Anime is really bad at being scary, even when it's based off a well-made horror manga. I think the only one I've seen that does it well is The Summer Hikaru Died.
this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2026
13 points (88.2% liked)
Anime
4746 readers
143 users here now
This community is the place to discuss and ask questions about anime, anime news, and related topics.
Currently airing show discussion threads are created by our resident bot, rikka@ani.social. If it doesn't make a thread for an episode that you want to discuss, see the user guide on the wiki for instructions on how to ask rikka to make a thread for you to use.
Check out our wiki to find:
- Episode Discussion Thread Index
- Weekly Discussion Thread Index
- Bot User Guide
- List of shows currently monitored by the bot
Rules
More complete rules on the wiki.
- Posts must relate to anime or similar (donghua, etc.)
- Discussion threads for currently airing media must be made by the bot. If there isn't a discussion thread made for a piece of media you want to discuss, then request it via pm.
- Ensure that all series spoilers are tagged. See here for details.
- Memes should be directed toward !animemes@ani.social (or similar) instead of this community
- Do not post explicitly NSFW material. Please use your best judgement when marking lewd material as NSFW, unmarked material risks being removed.
- Please redirect discussion of piracy towards a more appropriate community
- Any clips from currently airing shows cannot include content from episodes released within the past 7 days.
- All posts and comments must adhere to the ani.social Terms of Use
- In general, keep things civil and avoid attacking other individuals.
Post Tags
Post tags are completely optional, but some recommended tags would include:
- [DISC] or [Discussion] for general discussion/question posts
- [Rec] Recommendation posts with a recommendation/review
- [Clip] a video clip post
- [News] for news and updates
- [Spoiler] for discussions with spoilery content - indicate the series that is being spoiled
Related General Communities
- !animemes@ani.social
- !anime_irl@ani.social
- !avid@ani.social - Videos
- !animewallpapers@ani.social
- !manga@ani.social
- !lightnovels@ani.social
- !anime@lemmy.eco.br (Brazil community)
- !anime_es@ani.social (Spanish language community)
- !aum@ani.social (Myanmar community)
- !otomegames@ani.social
- !visualnovels@ani.social
- Megathread of other communities on the fediverse maintained by @MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
Chat
Thanks to @NineSwords@ani.social for running the discord!
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
I think Parasyte The Maxim was more effective at conveying that kind of terror and existential dread. The Summer Hikaru Died made me empathize too much with the eldritch horror.
Agreed. The anime directors rarely understand what makes a story scary. The Summer Hikaru Died was an exception. Mieruko-chan had some really well made scary scenes too, better than most other shows of this kind, but this is a comedy at its core, not a full-blown horror
Made in Abyss, I'm scared of what is going on in the author's mind. The mythical part gives a fascinating fear, the pedo stuff is just disgusting.
Fun fact: The mangaka was fired from Konami for drawing pedo dojinshis on company time.
that....tracks. I wondered wtf was up with all the little kids in the show.
I dunno about truly like super scary, but if you wanna be shook to your core go watch Urotsukidoji. And not for the sex mind you. It has such a great very raw, primal energy to it. The music is great too. I can't explain it, if you haven't seen it: go watch it. Thank me later.
Honestly, attack on titan really got me. That look of satisfaction they have after eating people really struck a nerve. Such a horrifying reality to imagine
Many, many years ago, when I was first getting into anime, the fourth Vampire Princess Miyu OAV managed to give me the cold creeping weirds while I was watching it at around 2AM. I don't think any other anime has managed that since.
This may be extremely silly, but Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni traumatized me in a way no other anime has. I couldn't even finish it! And the scary thing was no other than the eponymous sound of the cicadas. To this date, no summer passes by in which I'm not reminded of the dread I felt upon hearing the cicadas chirping...
Its definitely a Lot of disturbing splatter like the nail scene. Or was the atmosphere creepy to you?
I think it was the atmosphere more than anything. I don't think I was able to watch more than a few eps. It was a long time ago tbf!
i found lain to be kinda scary as a kid
I don't think I've ever found them scary, tbh. There was this guy from the 1996 Birdy the Mighty OVA who ate a bunch of dogs and two robots:
And then theres the entirety of Elfen Leid:
Mostly though I just consider it all as cartoon violence, you know?
wth, the first one is a genuine jumpscare lol
Amending this scene from Higurashi where a chick repeatedly leans into a knife held against the wall for support:
Hmm. Not sure I've ever actually managed to be properly scared by an anime, but Shiki is probably up there as far as apprehension from atmosphere + concern about what my subconscious might recycle and throw at me at weird hours of the night...
The only thing that's coming to mind right now for media that properly scared me is Subnautica -- particularly a certain predator in Below Zero that triggered a panic attack. That's not an anime though...
Maybe more anxiety inducing than scary but Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji
Try reading Seeds of Anxiety