Animating truly terrifying horror scenes is a big challenge, especially when adapting iconic Manga. For that reason, horror anime is seldom seen. While horror themes are present in a lot of anime (Attack On Titan,Chainsaw Man,Demon Slayer), pure horror anime is a rarer beast and can be truly iconic when pulled off correctly. Some of thegreatest anime of all timefall into the horror genre — thinkMononoke, Perfect Blue,andShiki.Has 2023 brought something worthy of that list?
While 2023 has been light on horror, a couple of shows have made the cut. With adaptations fromhorror masters Junji Itoand Shigeru Mizaki, this year has aimed for quality over quantity. Here is every horror anime series announced for 2023.
Updated August 04, 2025 by Mark Sammut:2023 has just entered its final season, so most of the year’s horror anime are announced. There is only one series that still has to confirm its debut date, although it remains to be seen whether it actually becomes a2023 horror anime.
Where to Stream
Netflix
Arguably the most anticipated horror release of 2023,Junji Ito Maniacis the most recently released anime adaptation of horror author Junji Ito’s classic short stories. Produced by Netflix, the horror anthology features some of Ito’s most iconic short stories, as well as some lesser-known terrifying tales.
These animated short stories include:
Returning fromCrunchyroll’sJunji Ito CollectionisYūji Mitsuya as the voice of Soichi, a haunted, nail-biting (metal nails, not fingernails) child with a sinister habit of playing supernatural tricks. While Junji Ito is a beloved horror author and his stories are renowned, theJunji Ito Collectionwas widely rebuked by fans for being poorly animated, voiced, and lacking good pacing.
Unfortunately, the same fate befellJunji Ito Maniac. The series garnered a mixed reception at best, with most of the chosen stories failing to translate into animated form. While it is marginally better than theJunji Ito Collection, neither adaptation does justice to the source material.
Netflix’s horror anime track record for 2023 is not good. Although not as disappointing asJunji Ito Maniac,Make My Dayis comfortably worse, and it is difficult to recommend to anyone. On a prison planet, a guard and a few prisoners must work together to stop an alien threat that could bring the whole world down. As far as concepts are concerned, this one could not be more typical, although “generic” does not equal “bad.”
Unfortunately, the show’s execution leaves a lot to be desired. CG animation has been used to good effect by a few studios, butMake My Day’s visuals are not up to scratch. The characters are also largely forgettable, and the story struggles to amount to anything noteworthy.
HIDIVE
Based on an original Manga by Kenichi Kondo,Dark Gatheringis probably the best full-blown horror anime of 2023 so far. From Studio OLM (Pokemon, Beserk, Komi Can’t Communicate),Dark Gatheringfollows protagonist Keitarou Gentouga, a college freshman who hates ghosts. Unfortunately, he has something of a knack for attracting them, leading to a catastrophic event that gave him a permanent spiritual injury and caught his friend in the crossfire.
This event caused Kondo to become something of a shut-in. The series follows his attempts at rehabilitation and re-mingling with society. As part of his rehabilitation, in his part-time job as a private tutor, he comes across Yayoi Houzuki, a child prodigy with a similar spiritual attraction as Gentouga. Through this, the unfortunate protagonist isdragged to haunted spot after haunted spotagainst his will.
Zom 100: Bucket List Of The Dead
Japanese Title
Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto
Crunchyroll,Hulu
WhileDark Gatheringis 2023’s best classic horror anime,Zom 100is the year’s strongest release if the only criterion is the incorporation of a horror theme. The show is, frankly, not scary, but that does not take anything away from its brilliance. Even if they often prioritize social commentary, action, or comedy above genuine scares, zombie stories still fall within the horror umbrella, andZom 100is among the anime industry’s best interpretations of the concept.
After spending a few years grinding away at an exploitative job, Akira suddenly finds himself in a zombie apocalypse. Surprisingly, he takes the world’s sudden end as positively as possible; in fact, he is absolutely thrilled since it means he no longer needs to go to work.Zom 100is simply entertaining. Featuring great animation, a likable trio of heroes, and some intelligent commentary on work culture, Bug Films' created one ofSummer 2023’s best anime.
Crunchyroll
Yamishibaiis undoubtedly one of the best horror anime of all time, but the 2023 sequel has nothing to do with that reputation. Consisting of short episodes that tell Japanese folk tales, the series peaked with its first three seasons and has been on a steady decline ever since. Due to the content’s brisk nature, the later seasons are still generally watchable, especially if someone is just looking for some creepy imagery.
Still,Yamishibai 11is probably the weakest entry in the series. Most of the episodes are either forgettable or feel too reminiscent of older chapters.
Akuma-Kunisa revival of the 1983 animeof the same name, based on the classic Manga series by Shigeru Mizuki. The charming series follows the same basic premise in each iteration (of which there are several). The protagonist is a child prodigy who only appears once every 10,000 years, and he is always nicknamed “Akuma-Kun.” Akuma-Kun wants to create a peaceful world for all humans to live happily and believes the only way for him to do that is to harness the power of demons.
The stories draw on Mizuki’s expert knowledge of folklore and demons. In this, Mizuki coined the term ‘Mahojin,’ or summoning circle, a staple of anime that can be seen inFullmetal Alchemist, Black Butler, and many more. The exact release date ofAkuma-Kunhas been set for November 2023, with the show airing on Netflix.
Season
Unknown, 2023
Uzumakiis a name every horror animanga fan has at least heard of. AsJunji Ito’s possibly most iconic series, Uzumaki follows Kirie Goshima, her boyfriend Shuichi Saito and, most importantly, the descent into madness of the entire town of Kurouzu-cho. Cursed by supernatural events related to spirals, Kurouzu-cho faces impossible and terrifying challenges. These include the twisted flesh of ill-fated citizens, grotesque transformations into snails, hypnotizing hair, devastating typhoons, and much more.
The animation style ofUzumakiis incredibly unique and addresses one of the challenges of horror anime: remaining faithful to source material. The production is entirely black and white, and retains many impressive details of the original Manga. The full-length series covers every story in theUzumakicollection. Due to several complications owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the production and release ofUzumakihas been delayed multiple times. 2023 might be its year, though!
