October is here, so Halloween is just around the corner. For many, that means surrounding yourself with anything and everything spooky to get into the spirit of the holiday — and if you’re anything like us, you want that to include as much anime as possible.
Despite how great spooky anime is around Halloween, we haven’t found any good lists about it, so we decided to make our own. Here are our top 10 animes to watch near Halloween:
- 10. Soul Eater
- 9. Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun!
- 8.One Piece – Thriller Bark Arc
- 7.Black Clover
- 6. Promised Neverland
- 5.Corpse Princess
- 4. Junji Ito Collection
- 3. Deadman Wonderland
- 2. Parasyte: The Maxim
- 1. Tokyo Ghoul
10. Soul Eater
While this anime clearly isn’t the list favorite, it still belongs here. Soul Eater has a lot of Halloween imagery and themes in it that make it fit well into the autumn months. Witches, the Grim Reaper, and giant pumpkins are just of a few of the obvious Halloween themes in this fun and unique action comedy.
Death City is home to the famous Death Weapon Meister Academy, a technical academy headed by the Shinigami—Lord Death himself. Its mission: to raise “Death Scythes” for the Shinigami to wield against the many evils of their fantastical world. These Death Scythes, however, are not made from physical weapons; rather, they are born from human hybrids who have the ability to transform their bodies into Demon Weapons, and only after they have consumed the souls of 99 evil beings and one witch’s soul.
Soul Eater Evans, a Demon Scythe who only seems to care about what’s cool, aims to become a Death Scythe with the help of his straight-laced wielder, or meister, Maka Albarn. The contrasting duo work and study alongside the hot headed Black☆Star and his caring weapon Tsubaki, as well as the Shinigami’s own son, Death the Kid, an obsessive-compulsive dual wielder of twin pistols Patty and Liz.
Soul Eater follows these students of Shibusen as they take on missions to collect souls and protect the city from the world’s threats while working together under the snickering sun to become sounder in mind, body, and soul.
9. Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun
This anime isn’t really scary in the slightest. But the mildly creepy, Halloween-esque landscape of the demon world where the story takes place is perfect for the season. This show is more of a comedy than anything, but it does have its more shonen-like moments from time to time.
Fourteen-year-old Iruma Suzuki has been unfortunate all his life, having to work to earn money for his irresponsible parents despite being underage. One day, he finds out that his parents sold him to the demon Sullivan. However, Iruma’s worries about what will become of him are soon relieved, for Sullivan merely wants a grandchild, pampering him and making him attend the demon school Babyls.
At first, Iruma tries to keep a low profile in fear of his peers discovering that he is human. Unfortunately, this ends up being more difficult than he expected. It turns out that Sullivan himself is the chairman of the school, and everyone expects him to become the next Demon King!
Iruma immediately finds himself in an outrageous situation when he has to chant a forbidden spell in front of the entire school. With this, Iruma instantly earns a reputation he does not want. Even so, he is bound to be roped into more bizarre circumstances.
8. One Piece – Thriller Bark Arc
(45 Episodes, Eps 337-381)
This suggestion is really only for the people who have already seen most of One Piece. If you haven’t seen One Piece, watching just this arc would make little sense. But it’s such a great series and this arc fits so perfectly for the Halloween spirit that we had to list it anyways.
7. Black Clover
Black Clover is great for those looking for a shonen show in a witch-y setting. In this show, mages use their grimoires to cast spells and they even fly around on brooms. And if you get started right away, you might even make it to the perfect arc for Halloween.
Asta and Yuno were abandoned at the same church on the same day. Raised together as children, they came to know of the “Wizard King”—a title given to the strongest mage in the kingdom—and promised that they would compete against each other for the position of the next Wizard King. However, as they grew up, the stark difference between them became evident. While Yuno is able to wield magic with amazing power and control, Asta cannot use magic at all and desperately tries to awaken his powers by training physically.When they reach the age of 15, Yuno is bestowed a spectacular Grimoire with a four-leaf clover, while Asta receives nothing. However, soon after, Yuno is attacked by a person named Lebuty, whose main purpose is to obtain Yuno’s Grimoire. Asta tries to fight Lebuty, but he is outmatched. Though without hope and on the brink of defeat, he finds the strength to continue when he hears Yuno’s voice. Unleashing his inner emotions in a rage, Asta receives a five-leaf clover Grimoire, a “Black Clover” giving him enough power to defeat Lebuty. A few days later, the two friends head out into the world, both seeking the same goal—to become the Wizard King!
6. Promised Neverland
Promised Neverland is the first one on this list to fit into the darker side of the season. This horror anime will keep you in constant suspense and really fits the mysterious horror atmosphere that a lot of people crave in October.
Surrounded by a forest and a gated entrance, the Grace Field House is inhabited by orphans happily living together as one big family, looked after by their “Mama,” Isabella. Although they are required to take tests daily, the children are free to spend their time as they see fit, usually playing outside, as long as they do not venture too far from the orphanage—a rule they are expected to follow no matter what. However, all good times must come to an end, as every few months, a child is adopted and sent to live with their new family, never to be heard from again.
However, the three oldest siblings have their suspicions about what is actually happening at the orphanage, and they are about to discover the cruel fate that awaits the children living at Grace Field, including the twisted nature of their beloved Mama.
5. Corpse Princess
Corpse Princess is an action packed horror anime that’s a great fit for this spooky season without being too scary or too gory. The show is a great mix of mysterious, dark, and very creepy at times. It does have a fair amount of gore still, but it isn’t too focused on it.
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.
4. Junji Ito Collection
In many ways, this is the perfect choice for Halloween. They are a short collection of animated episodes from the writings of the famous horror mangaka Junji Ito. And if you aren’t familiar with any of his work, just know that it is exceptionally eerie and horrifying for manga, and this anime adaptation does well to capture a lot (but not all) of that.
In the light of day and in the dead of night, mysterious horrors await in the darkest shadows of every corner. They are unexplainable, inescapable, and undefeatable. Be prepared, or you may become their next victim.
Sit back in terror as traumatizing tales of unparalleled terror unfold. Tales, such as that of a cursed jade carving that opens holes all over its victims’ bodies; deep nightmares that span decades; an attractive spirit at a misty crossroad that grants cursed advice; and a slug that grows inside a girl’s mouth. Tread carefully, for the horrifying supernatural tales of the Itou Junji: Collection are not for the faint of heart.
3. Deadman Wonderland
If your idea of the Halloween season involves blood and gore, this anime is probably the best fit. It’s action heavy, and suspenseful at times, but overall most people would just describe it as dark and messed up.
It looked like it would be a normal day for Ganta Igarashi and his classmates—they were preparing to go on a class field trip to a certain prison amusement park called Deadman Wonderland, where the convicts perform dangerous acts for the onlookers’ amusement. However, Ganta’s life is quickly turned upside down when his whole class gets massacred by a mysterious man in red. Framed for the incident and sentenced to death, Ganta is sent to the very jail he was supposed to visit.
But Ganta’s nightmare is only just beginning.
The young protagonist is thrown into a world of sadistic inmates and enigmatic powers, to live in constant fear of the lethal collar placed around his neck that is slowed only by winning in the prison’s deathly games. Ganta must bet his life to survive in a ruthless place where it isn’t always easy to tell friend from foe, all while trying to find the mysterious “Red Man” and clear his name, in Deadman Wonderland.
2. Parasyte: the Maxim
Now this anime doesn’t fit exactly into the Halloween imagery or anything, but it fits the bill of horror anime very well. It isn’t particularly scary, but starts out more like a body horror. Basically the content isn’t traditionally scary the viewer, but instead it’s easy to see how terrifying things are from the main character’s perspective.
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.
1. Tokyo Ghoul
Tokyo Ghoul is perfect for this time of year. It’s dark, artistic, and above all interesting. While it has nothing to do with Halloween itself, the many twisted and brutal moments of the series make for a great watch at this time of year. Or really just anytime.
Tokyo has become a cruel and merciless city—a place where vicious creatures called “ghouls” exist alongside humans. The citizens of this once great metropolis live in constant fear of these bloodthirsty savages and their thirst for human flesh. However, the greatest threat these ghouls pose is their dangerous ability to masquerade as humans and blend in with society.
Based on the best-selling supernatural horror manga by Sui Ishida, Tokyo Ghoul follows Ken Kaneki, a shy, bookish college student, who is instantly drawn to Rize Kamishiro, an avid reader like himself. However, Rize is not exactly who she seems, and this unfortunate meeting pushes Kaneki into the dark depths of the ghouls’ inhuman world. In a twist of fate, Kaneki is saved by the enigmatic waitress Touka Kirishima, and thus begins his new, secret life as a half-ghoul/half-human who must find a way to integrate into both societies.
BONUS: Tokyo Ghoul: “Jack”
If you have already seen Tokyo Ghoul or are just looking for more, you’ll have to check this one out. Jack is a short 30 minute special that serves as a sort of prequel to the start of the Tokyo Ghoul anime and fits in very well to the season — though you’ll have to figure out why for yourselves.
Former baseball player turned delinquent Taishi Fura accidentally witnesses the man-eating “ghoul” known as Lantern injuring his old friend and murdering another. Before the situation gets any worse, Fura’s classmate Kishou Arima arrives―as he is actually an undercover investigator for the Commission of Counter Ghoul (CCG)―and forces the ghoul to flee.
Seeking revenge for his friends, Fura joins forces with Arima to hunt down ghouls in the 13th Ward—ultimately aiming to bring down Lantern.
Tokyo Ghoul: “Jack” unveils snippets of life in the past for the CCG’s fearsome “Reaper,” Arima, giving insight into how he spent his high school days.
And that’s it for our top 10 this year! If you have any other recommendations for Halloween-ready animes feel free to leave them in the comments!
