The best action anime with horror elements

Key things

• The anime combines horror with action and contains disturbing moments in popular shows such as
  Claymore
  and
  Tokyo Ghoul.
• Some anime, like
  Elfen lied
  and
  Made in the Abyss
  explore dark themes and include scary scenes involving children.
• Like a series
  Devilman Crybaby
  and
  Attack on Titan
  they effectively intertwine horror elements with tragedy to create a chilling viewing experience.

Terror it's everywhere. It is there when an individual wakes up, looks around the world, or goes to get his morning coffee. Horror is perhaps scariest when it takes place in places where it is necessarily expected. Anime and horror can sometimes be an awkward pair due to the fact that they are animated, which immediately makes the horror feel less realistic. However, some of the best moments of absolute horror have been found in anime that doesn't belong in the horror genre.

Action anime is a great horror repository with some of the real, disturbing and terrifying moments found in some of the most popular action shows. Here is a selection of some of them an action anime that dabbles in the horror genre.

10 Claymore

Endless battle with Yoma

Claymore is an action and fantasy series that aired in the late 21st century. It takes place in a bleak world where demons known as “Yoma” roam the world, devouring anyone they come across.

To combat these creatures are the Claymores, a collection of half-human, half-demonic creatures. Claymore it contains quite a bit of body horror, and the bleak atmosphere lends itself to some scary moments, including some pretty graphic deaths.

9 Elfen lied

Unforgettable opening sequence

Elfen lied follows a girl named Lucy who has horns and invisible telekinetic hands. She meets Kouta and tries to live a normal life through his kindness.

Elfen lied it is remembered for the remarkable sequence in which Lucy takes out every single person in her way while escaping from the hospital. Some of the ways she killed were terrifying. Elfen lied also wasn't afraid to explore some really dark themes, including a very sobering scene with the dog.

8 Made in the Abyss

This might just be a horror show after all

There are few things scarier than horror movies involving children. This could be either children as perpetrators or victims. That was what he did The Promised Land of No Land so disturbing and that's what it does Made in the Abyss such a hard show to watch.

Often considered an adventure and fantasy show, some of the things that the protagonists Riko and Reg have to go through are truly terrifying. Mitty and Nanachi's fate and the absolute evil that was Bondrewd combine to make for a very scary anime despite all appearances.

7 Deadman Wonderland

Death games are scary

Igarashi Ganta was a normal student at school one day when suddenly, in the blink of an eye, all his classmates were dead and he was the prime suspect. Unable to plead his case, he ends up in a special prison where inmates fight to the death for the amusement of others.

Deadman Wonderland it features some pretty cool fight scenes, but they are laced with a nightmarish and obvious disregard for human life. Horror elements are often visible in the violence and gore.

6 Dorohedora

Fever A dream of nightmare proportions

Horror in Dorohedora he is more into his environment than the events that take place. Sure, there are some pretty messed up scenes, but the weird environment of the hole, where a lot of things don't make sense, brings with it a sense of dread.

As fans follow Caiman, the protagonist, they see this unforgiving, dilapidated world with little redeeming value and wonder what it must be like to live somewhere like this. Violence is a fact of life and there is a common acceptance of living in this situation, which means an absence of hope that can lead to depressing hours.

5 Devilman Crybaby

Horror and Tragedy are intertwined

Devilman Crybaby is an adaptation of the 1972 manga, Satanic. There were some differences in this 2018 show that make it a bit more relatable, but like the original (which is also somehow connected to Violent Jack series), has a lot of violence.

Devilman Crybaby It blends its horror with its action well, and at its core is a tragedy about the world falling apart and the powerlessness of good people to do anything about it. The avant-garde art style also lends itself well to horror and is definitely a great watch if the viewer knows what to expect.

4 Parasites: Maxim

Alien horror

Interestingly, aliens are not a very extensive topic in anime. However, in A parasitethe aliens are present in full force and their ability to take over their human host has made them deadly and terrifying.

The protagonist, Shinichi, spends the show fighting to ensure the parasite doesn't take over. No other human could be trusted because the aliens could take over anyone. There was also impressive body horror, especially the opening scene, which featured a shocking death.

3 Tokyo Ghoul

Humans are eaten by ghouls

There is something terrifying about anything related to the consumption of human flesh. It reminds people of the fragility of life, but also scares people because they realize the brutal nature of cannibalism.

Tokyo Ghoul it has a lot of action, but the horror is not far behind as humanity takes on the threat of the ghouls. The people who fight the ghouls need to reach new levels of sadism themselves to deal with the threat, and watching the process is often more terrifying than the ghouls themselves.

2 Hellsing Ultimate

A perfect blend of action and horror

Hellsing features the incredibly cool vampire hunter Alucard (that's just Dracula spelled backwards) who helps dispatch vampires to the Hellsing organization. A vampire himself with immense power, he helps protect the world from his own kind.

It's fascinating that the scariest part Hellsing is Alucard himself. Fans watch him knowing he's the main character, but at the same time, they can't shake the fact that Alucard is a monster—literally. He could just as easily turn against humanity. Who will save them then?

1 Attack on Titan

Titans are terrifying

Attack on Titan may be the most popular anime in the world right now, except One piece. Created by Hajime Isayama, this masterpiece has captivated anime fans new and old. While AoT it has some high-octane action, but it also has a lot of horror elements.

For one thing, there are the Titans themselves, and that came to the fore even more in the second season. It was a slow burner, but it slowly wore the audience down as they waited for the titans to show up and wreak havoc. As the season went on, viewers began to realize that humans were just as terrifying as the Titans.