte is both terrifying and thought-provoking.
9. Psycho-Pass / 『PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス』
In a dystopian future, Psycho-Pass envisions a society governed by the Sibyl System, which quantifies people’s mental states to predict criminal intent. Law enforcers called "Inspectors" and their Enforcer subordinates carry out justice based on these “crime coefficients.” Akane Tsunemori, a new Inspector, begins to question the system’s ethics as she investigates disturbing crimes and encounters a charismatic criminal mastermind.
The series blends sci-fi and psychological horror, delving into surveillance, free will, and the cost of societal control. With its noir atmosphere and moral complexity, Psycho-Pass explores how a society’s pursuit of order can become its own kind of nightmare.
This is an awesome and beautifully animated show... but it also features a significant amount of technical vocabulary, and will likely be a challenge even for people who have already passed the JLPT N1.
10. The Promised Neverland /『約束のネバーランド』
The Promised Neverland begins in what appears to be a peaceful orphanage, where children are cared for lovingly and live carefree lives. Among them, Emma, Norman, and Ray are the brightest and closest friends, cherishing their time together. However, beneath the surface lies a hidden darkness that gradually begins to unravel.
As the children start to question their surroundings, they’re drawn into a high-stakes battle of wits and survival. Blending psychological horror with gripping suspense, the series explores themes of trust, courage, and the loss of innocence, delivering a chilling yet emotionally powerful experience.
How to learn Japanese by watching anime
You are guaranteed to make progress in Japanese if you meet two criteria:
- You must regularly spend time in Japanese
- You must understand at least some of the Japanese you encounter
It really is that simple, and the good news is that watching anime you enjoy is a perfectly reasonable way to spend time in Japanese. The bad news, unfortunately, is that if you don't already understand Japanese pretty well, you'll likely lean too hard on the English subtitles and end up making no gains for all the hours you spend watching anime.
Migaku helps with that.
Boot up any anime you'd like on Netflix (or any anime recap you'd like on YouTube), as you do:
And then enable Migaku.
So long as Japanese subtitles are available on Netflix†, or you're watching a non-paywalled video on YouTube, we'll make the video's subtitles interactive:
From here, you can simply click on words you don't know to see a definition of what they mean. You can also do things like have a secondary set of subtitles display only if there are unknown Japanese words, or have the show automatically pause before each line of dialogue to give you a chance to read the subtitle first.
If you stumble into a useful-looking word, just click that orange button in the top-right corner of the dictionary. We'll automatically create a flashcard that looks like this:
You don't need Migaku to learn Japanese... but we guarantee that, with Migaku, you'll be able to start interacting with real Japanese media much sooner than would be possible without Migaku.
Ready to cozy up with the best horror anime series of all time?
Whereas most are afraid of them, the things going bump in the night have suddenly become your best friend, helping you grow your Japanese vocabulary with every scream, squeal, and shout.
Go explore, but remember:
If you consume Japanese media, and you understand some of the messages and sentences within that media, you'll make progress. Period.
On the off-chance you want something a bit more realistic: Take a look at some of our Japanese horror movie recommendations.