Dorohedoro’s story is actually closer in tone to a black comedy than anything, but its world is drenched in hellish imagery and gratuitous violence that perfectly fits the Halloween spirit (especially the episodes set during the Blue Night Festival). It’s all about Kaiman, a man hellbent on finding the sorcerer who cursed him with amnesia and a lizard head, and his jovial friend Nikaido who seems like she has something to hide.

The grimy dieselpunk city they inhabit is crawling with occult influence and the sorcerers who torture them treat dismemberment and devil worshipping like mundane facts of life. It’s certainly an odd show, but you won’t forget it anytime soon!

Japan has a distinct problem with xenophobia, and as a result, psychological horror anime love to explore this issue in depth. Shiki starts out as a relatively standard monster-hunting show where righteous humans take down the evil vampires (called “shiki”) that are terrorizing their village one by one, but it soon becomes apparent that the shiki are just trying to survive like everybody else.

Even though countless deaths on both sides could’ve been avoided if the two groups made a real effort to understand one another, the overwhelming fear of the unfamiliar keeps them locked in an endless cycle of bloodshed. If you’re a fan of shows like Parasyte or Tokyo Ghoul, give this one a shot!

Grace Field House seems like a cozy little orphanage where the kids and their “Mama” form a loving makeshift family together. However, the tattooed numbers on the children’s necks and their rigorous intelligence tests using futuristic equipment make the whole system seem off somehow... not to mention that children who are adopted never send any letters...

As it turns out, the purpose of the orphanage is much more sinister and three of the smartest kids must find a way to outwit their crafty Mama to escape with their lives (and hopefully those of their siblings, as well). This chilling battle of the minds features almost no gore but instills fear into one’s heart nonetheless.

How about an anime with devilish imagery, themes of xenophobia, and mind games all rolled into one? This is Devilman: Crybaby, an updated remake of the 1972 Devilman manga by legendary author Go Nagai that we could talk about for hours if given the chance. But to be brief, it’s the story of Akira Fudo, a weak but compassionate teen whose enigmatic best friend Ryo Asuka decides that the best way to defeat the growing threat of demonic possession is to turn Akira into a demon himself. It quickly escalates from there into worldwide panic and paranoia, largely fueled by social media and deliberately manipulative broadcasts. Just be warned – this show is not for the faint of heart!

Even though Devilman: Crybaby is an instant classic (that happens to be based on an actual proven classic), we have to give the number one spot to Naoki Urasawa’s masterpiece Monster for its gut-wrenching dive into the mind of a serial killer and the morally conflicted surgeon who risked his reputation to save his life many years ago and is now determined to end it.

At 74 episodes, Monster is definitely a serious time commitment, but this series is masterful at exploring how anyone can become a monster and that morals are all just shades of gray. For a horror anime that will have you questioning your own existence, it’s hard to go wrong with this one.

A cryptid is an animal whose existence hasn't been proven. Bigfoot, the Yeti, and the Loch Ness monster are some of the most famous. And there are people who truly believe they exist and dedicate their lives to finding proof of their existence. Sousuke Banba is one of them, a college professor that will drop everything he's doing for the chance to investigate a rumor of an attack by a UMA –An Unidentified Mysterious Animal- where someone has died. It's then when he faces the fact that the UMAs not only kill humans but can also pass themselves off as their victims that he realizes the horrors of the "Shadow Monsters" are worse than he imagined.

Kagewani is a very moody series. The animation is done in very grey tones and, at some points, is so dark that you can't see the monsters. This makes it scarier because, as many writers have noted before, nothing is more terrifying than your own imagination. The human conflict comes to play when Sousuke finds out what the true origin of the UMA is and how that pits him against Masaki Kimura, a scientist who is also hunting UMAs through Japan in order to figure out what the monsters want and what makes them tick. If your favorite horror stories are about unidentified creatures attacking innocent people in the woods, Kagewani will be a complete hit.

Found footage horror has some great movies. From The Blair Witch Project to Cloverfield, it's really interesting to see the horror from the point of view of the victim or the unblinking camera, even if at some points you wish that the main character just stopped recording and started running. Kowabon is a very interesting anime that emulates the format in short, three-minute stories that only have in common a very familiar stringy haired Ghost Girl who appears to torment the poor victims who will die horribly in the videos.

Kowabon is an excellent show for those who like short stories. They're the anime equivalent of bonfire stories: short, scary, and will make you want to sleep with the lights on. It makes good use of the idea that technology can be as haunted as houses and people, and at some point, you can even worry that you are going to be the next victim. On the other hand, the series' look can be a bit off-putting, as most of it has rotoscoping, a technique where real life footage is traced over to create the animation.

In ancient Japan, demons and ghosts were more active. Spirits would deceive humans, killing them for nourishment or just to enjoy the pain of their victims, and anyone who died a violent death could return as a vengeful spirit to destroy the lives of their enemies. A woman who has been poisoned by her husband, as he wants to be rich, kills herself to bring terrible pain and death to those who ruined her life as a terrible ghost. A hunter is bewitched by a beautiful wasuregami, a forgotten goddess, and tries to woo her even if the love between a goddess and mortal is forbidden. And a terrible Cat Demon haunts a wedding because it's determined not to let anyone have happiness where he lives.

Ayakashi is a gorgeous anthology of traditional Japanese horror stories. Each of them has their own distinctive look, to the point that they could be three separate series. And all of them manage to keep the atmosphere of the stories mysterious, tense, and terrifying. They all take special care of showing the origins of the story: The first one is narrated by the author of that particular legend, while the third borrows a lot of the style of the Ukiyo-E artwork of the Edo period. All in all, this is a series that no fan of the J-horror genre should miss.

Every afternoon, the storyteller comes to the neighborhood. With his notorious yellow mask, he stops his cart in the corner and waits for children to gather near him. The stories he tells are old, classic tales that he probably learned from another storyteller. But they all are scary and will leave you unable to close your eyes at night. From ghosts to demons, to human monsters, every single imaginable horror can be found in his stories. And no matter how scared you are, you will be back next afternoon, to hear a new story, like every day.

Yami Shibai is another horror anthology because short stories are one of the best ways to make horror work. It's also a very successful one, as it has not one, but five seasons, which manage to keep the stories fresh. Not only that, it allows the animators to do some very interesting experiments in order to keep a creepy look for the stories, although most of them try to imitate kamishibai, a very traditional Japanese method of storytelling, which consisted of illustrated boards in a stage they carried in their bicycles. While the episodes are very short, they all are very memorable and a great treat for any horrorhound.

A young man is stalked by a monstrous model who won't stop at anything to be alone with him. A woman is afraid to sleep, as she fears she will never wake up; while another man in the same hospital keeps having longer and longer dreams every night. A family chooses to live as marionettes in their own house. A girl runs away from her house and her family’s increasingly weird behavior to end up in a town where there are no roads. A couple finds a strange town full of strange bushes full of red bubbles. These are some of the stories that we can find in the Junji Ito Collection.

Junji Ito is a very well-known name among horror fans. Every single one of his stories can cause fear in some level, from the purely psychological, to the gross-out, while stepping in every level in between. So it's no surprise that a series based on his short stories would be in this list. While the animation could be a bit better, it doesn't detract from the stories themselves, which never fail to horrify viewers all over the world.

During the Edo era in Japan, Mononoke, a type of spirit that feeds on negative human emotions, roam free. They are dangerous and can kill many humans in their path. However, there's one man who can fight them with a special sword that helps him exorcise the demons. Known only as the "Medicine Seller", he walks through the paths of ancient Japan helping those who need his abilities. However, exorcising the Mononoke isn't easy: First, he must know their shape, their truth, and their reasoning. And sometimes, those show that the real monsters are the humans who helped to create the Mononoke.

Mononoke is an oddity both in this list and as a horror series because it's one of the very few that is actually a spin-off. The Medicine Seller, who is the main character and connects every case we see in the series, comes from Yami Shibai's last story, Bakeneko. While the series doesn't have the same aesthetics as Yami Shibai, it keeps the same atmosphere of despair and creepiness that we've come to expect from good ghost stories. Each story is told in three episodes, so you get the chance to savor the experience and be surprised at the conclusion.

Fear takes many forms. But while we can take comfort in the fact that many horrible monsters don't exist, there are some other forms that are not easily disproved. After all, how do you prove that you're not being watched? That you're not being stalked? Of course, there's a chance you are not, but that doesn't change the fact that you think twice about walking down a particularly dark street alley. And while 99% of the time, that alley will be completely safe, there's that 1% to worry about. This is what happens to some people in Japan, when a kid in inline skates known as Shounen Batto, or Lil' Slugger attacks them. And soon, everyone is afraid to walk the streets.

Mousou Dairinin is an amazing psychological horror story. While the figure of Lil' Slugger and his M.O. are terrifying –seriously, just try to walk the streets at night after a marathon of the series, we will wait for you here-, the real fear comes when you start figuring out how he chooses his victims and realize that, in the end, we all have the kind of secrets that can trigger an attack. That's right, Lil' Slugger could come to bat against us. And there is where the effectiveness of this horror anime can be found: When it gives form to the viewer's own guilt and fears, to make them as paranoid as the characters in the series.

Mima Kirigoe is tired of her life as an idol singer, so she decides to leave her group, "Cham!", in order to follow her dreams to become an actress. Unfortunately for her, this enrages her fans to the point that one of them starts stalking her, while others seem happy to send her threats by fax. Still, and despite the existence of a website that seems to be written by her and details her life with disturbing detail, Mima tries to keep going. Even her manager, Rumi Hikada, tells her to ignore the site and the stalking. However, that's when things start to escalate, as many crewmembers of the show she's acting in are murdered and Mima doesn't even know what's real anymore.

Perfect Blue was the cinematic directorial debut of the great late Satoshi Kon, who also directed Mousou Dairinin. Both anime deal with the subject of reality, media, fear and identity in a way that became the director's signature. And although certain elements of the story have aged badly and the final twist has been probably spoiled to everyone thanks to the internet, it's still one of the scariest anime you can ever watch thanks to the excellent directing and the gorgeous animation.

Grudges grow and can fester, a small injury can seem like the most terrible insult, and sometimes, those insults and injuries are really rage-inducing. No matter how big or small your grudge really is; there's a way those who hurt you will pay with eternal damnation. Just find the mysterious site that only opens to those who harbor a deep resentment in their hearts, the Hell Correspondence, and put their names there. Soon, you will be visited by the Hell Girl, Ai Enma, who will give you a choice: Let go of your grudge or let your enemies be punished. Just be aware that if she brings the wrath of Hell onto those who hurt you, the payment will be your soul.

Hell Girl, known as Jigoku Shoujo in Japan, is one of the most successful horror stories that we've seen in recent years, with five seasons to date. And, unlike other anthologies in the list, each chapter is half an hour long, and every season has a longer reaching arc that connects every episode. Keeping the tension for that long is a challenge for horror stories, and it's the reason why Hell Girl is still one of the top titles mentioned in every recommendation list.

Imagine this for a moment: One day you wake up, and your mother is not quite right. She looks like your mother, she sounds like your mother, but there's something odd in her movements and voice. And then, before you can react, she grabs you, her head opens like a melon full of teeth, and you're getting your head chomped. This is how the Parasite invasion begins, with people being infected by space worms while they sleep, and then the Parasites feeding on their unsuspecting families. The one exception so far is Shinichi Izumi, who would've been a victim of one of the parasites, only that since he was wearing headphones, the worm can't reach his brain and instead ends up in his right hand, as a symbiote.

Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu draws inspiration from one of the greatest horror movies of all times, the Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Just like that movie, it manages to maintain a mix of science fiction and paranoia during the whole story as we, just like Shinichi, can't tell which people he meets are humans, and which ones are parasites that will kill him and Migi, his right hand parasite, for the simple fact that they are an anomaly. Adding to this the fact that the parasites are not only very unsettling even in human form, but also the murders they commit are particularly gory, making this a quite horrifying series.

As one of the most recent horror anime on this list, Ajin, takes us into a world of terrorism, misinformation, and immortals. For a long time Ajin, supernatural/immortal beings, have lived in relative peace with humanity. At least that’s the status quo as there have only been a couple documented interactions. However, this all changes in Japan when one psychopathic Ajin, Satou, begins to bomb and terrorize the city all the while wearing his trademark close-eyed grin.

Ajin succeeds in providing a unique blend of horror for its viewers. Between the gritty action sequences of Satou capping people in the foot, knee, face with a shotgun (still smiling) and moments of nationwide paranoia, you’ll be kept on pins and needles. Though many might not like the animation style, Polygon Pictures’s choice of CG is actually used to great effect. It creates this sort of puppetry quality, despite being very fluid, that unsettles the nerves. Most people feel like they’re wearing a mask of some sort and so it’s hard to weed through what’s true and what’s not.

Another sends you off to Class 3-3 of Yomiyama North, the class of which a popular student died within back in 1972. As we follow Kouichi Sakakibara into this classroom, we’re immediately thrown off balance by a rather eerie, gloom-filled class, complete with the eyepatch-wearing Mei Misaki. Despite, the eyepatch, no one seems to notice her except for Kei. Thus following primarily Kouichi and Mei, Another embarks on a quest to discover what phenomenon has been tormenting the students.

This show is practically the anime equivalent of Final Destination, however, with a bit more narrative depth. The horror Another haunts us with is a combination of an extremely tense environment mixed with brutal deaths. Umbrella points impaling bodies, elevators crashing and speed boats cutting bodies apart are just a few of the type of deaths you can expect. Are you cringing yet? Ultimately, Another makes you aware and afraid of everything you do. Is it safe to be twirling this pencil about my fingers? What if it slips and pierces an eye. Time to put it down.

Often times, the high school years are seen as the golden years of life. Yuki Takeya understands that her time in high school has been so great at Megurigaoka that she never wants to leave. However, the backdrop of her friends and all the awesome times they’ve had in their club is simply a façade. In truth, a zombie outbreak has left them isolated in their school. The other survivors are torn psychologically between the horror of their current predicament and their attempts to create a blissful world for Yuki, if not for themselves as well.

Gakkou Gurashi’s horror is particularly well done in its contrast with the rather youthful animation style and character designs. This contrast dissects the reality of the situation and creates a confusing mess of emotions that you will need to sort through. Essentially, his show is a breeding ground for paranoia because so much of it depends on deception. Thus, it’s difficult at times to trust what you’re being presented. Nonetheless, it keeps you attached as you’ll be constantly wondering two things: will they survive and who’s really saving who in this terrifying situation.

Deadman Wonderland is a terrifying adventure from beginning to end. It throws into what seems to be an average school life anime, but then Ganta Igarashi’s entire classroom is blown up and he is framed for the crime. From that point he enters the maddening, horror-filled world of the prison Deadman Wonderland.

Each episode of Deadman Wonderland has at least one moment that makes you turn your head and cringe, physically in pain from the brutality and gore. His classroom being blown up and the carnage afterwards was already pretty gruesome, but the horror is taken to the extreme when shown the false video during the trial. The scene, in rather sickening detail, portrays a reel of atrocity, including the raping of a dead body. That’s how this show starts off. From there, its blood and death from obstacle course killing fields to underground fighting rings. Adding fuel to every moment is the disturbed nature of most of the characters, with several murderers having an almost child-like demeanor that will send shivers down your back.

This fifth chapter of the Kara no Kyoukai film series follows the events following a double homicide committed by Tomoe Enjou. To Tomoe’s confusion though, it doesn’t seem that the media or police are covering the case. In fact, he finds out his mother, who he was sure he killed, is still alive.

Despite being the fifth installment of a series, which is altogether worth your time, most people can jump right into this movie without feeling completely lost in its narrative. You will have to pay attention, because the plot can take some drastic turns, but it’s worth every ounce of your attention. Between an intensive noir-like setting with hard lines and dark colors as well as the number of corpses that pile up, Kara no Kyoukai 5: Mujun Rasen is one nightmarish ride. To grasp just how grand of a psychological twist this series can pull off, one character takes over an entire apartment building and causes the occupants to kill one another. From there, he has copies of the inhabitants re-enact their grisly murders/suicides hoping to find a deviation in their deaths. It’s this type of horror that makes up the entire series.

Taniyama Mai’s school has been experiencing quite a few supernatural phenomena. To solve these incidents the principal has called in the president of the Shibuya Psychic Research Company, Shibuya Kazuya. During Kazuya’s initial investigation, Mai happens to interfere and accidentally injure Kazuya’s assistant. Thus, Kazuya drafts her into service and Mai gets to see behind the scenes of the stories she loves to gossip about.

As an anime, Ghost Hunt’s horror is reminiscent of the ghost tales told around a campfire or while spending the night at a friend’s house. At that very moment, the story seems all too possible and immediately you begin to imagine monsters and ghosts to be hiding in the shadows. The show is filled with a range of suspenseful moments, but few have the lasting, bedeviling effect of the time Kazuya finds himself in a silent stare down with a ghost that intends to kill him at the first sign of weakness.

Presented in the style of Kamishibai performances, which utilizes paper figures and backgrounds, Yami Shibai has rounded up its third season of terrifying shorts. With each four-minute episode being a standalone story of horror,

Yami Shibai has a few unique qualities that make it stand out from the rest. First, and most obviously, its animation is an artistic mix of kamishibai, photos, and a moment or two of live action that create a peculiar static tension that is impossible to get away from. It creates a certain desire to see them move that’s akin to having an itch you can’t reach. It’s also reminiscent of staring at the dull and lifeless qualities of a doll’s eye, which works extremely well in this show. Mix these qualities in with impeccable sound setting the mood, and you’ll be captivated from season one’s ghost and curses to the inescapable, too-close-to-home situations of the third season. Truly, this show proves that no place is ever safe. From a simple drive home to your bedroom to a bathhouse, evil will find you.

Have you ever wished death upon someone? Well, Hell Girl gives you a chance for that wish to become reality. In the world that Studio Deen created, Jigoku Tsuushin (Hell Correspondence) allows people to input the names of their enemies onto a website. The peoples whose names are written are then ferried to hell immediately by Ai Enma, while the prosecutor will join them upon death as payment.

Hell Girl’s narrative, style, and sound come together in glorious unison to provide viewers with an exceptional taste horror. From the constant harassment and bullying of victims in the real world to the nightmarish traps for those being punished by Ai, there is always something haunting. When you first experience one of Ai’s nightmarish traps, set up with the help of three straw dolls in the school hallways, you’ll fully understand just how twisted and deceptive this anime is. Do yourself and remember Golden Rule, people.

However, what really pushes this show so far forward is its ability to provide a lasting narrative. Most horror type shows can only provide so many thrills for so long, but Hell Girl is able to successfully introduce character after character, fleshing out the abuse and paranoia created from bullies and stalkers, and convince us as viewers to invest our time into another person’s nightmare.

Studio Deen’s 2006 masterpiece, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, follows Keiichi Maebara as he moves to a quiet little village and quickly becomes friends with schoolmates Rena Ryuuguu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Houjou, and Rika Furude. As the village gets ready for a festival, the show almost feels as if it’s about to turn into a generic harem. However, Keiichi starts to learn about murders and other terrible events that seem to have some connection with the festival and the village’s patron god, Oyashiro. Like any normal person, Keiichi turns to his friends for advice to find out that they’re not really people he should have ever called friends.

First things first, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is incredibly well-written and staged out. Though, some might be confused when a dead character comes back, the episodes are composed in certain arcs, and it’s honestly for the best as it forces you to piece together certain narrative elements and relationships. Also, it allows us to better analyze the specific mental states of each character by dividing itself into these arcs. With all the madness and mental instability that are depicted in this anime, it might have been too much to handle if it followed a more normal narrative.

Now, the narrative has a lot of other strong suits, such as its ability to suspend our disbelief and make us fully agree that these people we just met are cult/homicidal psychopaths. Nonetheless, the story would not have as much impact as it would have if it wasn’t for the gore that ensued within each episode. People drive pins through a finger and then axe somebody, people throw their own necks into knives, nails get ripped off, and that is only a taste of what this horror fest has in store.

Nine students hold congress in their high school one night to say goodbye to a friend. With youthful tendencies, they decide that this farewell needs to be incorporated with a particular ritual using small paper charm dolls. These dolls, however, are connected to an alternate dimension of an elementary school that used to reside where their high school now stands. A maze of sorts, these nine students must work together to get out of this nightmarish environment.

Cruel ghosts and maddening traps galore, Corpse Party is the Saw of anime. The mastermind behind every trap and ounce of torture that the students face is the ghost Sachiko, a young girl who was murdered back when the grounds were an elementary school. Now, she is one angry ghost and takes a lot of pleasure out of torturing the people who are unlucky enough to be sent to her domain. Whether it’s gouging out eyes, cutting of tongues or cutting a person’s head in half little by little with scissors, Sachiko doesn’t have any limit to the horror she can inflict.

The gore alone is enough to sate most horror fanatics. However, the mystery and overall story behind is Corpse Party is strong enough that some with squeamish stomachs might even find themselves unable to stop. It’s compelling and even though it might terrorize your dreams, it’s hard to stop before finding out what drives young Sachiko.