With today being Halloween and ghostly, ghouly horror themes being on all of our minds, the staff have picked their top 15 favorite horror-themed anime series. These may not necessarily fall into the horror genre, but they do have some horror elements. Grab a snugly blanket, turn off all the lights and prepare yourself for the Staff Picks Top 15 Horrific Anime list! …Or not. Keep in mind that this list is in no particular order for mysterious and creepy reasons that keep us up all night!
Perfect Blue
This psychological thriller was based on the novel, Perfect Blue. Mima Kirigoe is a member of the Japanese pop-idol group CHAM! who, to the displeasure of some of her fans, decides to pursue her career as an actress. She receives a fax that calls her a traitor and someone, who is posing as her online, makes a website called “Mima’s Room” with diary entries that contain a great amount of detail about her life. Creepy, to say the least! Her manager tells her to ignore it, so she tries to and continues with her career. She lands a role where she plays a rape victim and while filming her scenes she is traumatized and begins to not be able to tell the difference between reality and fantasy. As her acting career takes off, some people involved in her current project are murdered and there is evidence that she was involved! With her terrible mental state being, she soon starts to doubt her own innocence. For more information about this anime you can check out our Anime of the Past series.
Ghost Stories (a.k.a. Ghosts at School)
This anime is about Satsuki Miyanoshita. She has moved to the the town her mother, now deceased, grew up in. Along with her brother and a few classmates they discover that an abandoned school, located close to the school she goes to, is haunted! Goblins and ghosts, oh my! Satsuki finds out that her mother was involved in some ghostly activity, and then finds a book that gives her some information on exorcising the ghosts! A demon known as Amanojaku gets sealed into Satsuki’s cat and Satsuki must get the demon to help her as danger is threatening the entire town.
Vampire Hunter D
In this horror anime, technology and the supernatural have taken over the world! Don’t you hate when that happens? It’s the year 12,090 A.D and those who remain alive are split into various towns, living in fear of vampires known as The Nobility. They have the technology to create a blood substitute but prefer to feed on humans. Count Magnus Lee hires “D”, a vampire hunter who is a dhampir; half-human, half-vampire, with a mysterious past. He has unbelievable skill and unearthly grace that make him perfect for his job, and being a half-breed, he is often underestimated by those he wishes to kill! For more information about this anime you can check out our Anime of the Past series.
Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust
This time around, D is summoned by the Elbourne family to rescue their daughter, Charlotte. She is being held captive by Mejer Link, a vampire nobleman. The Markus Brothers have been hired on as well, as backup. The Markus Brothers are a volatile and infamous group of hunters who will do anything to be rid of their competition. Throughout the story D and Leila, a member of the Markus Brothers, talk about her life and that she could have a life that D could never have, that of a normal human. As they work together to get to Charlotte they find out she isn’t too willing to leave her captors!
Paranoia Agent
Tsukiko Sagi is a character designer that has created the very popular pink dog, Maromi. Walking home one night she is attacked by an elementary school boy; when she goes to the police they think she is lying, until they hear of a second attack. The attacker is dubbed “Lil Slugger” and is thought to have committed a series of attacks in Tokyo. With none of the victims being able to recall many details about their attacker, the only things known about the him are that he is wearing golden inline skates and a baseball cap and that he uses a bent baseball bat as a weapon. The detectives aren’t having too much luck tracking the attacker down! The night the Maromi’s show is set to air, a few details about Tsukiko’s past come to light that give those looking for the attacker a few clues! This anime has some twists and turns that are all lined out in the end!
