The world of anime has something for everyone. In October, anime fans can try out all kinds of horror anime series to scare them all night long, such as anime adaptations of Junji Ito's legendary horror manga. But that's not the only option. Some anime fans might want something a little tamer for the eerie month of October.
Interested anime fans can try out a variety of Halloween-themed anime series that fit the season without being dedicated horror series, and they have minimal gore, jump scares or carnage in them. Such series are often family-friendly, perfect for the season of trick or treat, with each of them being a real treat without the tricks.
10 Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-Kun! Has Cartoony Halloween Vibes
Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-Kun! is both a Halloween-themed anime series and an isekai adventure, and it avoids the typical power-fantasy tropes in favor of a charming young protagonist, Iruma Suzuki, who just wants to fit in and make some friends. To him, friendship trumps harems and world domination every time.
This series features dazzling monster and Halloween visuals on par with anything Tim Burton can think up, from the eerie Babyls school to monstrous familiars, witches, bats and far more. Even furniture has horns and claws, just to remind everyone that this is the demons' world.
9 Little Witch Academia Makes Witches Heroes
This hit anime series stars Akko, a girl who has no natural magic but dearly wishes to become a great witch herself someday. In the world of Little Witch Academia, witches are benevolent magic users who help humanity while keeping their true nature secret from the general public. They're like humble superheroes.
As expected, the series features plenty of lovable witch students at the Luna Nova Magical Academy, plus arcane magic, bubbling cauldrons, bats, hexes, flying brooms and far more. Fans of Harry Potter or My Hero Academia will love this series.
8 Soul Eater Is Gothic Shonen Goodness
The hit shonen series Soul Eater was created by Atsushi Okubo, the same manga artist who created the more recent series Fire Force. While Fire Force has a stylish futuristic setting, Soul Eater is more retro, taking place in a Gothic magical setting where weapons and people are one and the same.
Maka Albarn's scythe is her friend, Soul Eater Evans, a sharp-toothed boy who eats souls, and the two of them will take on all kinds of grotesque villains and monsters along the way. This series also features a spooky crescent moon and a Frankenstein-style teacher, complete with a giant screw in his head.
7 Konosuba Is Surprisingly Occult At Times
Overall, Konosuba is more isekai than Halloween, but it has just enough Halloween elements sprinkled into it so anime fans can watch it to make October feel truly spooky. It's a parody of the isekai genre but has plenty of creative ideas of its own, and the bumbling antihero Kazuma Sato is in for a wild ride.
The series features a headless horseman, or a Dullahan, as well as Wiz the lovely lich who runs an occult wizard shop. Konosuba also features a cursed mask, the cute witch Megumin, and plenty of dark magic and monsters along the way.
6 Overlord Makes Monsters The Heroes
Overlord is an isekai series just like Konosuba, but it has a more serious tone and puts even more emphasis on the monsters and magic, perfect for Halloween. The hero is Ainz Ooal Gown, the skeletal overlord who plans to rule this entire fantasy realm at any cost.
Ainz is already a terrifying Halloween monster on his own, but he also has a squad of inhuman followers at his command, including Albedo the succubus and Shaltear the witch, among others. In Ainz's fortress, it's always October 31st.
5 Zombie Land Saga Makes The Undead Sing
Plenty of scenes in Zombie Land Saga take place in bright sunlight, which is hardly scary. Then again, the main girls are all zombies reanimated by Kotaro, their manager, and they take full advantage of that. These girls can do things that would put a mortal human in the hospital.
Zombie Land Saga is an idol anime with an eerie twist, and a few scenes actually are horror-themed, with the girls accidentally scaring ordinary people while they're not wearing make-up to look alive. That, and their base of operations is an old, spooky house that is often seen in the dead of night during the series.
4 Death Note Has Grim Reapers & Human Monsters
The legendary Death Note doesn't aim to splatter gore everywhere or make viewers jump out of their skin. Instead, this dark but brilliant shonen series challenges viewers with a high-IQ battle of wits between Light Yagami and L the super-detective, and the series asks: what is true justice? Whose ideology should run the world?
These questions aren't as easy to answer as some viewers might think. What is more, Death Note also proves that, even if Ryuk looks like a demon, it's humans who are the real monsters, and plenty of horror anime know it, too. Nothing feels more real than a monster in human clothing.
3 Flying Witch Makes For Easy Viewing
Just like Little Witch Academia, the short but sweet Flying Witch reimagines witches as kind and benevolent ladies who just want to help people with their magical gifts. The star is Makoto Kowata, a witch-in-training who's happy to experiment with occult magic if it means making people smile.
Makoto generally stays out of trouble, but she is also a curious girl who isn't afraid to try new things, and her witch cousin Akane is happy to show her a few more tricks of the trade. Any neighborhood will be brighter with witches like these around.
2 Midnight Occult Civil Servants
This short but exciting animated series stars Arata Miyako, a fellow who can hear the voices of Anothers, or supernatural beings, with his "ears of sand," which is a huge asset for the occult investigation team he just joined. He knows better than anyone that it's not just humans who live in this region of Tokyo.
Arata and his new allies will meet, befriend, or fight all manner of supernatural beings, many of which are downright occult and/or based on Japanese mythology. Arata and his friends even get into a drinking contest with some of these spirits.
1 Blood Lad Is Like Soul Eater
The short Blood Lad anime will no doubt remind viewers of similar series such as Soul Eater, and interested fans can check out the manga, which has a lot more material to offer. This is an isekai series of sorts, with the heroine, Fuyumi, stumbling into the underworld where vampires and other creatures of the night dwell.
Fuyumi dies almost immediately, but her spirit lives on, and she has Staz the friendly vampire to help her as she gets used to this scary new world and its colorful denizens. She'll soon meet more of Staz's family and even tangle with a werewolf-like fellow and a Frankenstein-style supervillain.