From gory slashers to petrifying psychological thrillers, horror has always been an incredibly prolific and prominent genre across mediums – one rich in subgenres and themes that have, over time, become staples of fiction. Zombies are a beloved archetype in horror and survival media, and the face of these undead flesh-eating monsters in Western TV is, undoubtedly, The Walking Dead franchise.

A tense survival narrative that mixes poignant drama with bloody post-apocalyptic horror, The Walking Dead was a turning point for the zombie trope in pop culture, rejuvenating fans’ interest in the theme and keeping it alive for over a decade. In anime, classic zombies are far less common. The horror anime genre, however, is rich with blood-curdling monster stories that might be even more frightening than the iconic Walkers.

10Wicked City Is an Enchanting Mix of Terror and Style

Streaming on Crunchyroll

The ‘80s were the golden age for anime horror – a decade of opulence for independent horror productions and auteur takes on terror that reveled in boundary-pushing extremes. The gothic horror film Wicked City is one of the most celebrated classics of this time. Drenched in stylish neo-noir hues, erotic violence, and appalling body horror gore, Wicked City is set in a world where a demon world exists in the shadows of mundane society.

Yet, when the treaty between the two dimensions expires, it’s up to those protecting the peace on both sides to prevent the balance from collapsing. Indulgent in its portrayals of graphic, disturbing violence and uniquely frightening monster designs, Wicked City is an alluring nightmare all fans of gripping adult-oriented horror should experience.

9Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Has a Comedic Outlook on the Apocalypse

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Zombie horror might not be the most prominent theme in anime, yet every exemplar of the subgenre brings something unique to the age-old archetype. Few shows execute the post-apocalypse theme as unorthodoxly as Zom 100 – a horror comedy about a burnt-out salaryman, Akira Tendo, for whom the end of the world becomes an opportunity to finally live life to the fullest.

From building a treehouse to having a gaming marathon to becoming a superhero, Akira uses the apocalypse to make as many of his dreams come true before he turns into a zombie. While far from as frightening and tense as more classic zombie horror narratives, Zom 100 is a gripping mix of terror, humor, and inspirational adventure that breaks down the stagnancy the zombie subgenre has been experiencing for the past few years.

8Shiki Reforms the Classic Vampire Trope Through Thought-Provoking Psychological Horror

Streaming on Crunchyroll

Just like zombies, vampires have been a staple of horror media for ages – albeit Shiki’s take on the timeless theme is completely unique and unexpected. Set in a rural Japanese village where a string of mysterious deaths began plaguing the community, Shiki evokes suspense through the fear of the unknown and alien, clashing the villagers with a secluded population of vampires in a slow-burn mystery thriller plot.

While filled to the brim with horror staples like gore and anxiety-inducing tension, Shiki’s most frightening aspects lie in its psychological horror elements. As the series progresses, the line between humans and monsters gets more and more muddled, leading the viewers to timorously question who they are even supposed to root for.

7Attack on Titan’s First Half Is Top-Notch Survival Horror

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While not strictly a horror series, Attack on Titan leans heavily into survival horror themes, especially in its early seasons. The monsters that plague the world of Attack on Titan are much more frightening than your run-of-the-mill zombies — towering giants of abysmal strength and durability whose presence has forced humans behind the Walls.

From classic action shonen to mystery to political thriller, Attack on Titan gradually expands to entice the audience with much more than simply survival horror. However, what made the anime series so tremendously successful in the first place were the shockingly graphic horror elements and unique interpretation of the post-apocalyptic theme.

6School-Live! Combines Cutesy Slice-of-Life with Chilling Zombie Horror

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The most notorious thing about School-Live! is, without a doubt, its first-episode plot twist – one that explains why this seemingly lighthearted series earned its horror tag. Opening as your standard slice-of-life anime focused on a quartet of schoolgirls, the series soon flips the script by revealing that the only one to believe the heroines’ school life to be carefree is Yuki, whose delusions are protecting her from reality.

In the real world, the protagonists are survivors of a zombie outbreak, locked in their school as a tentative safe haven and forced to protect Yuki’s fragile mind from the truth. Despite its wild tonal shifts, School-Live! succeeds as both a tense survival horror and a moe slice-of-life, making it one of the zombie subgenre’s most surprising entries.

5Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress Sets Its Survival Horror Plot in a Fascinating Steampunk World

Streaming on Netflix

Image via Wit Studios.

Despite common comparisons to its wildly more popular counterpart – Attack on Titan, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress has plenty of distinctive merits and would appeal to fans of the zombie theme more because of its undead antagonists. In a world where the emergence of a virus that turns people into undead, flesh-eating monsters – Kabane – altered the course of history, humans battle for survival within giant fortresses connected by armored trains.

Engineer Ikoma makes the steam engines that power these locomotives – however, his life changes forever after an encounter with a violent Kabane. Drenched in a magnetic steampunk aesthetic, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is enticing on all levels – from its top-notch action to its dynamic soundtrack to spine-chilling horror elements and gore.

4Highschool of the Dead Is Anime’s Most Straightforwardly Entertaining Zombie Horror

Streaming on Crunchyroll

While the zombie theme has a lot of versatility regarding thought-provoking storytelling, the baseline appeal of zombie horror has always been the morbid entertainment of its gory action. Highschool of the Dead encapsulates this primal allure of splashing guts, sloshing blood, and terrifying chaos perfectly — all while adding some ecchi and genuinely gripping survival storytelling into the mix.

The premise of HotD is not ground-breaking for a zombie flick – high schooler Takashi Kimuro and a handful of survivors, many of whom are beautiful women, team up to face the horrors of a fallen society overtaken by the undead. Despite its generic premise, every element of HotD is executed to maximize enjoyment, resulting in a post-apocalyptic thriller as addicting as they come.

3Devilman Crybaby Is Modern Anime’s Best Experimental Horror Series

Streaming on Netflix

Masaaki Yuasa and his studio, Science Saru, are notorious for their affinity to experimental storytelling and kinetic visuals – a style that suits the horror genre shockingly well. When paired with the source material written by the horror manga legend Go Nagai, Yuasa’s unique directorial sensibilities produced one of modern anime’s most remarkable horrors: Devilman Crybaby.

A reinterpretation of the classic apocalyptic tale following Akira Fudo, a half-demon convinced by his friend, Ryo Asuka, to fight his kin threatening to destroy humanity, Devilman Crybaby is an eccentric dark fantasy horror with a striking visual identity. A combination of a classic plot from ‘80s anime’s ultra-violence era and gorgeously disquieting modern experimental visuals, Devilman Crybaby is a horror masterpiece that is not for the feint of heart.

2Parasyte: The Maxim Gives Extraterrestrial Science Fiction a Possession Horror Spin

Streaming on Netflix

 

Another modernized adaptation of a classic manga, Parasyte: The Maxim takes the zombie theme’s horror of corrupting the human body and gives it an interesting sci-fi twist. Instead of a virus, people face an alien invasion; the extraterrestrials dropping from the sky and taking control of their human victims, which turns them into shapeshifting monsters.

High schooler Shinichi Izumi suppresses the takeover before the parasite reaches his brain. Yet, now he has to share his body with an alien in his hand while combating the hostile victims of the invasion. The gory action and horror in Parasyte: The Maxim pairs splendidly with suspense and sci-fi thriller themes, resulting in a gripping yet thought-provoking blend of genres.

1Bio Hunter Never Hits the Brakes on Its Thrilling Horror Adventure

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The body horror subgenre, to which zombie narratives belong, stimulates fear through the intrinsic perturbation of a human body metamorphosing against one’s will in ways that are appalling and grotesque. The same terror lies at the heart of Bio Hunter – a horror mystery OVA about two biologists working to combat and cure an enigmatic virus that turns humans into demonic, abominable monsters.

Thriller, horror, and fast-paced action go hand in hand in Bio Hunter – an intense gorefest that crams as many gripping elements into its hour-long run as possible. And, although the film’s short runtime is a detriment to its storytelling and character development, Bio Hunter works wonderfully as a thrill ride packed with all the best elements of old-school monster horror.