Anime is filled with different genres, making it a great source of entertainment for people worldwide. Thousands of anime series debut throughout the year, taking fans of all sorts on a journey of discovering new characters or new seasons of old stories. Fantasy stories about noble knights saving the day or magical girls protecting the world from evil are just the tip of the iceberg; there is an anime for every kind of viewer to enjoy, from mystery to comedy.
Anime has an extensive catalog of horror perfect for fans of gore and slasher flicks. Nothing plagues the horror genre of anime more than psychotic killers seeking to dismember everything in their way or an antagonist with a god complex that wishes misfortune on the world. Here are some of the best anime for slasher horror fans.
10 Darwin's Game
Darwin's Game takes the mobile game addiction and flips it on its head. The story follows high school student Kaneme Sudo who is roped into a battle royal “gacha game” after the death of his friend.
The game consists of a PVP system where players use powers and items obtained through the game to kill each other for points and to progress to the top. Kaname starts off rough but quickly gets the hang of fighting for his life and decides to take the bull by the horns. Darwin's Game is a chaotic and bloody ride and is sure to entertain.
9 Another
Slasher fans will have a blast with Another as the mysterious and mind-bending story leaves viewers on the edge of their seats. Another follows a young boy named Kouichi who returns to school after a leave of absence.
He befriends Mei, a girl he met while in the hospital, and things begin to go astray. A dark cloud hangs over Mei, and Kouichi tries to get to the bottom of the mystery to the best of his ability. However, the gruesome truth may be too much for him to bear as the path he walks down leads him straight into unimaginable horror.
8 Corpse Party: Tortured soul
Corpse Party follows a group of students who come together after the passing of a close friend. While they mean well, by conjuring the spirit of their friend, they accidentally invoke a horde of blood-thirsty spirits of dead students who were murdered at the same location.
Students meat gruesome and brutal ends as they try to survive this supernatural horror and escape with their lives, but the spirits have other plans for them. One by one, the students are torn apart by the spectral menace and slowly begin to lose hope that they will see tomorrow.
7 Elfen Lied
Elfen Lied is a cult classic that has some of the most gruesome death scenes in anime. Lucy is a young girl who was caged as a prisoner for most of her life because she was a subspecies of humans with special traits.
Because of her gruesome upbringing, Lucy became highly unstable and a danger to everyone around her as she could kill anyone by using her ability called “Vectors”. Lucy escapes her containment and carves a path of blood and huts in an attempt to live happily with her first love, Kouta. Elfen Lied is a masterful work of gore and horror that all types of fans will enjoy.
6 Red Garden
Mysterious and chaotic, Red Garden is a unique take on the “zombie” genre. The story follows a group of women who have died and must now fight to remain amongst the living. Gifted new life by a mysterious couple, they are introduced to what lies behind the shadows and are told that if they wish to keep the second chance they’ve been given, the girls must fight any and all supernatural beings they come across when told to. The group consists of several girls, Kate, Claire, Rachel, and Rose, who are significantly unprepared and have little time to accept the reality of their situation.
5 The Junji Ito Collection
The Junji Ito Collection is the perfect watch for fans of slasher flicks and horror. Junji Ito is a highly prominent Manga author and artist celebrated for his talent for portraying terrifying and skin-crawling works of art.
The Junji Ito Collection consists of twelve episodic paranormal and gore-filled horror stories that sum up some of Ito’s best work. Junji Ito started his career in the 1980s and is responsible for proclaimed stories such as Tomie and Uzumaki, which have recently gone into development for animation.
4 School Days
School Days is a psychological horror series with a dash of romance. The main character Makoto sets off to find love with the help of his newfound friend, Sekai. The girl of Makoto’s dream is Katsura; he and Sekai conspire together to win her affection for Makoto and succeed.
But as the story unfolds, the situation becomes dire, and the trio of friends heads toward a bloody resolution. School Days covers a wide range of triggers, so individuals sensitive to emotional and physical abuse to be wary and take precautions before starting this series.
3 Higurashi: When They Cry
Higurashi is perhaps a series made famous by its gory murders and psychological head trips. Keiichi must settle down in his new home of Hinamizawa, a small and quaint village.
While he makes a few new friends while trying to adjust, a dark feeling in the pout of his stomach leads him down a rabbit hole of mystery, murder, and paranoia. A looming festival to honor the village gods approach, and Keiichi learns that he may be trapped in his own coffin with no one to trust.
2 Erased
Satoru Fujimura is a pizza delivery driver with extraordinary power; randomly, he gets sensations of wrongdoing or tragedy and is able to go back in time and attempt to undo or “fix" the unfortunate occurrence.
A threat from his life as a child reemerged, and after his mother is murdered, Satoru goes back further than he ever has during grade school. He quickly recalls that a childhood friend was murdered and sets out to flush out the predator and save his friend’s life. The stakes are high as Satoru must think ten steps ahead at all times.
1 Monster
Monster is a twisted tale of a talented doctor who gains accolades through his work of saving lives. However, playing politics takes its toll on the doctor; in a moment of conscience, he rails against the hospital's orders to let a child die in order to save the town's mayor.
When things seem bleak, two murders occur, resulting in the doctor becoming the director of the hospital and things begin to look up. Years later, a debt must be paid as the boy who was saved now returns with a trail of bodies behind him and a tragic origin.