If you watch these anime by yourself, make sure no one holds your hand when you get scared!😳

This world is full of things that can’t be explained!

Some people swear they have encountered individuals and other beings that don’t belong in the living realm or witnessed events that defied all logic! Some try not to believe or are scared away by such horror tales. Others are fascinated and love discovering what’s on the other side — at least when they know they are safe at home.

If you are one of those brave fellows, here are five horror anime recommendations to test your limits.

Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (Itou Junji: Maniac) (MAL Score: 6.60)

How can I recommend horror anime without mentioning one of the greatest names in the Genre: Junji Ito!

Tales of the Macabre, like the Junji Ito Collection, adapts several horrifying stories from the author and brings back the characters Tomie and Souichi. It is the most recent adaptation of Junji Ito’s horror mangas, released in January 2023 by Netflix.

For an even more disturbing experience, fans recommend reading the stories straight from the source.

Are you brave enough to do that?

Another (MAL Score: 7.47)

A cursed school, an unsolved mystery, and gory deaths! Brutal scenes from the anime Another will be stuck in your mind forever once you watch it.

In 1972, a popular honor student named Misaki died in Yomiyama North Middle School's class 3-3, and his classmates decided to carry on as if he were still alive. At the graduation ceremony, the students went as far as taking his desk with them.

When they checked the graduation photo, the deceased Misaki was smiling with everyone! That was the first of many unexplained events and horrific deaths involving students of class 3-3.

Fast forward to 1998, a boy named Kouichi Sakakibara transfers to the cursed class. He becomes fascinated with a mysterious, aloof girl whom the rest of the class ignores and warns Kouichi not to get involved. A girl named Misaki.

Hell Girl (Jigoku Shoujo) (MAL Score: 7.61)

Imagine getting rid of people who have wronged you with a couple of clicks. In the anime Hell Girl, it is possible… but at a high price.

It is said that if you have a person you hold a deep hatred for, you can access a mysterious website at midnight. The website allows you to type that person's name to send them straight to hell!

The person responsible for the service is a girl named Ai Enma, commonly known as Jigoku Shoujo or “Hell Girl,” which the story revolves around.

Once she investigates the person, though, she sets a condition: If the applicant chooses to send the victim to hell, their soul is destined to go to the same place after they die.

Higurashi: When They Cry (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni) (MAL Score: 7.88)

Don’t be fooled by the cute, big-eyed anime girls from Higurashi! Could you trust someone who refuses to tell you what they know about bizarre events happening around you?

Based on a series of visual novel games, Higurashi: When They Cry is a gory horror mystery anime that tells the story of Keiichi Maebara, who has just moved to the quiet little village and becomes friends with four inseparable school girls.

However, as the village prepares for its annual festival, Keiichi learns about a series of murders and disappearances connected to the festival and the village's patron god! Keiichi tries to ask his new friends about these incidents, but they are suspiciously silent and refuse to give him the necessary answers.

Perfect Blue (MAL Score: 8.54)

Perfect Blue is a psychological horror anime movie that inspired popular Western productions!

The main character, Mima, was a worshiped member of the J-Pop Group CHAM! As her popularity dropped, she gave up music to save her artistic career working as an actress. However, once Mima got a role in a crime drama series, her life took a terrible and disturbing turn!

Besides the well-known pressure from the media, Mima has to deal with other problems, such as an obsessed fan stalking her and an anonymous website sharing intimate details of her life, making her paranoid and unable to tell illusion and reality apart.

Will you be able to sleep with the lights off?

I don’t know if I could sleep peacefully after watching these scary anime. But I like to keep in mind these are just tales, and none of it is real… or is it?

Do you have any weird stories that could make the perfect plot for a horror anime show? Please share them with me and other fellow otakus from The Otaku Community! It’ll be amazing to see who are the bravest among us anime fans.

Images from FanCaps.net, Junji Ito Wiki