Satoshi Kon is the king of dark psychological horror with several such anime directed by him, but for this list, we chose Perfect Blue because it does feel especially mind-bendingly scary. In this anime, Mima is stressed by becoming an actress and leaving behind her career as an idol. These changes also leave others dissatisfied, and soon it becomes unclear what is the real danger, and what is just a product of a failing mind. This is a true psychological horror anime, and it deserves a place on this list.
The magical girl genre had to produce something like Puella Magi Madoka Magica eventually. In this series, being a magical girl is not all about saving the world and wearing cool outfits. Magical girls can die here, and the wishes they get to make while being recruited can backfire… Oh, and they also give up their souls, which makes them vulnerable to becoming the very witches they hunt. To avoid too many spoilers, we will stop here, but keep in mind that this take on the magical girl genre is full of psychological horror.
Serial Experiments Lain is a computer horror story from 1998. It involves emails from dead girls, a virtual realm, a way to cheat death, and a lot of surreal, psychological horror. It is a cyberpunk take on what reality and identity are for a humanity that is increasingly isolated while being connected by computers. Great if you love surrealism and horror with a happy-ish end.
Kaiba
Kaiba is a story about a world divided by wealth, where memories can be stored in chips, thus granting immortality to the mind. It is a mystery show, given that the main protagonist has zero memories in the first episode and gets to regain them, but it is also a horror with a lot of cyberpunk aesthetics. It is quite short and worth a watch.
Promised Neverland
Promised Neverland has a scary enough premise, and then, when the main idea is laid out in front of the protagonists, things only get weirder and scarier. To limit spoilers, we will say that the main protagonists are from a human farm, as in a place that farms humans for demons to eat. If that sounds good to you, go ahead, you will like this horror anime.
Hopefully, this handful of horror anime will give you enough spooks in the near future!
Many people enjoy dark and psychological horror, so here is a list of them.
Satoshi Kon is the king of dark psychological horror with several such anime directed by him, but for this list, we chose Perfect Blue because it does feel especially mind-bendingly scary. In this anime, Mima is stressed by becoming an actress and leaving behind her career as an idol. These changes also leave others dissatisfied, and soon it becomes unclear what is the real danger, and what is just a product of a failing mind. This is a true psychological horror anime, and it deserves a place on this list.
The magical girl genre had to produce something like Puella Magi Madoka Magica eventually. In this series, being a magical girl is not all about saving the world and wearing cool outfits. Magical girls can die here, and the wishes they get to make while being recruited can backfire… Oh, and they also give up their souls, which makes them vulnerable to becoming the very witches they hunt. To avoid too many spoilers, we will stop here, but keep in mind that this take on the magical girl genre is full of psychological horror.
Serial Experiments Lain is a computer horror story from 1998. It involves emails from dead girls, a virtual realm, a way to cheat death, and a lot of surreal, psychological horror. It is a cyberpunk take on what reality and identity are for a humanity that is increasingly isolated while being connected by computers. Great if you love surrealism and horror with a happy-ish end.
Kaiba
Kaiba is a story about a world divided by wealth, where memories can be stored in chips, thus granting immortality to the mind. It is a mystery show, given that the main protagonist has zero memories in the first episode and gets to regain them, but it is also a horror with a lot of cyberpunk aesthetics. It is quite short and worth a watch.
Promised Neverland
Promised Neverland has a scary enough premise, and then, when the main idea is laid out in front of the protagonists, things only get weirder and scarier. To limit spoilers, we will say that the main protagonists are from a human farm, as in a place that farms humans for demons to eat. If that sounds good to you, go ahead, you will like this horror anime.
Hopefully, this handful of horror anime will give you enough spooks in the near future!
