Tonight, it’s time to dress up for one of the scariest occasions of the year. The spooky season is full of traps, treats, and of course, frightful media aplenty. More often than not, this means movies, but there’s no deficiency in incredible anime with terrifying topics of all sorts. Get a bar of chocolate and a bucket of popcorn, and prepare for a night of fright with these top 5 Halloween anime.

“Parasyte: The Maxim” 

Adapted from a 1988 manga series, “Parasyte: The Maximum” tells the story of the high school nerd, Shinichi Izumi, a normal boy from a nice family that lives in a quiet town. One night, he wakes to find an alien creature known as a parasyte trying to crawl into his nose to take over his brain. When he quickly gets frightened and freaks out believing it’s a snake, he ends up throwing it away, causing the parasyte to burrow into his arm instead. Since the parasyte fails to infect and merge with Shinichi’s brain, it’s able to be a separate entity from Shinichi, allowing them to keep their separate personalities but coming with the cost of Shinichi’s losing freedom of control of his arm. As the two begin to work together to defeat other parasytes, they learn more about each other’s species. “Parasyte: The Maximum” gives out terrifying body horror and a deep thought of what makes the difference between human and animal. 

“Tokyo Ghoul” 

A famous horror anime, of course, “Tokyo Ghoul” would land a spot on this list. It’s one of the most popular animes out there, prominently known for its unforgettable season 1. “Tokyo Ghoul” is about a college student named Ken Kaneki who ends up going on a death date with Rize Kamishiro, a flesh-eating ghoul. After a life-saving operation in which some of Rize’s organs were implanted into his body, Ken is turned into a half-ghoul and must now eat human flesh to survive. The series follows his struggle and his psychological change and views on life as he tries to accept and be at peace with his new life, questioning what it means to be human and hiding his ghoul identity from the humans around him. The anime blends both gore and psychological horror to create an interesting and terrifying series that’ll have you up all night trying to finish it.

“Devilman Crybaby”

Being a Netflix series allows this anime to go full out with its intense gore, body, and psychological horror. Beware of the mature scenes. The story is about a high school-aged crybaby named Akira Fudo, who lives with his family’s friends due to his parents working abroad. While on his way trying to consult his love interest, he is quickly picked up by his long-time childhood friend, Ryo Asuka, going to a sabbath party, where Akira infuses himself with a devil. As they go to the party, all chaos breaks loose, as Akira and Ryo almost get themselves, but ultimately Akira gains the power of a devil becoming the “Devilman.”

“Perfect Blue” 

Instead of an anime series, “Perfect Blue” is a horror film. “Perfect Blue” is the story of a retired pop singer-turned-actress, Mima. Her sense of reality starts to deteriorate as she is stalked by an obsessed fan. As people who work around her also get harassed and punished for things that they have no control over, Mima has to fight for her life and her mind. It’s a great psychological thriller and features a lot of mature scenes similar to those of “Devilman Crybaby,” so watch at your own discretion.

“Chainsaw Man”

Although currently ongoing, “Chainsaw Man” is a chilling story with some humor to lighten the mood. The series tells the story of Denji, a young man who has inherited debt to the yakuza from his late father. He makes a contract that fuses his body with that of a dog-like devil named Pochita, granting him the ability to transform parts of his body into chainsaws. He ends up getting a job being hired as a devil hunter. It’s anime that deserves all the hype.