Whether you can stomach the gore and live for the thrill of slasher scenes or are like me and can barely handle the occasional jump scare, this list of anime will suit the needs of anyone hoping to enjoy the Halloween season, without having to be subject to the 30 re-runs of Hocus Pocus that is shown on the TV. I love that movie, but come on Freeform, get a better lineup.
1. "Yami Shibai: Japanese Ghost Stories"
If you're looking for tales of the disturbed, the legends and things that go knock in the night( and the day), look no further than Yami Shibai. Based off of 1930 Japanese storytelling known as kamishibai, in under five minutes, each short episode ventures into urban legends and myths of Japanese origin with the narratives in the stories becoming eerier and more terrifying the longer you watch. I'd recommend leaving a light on or two after watching some of these.
2. "Soul Eater"
GiphyWhile Nevada is usually known for the Las Vegas or Sin City, in this show the Death City is where the real action is happening. In a school run by Death, himself, students have the power to turn into weapons and other students that are called meisters wield these weapons. These kids train in teams in order to create a Death Scythe, a weapon worthy for Death himself and learn how to navigate school drama while wiping out kishins (humans with no souls) and defeat the madness slowly corrupting their world. Bonus: This anime has a pretty good soundtrack
3. "Hell Girl"
How far would you go to get revenge? Would you sacrifice your freedom, your life, your very soul? The show's namesake has no name, no past that is known, no cares of whether your actions are right or wrong. All that is known is with the help of three straw effigies, she quickly exacts the revenge for the person who submits a request to a website only accessible at midnight. The only cost? The person who makes the request is condemned to spend eternity in Hell.
4. "Another"
Sometimes the past doesn't remain in the past. 26 years after the mysterious 1972 disappearance of a girl named Misaki from class 3-3 in the town of Yomiyama, a teenager named Kouichi finds himself drawn to a girl with a similar name also in the class 3-3. Along with the rest of their class, these students will face a number of unavoidable tragic events on their journey to reveal the horror of Yomiyama.
5. "Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress"
"The world is in the midst of the industrial revolution when horrific creatures emerge from a mysterious virus, ripping through the flesh of humans to sate their never-ending appetite. The only way to kill these beings, known as "Kabane," is by destroying their steel-coated hearts. However, if bitten by one of these monsters, the victim is doomed to a fate worse than death, as the fallen rise once more to join the ranks of their fellow undead." - MyAnimeList synopsis
6. "Psycho Pass"
Yes, the gun blows up people. Like, literally.
In an authoritarian dystopian future, just thinking about committing a crime makes you guilty. A new form of justice is delivered using Dominators and scans that judge whether a person's mental state, regardless of circumstances, proves them guilty of being taken out. Detectives work as Enforcers, who do the dirty work, while Inspectors, like Akane Tsunemori, have to hold the reigns to make sure that their own partners don't cross the line. If you enjoy mysteries that question the enforcement of morality mixed with slight gore then this is the show for you.
7. "Ghost Stories"
Combine a failed anime show with the comedic and often hilariously inappropriate dialogue of American producers and you have Ghost Stories, dubbed of course. What was originally meant to be a series detailing the heroics of young girls and her friends exorcising their town of spirits became one of the most infamous dubbed series of anime history. While you might not find the chills like in most of the shows on this list, there is still a chance you'll die of laughter.
8. "Corpse Princess: Aka"
"After being brutally murdered along with her family, Makina Hoshimura turns into a Shikabane Hime, a living corpse contracted to the Kougon Cult, in order to exert revenge on the mysterious undead organization responsible for her death. She is assisted in this task by Keisei Tagami, her contracted priest and former friend. This series follows the story of Keisei's younger brother Ouri, a boy with an unusual attraction to death, who slowly discovers his brother's secret and gets dragged into the world of the Shikabanes." -(MyAnimeList synopsis)
9. "Future Diary"
GiphyLoner boy tries to avoid violent, pink-haired stalker while they both compete with ten other people in a survival game orchestrated by Deus, God of Time and Space, to become his successor. Their phones are turned into Future Diaries which, if you couldn't tell by the name, have the ability to predict the future. No one can quit the game until there is one Future Diary holder left. Plot twist? These phones are now literally their lifelines, if it gets destroyed, the holder of the diary dies and is erased from all time and space.
So better charge up and get ready, this anime, like Shrek, has layers.
10. "Little Witch Academia"
GiphyDuring a period of time when witchcraft is heading out of fashion, this quirky series follows the adventures of a young girl, Akka, who has no magical background and her friends on their journey to learn what it means to be witches.
11. "Parasyte"
"All of a sudden, they arrived: parasitic aliens that descended upon Earth and quickly infiltrated humanity by burrowing into the brains of vulnerable targets. These insatiable beings acquire full control of their host and are able to morph into a variety of forms in order to feed on unsuspecting prey.
Sixteen-year-old high school student Shinichi Izumi falls victim to one of these parasites, but it fails to take over his brain, ending up in his right hand instead. Unable to relocate, the parasite, now named Migi, has no choice but to rely on Shinichi in order to stay alive. Thus, the pair is forced into an uneasy coexistence and must defend themselves from hostile parasites that hope to eradicate this new threat to their species." -MyAnimeList synopsis
12. "School-Live!"
What starts off as a what seems to be the perfect and fun-filled life of high-school student Yuki along with her three friends and their club mascot, a cute puppy is revealed to be a false reality meant to shield Yuki from the horrifying fact that she and her friends are the sole survivors of a zombie apocalypse. The members of the School Living Club are spent barricaded within the walls of their school fending off the vicious undead as they try to preserve Yuki's mind from anything other than happy days in their school.
13. "Corpse Party: Tortured Souls"
"Nine students gather in their high school at night to bid farewell to a friend. As is customary among many high school students, they perform a sort of ritual for them to remain friends forever, using small paper charms shaped like dolls.
However, the students do not realize that these charms are connected to Heavenly Host Academy—an elementary school that was destroyed years ago after a series of gruesome murders took place, a school that rests under the foundation of their very own Kisaragi Academy. Now, trapped in an alternate dimension with vengeful ghosts of the past, the students must work together to escape—or join the spirits of the damned forever." -MyAnimeList synopsis