Top 20 Anime That Will Give You Nightmares

#20: Mononoke (2007)

Visually stunning and dripping with atmosphere, Mononoke follows the investigations of an unnamed medicine seller into incidents involving the eponymous negative spirits. With a new story every few episodes, the series delves into the horrific histories behind the mononoke, with each new case playing out like a particularly disturbing murder mystery. The medicine seller may be able to exorcise the demons he encounters, but many of the grisly events are sure to stay with you long after youve finished the show. You can only hope that the nightmares you get will be just as pretty to look at!

#19: Junji Ito Collection (2018)

Horror anthologies are nothing new, but when one of the biggest names in Japanese horror gets some of their stories put into one anime, everyone pays attention. Every episode tells a new story from Junji Itos twisted imagination. Endless dreams, monstrous beautiful women, and creepy marionettes are just a few of the things that go bump in this collection. Although some connoisseurs of Itos work have criticized the series for not fully capturing his terrifying art style, if that means we spend less time with the cold sweats, were kind of okay with it.

#18: Blood-C (2011)

They say that blood will tell, and Blood-C tells a truly disturbing story indeed. Saya is a seemingly ordinary highschooler, who moonlights as a sword-wielding monster hunter. The Elder Bairns she battles are fiends with a taste for human blood. However, even Sayas double life is more than it seems, and the violence and psychological trauma only increase as the show goes on. Whether the series has you questioning whats real like the protagonist, or the shockingly high body count and grisly kills get to you, Blood-C has a greater than average amount of horror.

#17: Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories (2013-)

Sometimes less is more, and that certainly applies to horror. Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories is an anthology anime whose bite-sized, under 5-minute episodes are a concentrated dose of spooky entertainment. The animation may be minimal, yet Yamishibai manages to evoke some spine-tingling terror nonetheless. It takes the kind of eerie ghost stories told around a campfire and delivers them right to the safety (or not-so-safety) of your living room. Some episodes also offer fresh twists on familiar tropes. Yamishibai may mean Theater of Darkness, but we dont recommend watching with the lights off!

#16: Mieruko-chan (2021)

Horror comedies are funny, sure, but they can still be terrifying. Miko is a high school girl who can see ghosts. Despite being repeatedly traumatized by seeing the many disturbing spirits that haunt her and the people close to her, she still tries her best to ignore them. Mikos continual failure to do so leads to some darkly hilarious comedy, with some particularly great reactions from everyone else. We honestly cant blame her though - if we had to see what she does on a daily basis, wed probably need therapy, at the very least.

#15: Genocyber (1994)

This 90s cyberpunk anime isnt so much forgotten as it was repressed from everyones memories. Combining elements of mecha anime and body horror, the titular Genocyber is an enormous, rampaging bioweapon created by the fusion of 2 psychic sisters. Even when the Genocyber isnt leaving devastation in its wake, the young girl it grows from leaves practically everyone who meets her in shock, at best. Those looking to exploit Genocyber for their own gains are little better either. Genocyber is a bleak, grim sci-fi outing, and anyone hoping for a happy ending should consider how much the title sounds like genocide.

#14: Elfen Lied (2005)

Shes just a little girl, shes not dangerousright? Well, young Lucy is a psychic, pink-haired girl, whose powers can slice or tear people apartsowrong, I guess. The series follows her escape from the organization that experimented on her, as well as her further conflicts with them, and her attempts to connect with humanity. However, for as horrific as Lucys powers can be, the people she meets have us questioning who the real monsters are. Lets just say that if violence against animals is a trigger for you, you might want to stay clear.

#13: The Promised Neverland Season 1 (2019-21)

Season 2 never happened - were all in agreement on this. But as nightmarish as it was, season 1 was scary in all the right ways. A group of children at an orphanage discover the grim truth behind their existence - theyre being raised as fodder for demons. Determined to escape their grisly fate, they band together and work out how to leave their prison behind. Between the demons lurking outside the walls, and the kids sinister human caretakers, The Promised Neverland takes childhood fears and turns them up to eleven! Like, imagine if your parents or guardians were raising you as food for the monsters that definitely dont live in your closet? Try sleeping now, kids!

#12: Corpse Party: Tortured Souls (2013)

Yeah, this series is less party and more corpsey. A group of students are transported to a decidedly haunted elementary school after performing a charm. The kids quickly find themselves pursued by vengeful ghosts, who start picking them off in some truly horrific ways. Possession, hanging, stabbingsthe list goes on. Tortured Souls is right on the money, and the few survivors, as well as the viewers, are unlikely to come away from the experience with anything approaching sweet dreams. Still, for those with a strong stomach or aconcerning amount of schadenfreude, Corpse Party might be the anime for you.

#11: Made in Abyss (2017-)

Aw, the art style is so beautiful and cute! This girl and her cyborg friend are going on a fun adventure into a big underground world. This is going to be super wholesome. Or so we all thought! The childrens journey is rife with some of the most horrific nightmare fuel out there. Body horror, child abuse, graphic violence - Made in Abyss holds little back. Riko and Reg may be staring into the Abyss, but the Abyss is staring into them too, as well as everyone watching. But all that misery will be worth it, once Riko finds her momright? Right?!

#10: Parasyte (2014-15)

Its invasion of the body snatchers all over again, only this time they come in the form of little space bugs that turn their host bodies into living weapons, and who happen to have a particular taste for human flesh. If the sight of watching a persons body unravel into bladed tendrils doesnt gross you out, then the multitude of cannibalism and human dismemberment on display is sure to scratch that itch. One things for sure, this shows going to give you a lot of trust issues and you sure as heck arent going sleep at night for fear that a parasytes gonna attack you!

#9: Shiki (2010)

Its an age-old question between vampires and humans, who truly is the biggest monster? In this instance, its both. Youve got the children of the night slowly infecting their way across a rural town, culling and converting innocent lives as they go. Then youve got the humans, who, when pushed into a corner, resort to their baser instincts and mob mentality. Even if the Shiki are horrifying to behold, seeing their disgusting and gruesome fates is still pretty gnarly.

#8: Serial Experiments Lain (1998)

Blood and guts arent the only way to mess up a viewers head. Sometimes good ol fashion weirdness manages to cut the mustard. In this instance, weve got the oh so depressing adventures of a socially isolated and depressed young girl as she tries to cope with the vexing messages from a computer world known as the Wired. This doesnt just amount to plenty of spam mail, as the Wireds apparent omnipotent ruler has a nasty way of distorting reality around herincluding making an alien randomly appear just outside her room. Still not over that.

#7: Goblin Slayer (2018-23)

Youll never play Dungeons and Dragons the same way. What started as just another fantasy show quickly took a tumble into controversial territory when our stereotypical cast of adventurers ended up getting mauled to death by a horde of tiny yet deadly goblins, though that might have been a kinder fate compared to what befell some of the others within the group. No matter what you think of its attempts at storytelling, you cant deny it put a lot of people on edge whenever those green bastards reared their ugly heads.

#6: Another (2012)

On repeated viewings, you might be able to find a couple of the fates that befall the unfortunate students unintentionally hilarious. That being said, this series does possess a terrific sense of dread about it, as you never know which of the extensive cast are going to bite the dust in the most unconventional of ways. Getting impaled by an umbrella, struck by lightning, trapped in a plummeting elevator, this series will ensnare you with its tension until you're jumping at every little shadows in your perepheral.

#5: Higurashi: When They Cry (2006-21)

Finally, a series that warns you against the obvious dangers of cute, adorable girls. After all, you never know when one might snap and decide to put needles in your rice balls, try to cleave your head off with a hatchet, rip out your fingernails, or just all around lose the plot for shits and giggles. Its a menagerie of unpleasant experiences that the entire cast go through over and over thanks to the constant time-warping. Pick a torture and have at it!

#4: Devilman Crybaby (2018)

If you ever need an excuse to hate humanity, just take a gander at Go Nagais brutal magnum opus. Theres plenty of demon slaying and kinky content to satisfy the most hardcore of action anime junkies, but where this latest reimagining really shines is in its portrayal of mankinds rabid descent into anarchy following the reveal that hells minions walk among them. The pinnacle of despair is without a doubt when the pure-hearted Miki is hunted down like a dog. After witnessing such misery, youd want to burn everything to the ground as well!

#3: Gantz: O (2016)

This CGI adaptation may be lacking the eternal horniness of Kei and some of the more memorable deaths from the original series, but what it does have is nightmare fuel, and plenty of it. The way the animation elevates the sickening designs of the aliens, especially that final boss, is haunting. All of that interstellar weaponry and even a mecha wielding a giant, electric katana cant take away the threat of these creatures. Might want to reconsider that whole pacifism thing when youre staring at something as ugly as the Nurarihyon, eh Kato?

#2: Terra Formars (2014-16)

Do I really need to spell it out? Giant, humanoid cockroaches from Mars that love nothing more than ripping humans apart with their bare hands. How can you not lose sleep over that? An attempt to colonise the red planet leads to an all-out war between humanity and the uber-strong roaches that dominate its surface. While engineered super-soldiers manage to turn the tide in the Earths favour, that still doesnt take away the dread of seeing a sea of alien roaches charge forward with their gargantuan, chiselled bodies ready to pull some poor bastards spine out. Nothings scarier than a bug that cant be squashed.

#1: Perfect Blue (1998)

A classic and quintessential example of psychological horror, this exploration into the dangers of the online world and the infectious nature of paranoia is borderline prophetic. Mimas desperate struggle against her stalker as well as her own fractured sanity is beautifully realised, which of course means that its scary as hell to behold. Knowing what we do now about the internet and social media, the disturbing imagery and implications are strengthened tenfold. A little bit of realism goes a long way, so dont be shocked if you suddenly get the urge to dismantle all electronics in your house and triple lock the windows!

Is there an anime whose absence is going to keep you up tonight? Sleep easier and share your picks in the comments!