Top 5 Horror Anime, Ranked
Animation can hold a frame longer than any camera, and horror is where that pays off.
Horror anime is rarely just about jump scares. The best of it is about bodies changing, friends turning and the monster inside a person. These five are the scariest, saddest and most talked about.
Content warning: these are for older viewers.
1. Devilman Crybaby (2018)
2018 · ONA · 10 episodes · Science SARU
A crybaby merges with a demon to save humanity. Humanity turns out to be the problem.
Akira Fudo is a sensitive boy whose best friend Ryo shows him that demons are real. To fight them, Akira becomes Devilman, and the world slowly descends into paranoia and violence.
Masaaki Yuasa's adaptation of Go Nagai's manga is graphic and raw, and its ending is one of the most devastating in anime. Ten episodes you will not shake off.
2. Parasyte -the maxim- (2014)
2014 · TV series · 24 episodes · Madhouse
An alien parasite misses his brain and takes his right hand instead.
Shinichi wakes up to find his hand is now Migi, a curious, ruthless alien. Around him, other parasites are taking over heads and eating people. The two have to work together to survive.
It is body horror with a surprisingly big heart, about what makes us human, and Migi is one of the best sidekicks in anime.
3. Berserk (1997)
1997 · TV series · 25 episodes · OLM
A dark fantasy where the real horror is what one man's ambition costs his friends.
Guts, a mercenary, joins the Band of the Hawk and finds a family. The 1997 series builds that bond for twenty episodes, then delivers one of the most horrifying finales ever animated.
It is the reason so many fans call Berserk the greatest dark fantasy story ever written.
4. Chainsaw Man (2022)
2022 · TV series · 12 episodes · MAPPA
Devils born from human fears, and a boy with chainsaws coming out of his head.
Every devil is the embodiment of a fear, and the more humans fear something, the stronger its devil is. Denji fights them for Public Safety, and MAPPA makes every fight gory and gorgeous.
The Eternity Devil hotel arc is pure horror: a trapped group, a monster, and the question of who they will sacrifice.
Shop the Chainsaw Man collection
5. Tokyo Ghoul (2014)
2014 · TV series · 12 episodes · Studio Pierrot
A shy student becomes half ghoul and must eat people to survive.
After a date with Rize goes horribly wrong, Kaneki wakes up with her organs and her hunger. Rejected by humans and ghouls alike, he finds a home at Anteiku, a coffee house run by ghouls.
It is about identity, hunger and losing yourself, and Kaneki's transformation in the first season's finale is the image everyone remembers.
Shop the Tokyo Ghoul collection
If you want ten episodes that will rattle you, Devilman Crybaby. If you want horror with a big heart, Parasyte. And if you want the darkest fantasy ever drawn, Berserk.
How we ranked: drawn from the horror anime fans name most often across the major community rankings, then ordered by Anime Crush on how well each one gets under your skin.