Animation can be as scary as classic horror films. We have selected 7 examples: anime series and full-length cartoons. The list is both eerie and atmospheric – enjoy your viewing.
Coraline (2009)
“Coraline” is an animated movie that mixes frame-by-frame animation with puppetry. Already thanks to this, the picture looks frightening – twitchy and detailed a little more than necessary. Add to that a soundtrack that sends shivers down your spine, and you have a perfect horror movie. And we haven’t even gotten to the plot yet!
It is based on a story by Neil Gaiman, author of the novels Never and American Gods. The story centers on a girl named Coraline, who is going through a stage of perpetual discontent. Together with her parents, she moves to a new house and discovers a parallel world where everything is much better than in reality. The food is tastier, the gifts are cooler, and the parents are never busy and always ready to please their daughters. But free cheese only comes in a mousetrap, and the fairy-tale Looking Glass turns out to be a real nightmare.
Here we have a clear but not boring moral, as well as frightening but attractive characters. According to Gaiman, the main villain of the cartoon, the Other Mom, turned out to be the scariest character he has ever created. So both we and the writer have warned you.
The Promised Neverland (2019 – 2021)
In this world, children do not live with their parents, but in an orphanage. It’s too dangerous outside, but everything is great inside. They study, play, and do whatever they want. They are looked after by a superior, whom the local children call mom. She allows them to do everything except try to get out of the “Blessed Home”. But the children still love their mother. She takes care of them until someone wants to adopt one of the children, and then they leave the orphanage with their new parents.
This is, as they say, on paper: in fact, the children of the Blessed Home are fodder for the demons that have taken over the world. And “adoption” means a meeting not with parents, but with death.
The truth about the workings of this terrible world is revealed to the three residents of the orphanage – Emma, Norman and Ray. The 11-year-olds need not only to save themselves and their friends but also to somehow overturn the world’s device where people are used as cattle. Watching their attempts and plans is disturbing, but very interesting.
The Boxtrolls (2014)
“The Boxtrolls” uses a not new, but relevant message: sometimes the most terrifying monsters are people. Even when there are real monsters living right next door.
Here, for example, they are boxes – trolls who use boxes as clothes. The box trolls live in the sewers of the town of Syrburg and don’t bother anyone. But the residents of Syrburg believe that the trolls are encroaching on their most valuable things – children and cheese. Therefore, they willingly support the red-hatted box hunters who dream of power and profit. The box hunters have little chance against the hunters, so all hope is in Eggs, a boy who believes he is a troll too.
Behind this slightly crumpled synopsis lies a story in which lies try to strangle the truth, and evil tries to uproot good. As in the case of «Coraline», this confrontation is shown with the help of puppet animation. It looks grotesque and cool, though a bit scary.
Vampire Hunter D (1985)
“Vampire Hunter D” is a cult anime from 1985 that is often put on the same swing as “Ninja Scroll”. It has a minimum of fan service, no schoolchildren in the plot, gloom, and an animation style that is commonly called “adult.”
In fact, we have a Japanese variation of Blade. The world has been taken over by demons and vampires, and humanity has been backed into a corner. One of the few who can resist the insidious bloodsuckers is Dee, the child of a mortal woman and a vampire aristocrat. As a traveling mercenary, Dee is tasked with protecting a girl bitten by the vampire count Magnus Lee. And all this in the style of the Victorian era, which was slightly dipped in cyberpunk.
We recommend it to anyone who isn’t afraid of brutality and likes unspoken heroes like Logan or Geralt – Dee reminds us of them.
Frankenweenie (2012)
Can a collection of spooky cartoons be complete without Tim Burton’s work? We think it definitely can’t. And even if you’ve watched «Corpse Bride» and «The Nightmare Before Christmas» to the hilt, you might not have heard of Frankenweenie.
The film is based on a short Burton made for Disney in 1984. “Frankenweenie” is puppetry, monochrome, and filled with the creepy, clumsy characters Burton loves so much. It’s also a solid reference to James Whale, who directed the original Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein.
The main character, Victor, loses his beloved dog Sparky in a car accident. But not for long: Victor revives his pet with the help of a needle, thread, a toaster, and a lightning strike. The resurrected Sparky loves his owner just as much, but the rest of the town’s residents find the zombie bull terrier a little confusing. As a result, the love for the pet turns into a witch hunt – with all that it entails.
Dororo (2019)
Japanese folklore is rich in various spirits, mythical creatures, and deities. The lion’s share of all this paranormal is insidious, cruel, and treats humans much the same way we treat a bowl of soup.
But there are still people who are willing to make a deal with demons. For example, Daigo Kagemitsu gave his unborn son, Hyakimaru, to evil spirits in exchange for prosperity and wealth. They took 12 body parts from the boy. Only the efforts of a talented doctor saved Hyakimaru from death. Years later, the boy received special prosthetics, learned martial arts, and went on a demon hunt to replenish his body.
“Dororo” is a tough but well-made story. It attracts us with the same things that frighten us: bloodthirsty demons, shades of Japanese mythology, and the complexity of the path that the viewer will have to go through together with Hyakkimaru.
Monster House (2006)
Have you ever passed a very frightening house as a child? For example, by a very dilapidated cottage, which was probably the home of ghostly gardeners? Monster House has such a house, but the danger lies not in its inhabitants, but in the building itself.
And no, not because old man Nebbercracker’s house could collapse at any moment. It’s because it’s alive: the fireplace is there instead of a heart, the carpet is there instead of a tongue, and the boards are there instead of teeth. And with these teeth, the house has already devoured three people and a dog. The only ones who can cancel the next meal of the voracious structure are a group of neighborhood children. But before that, they have to solve the mystery of the monster house. And it may turn out to be scarier than the fangs sticking out of its foundation.
