It’s time for me to do another Halloween Anime Recommendations post. This time the structure shall be by what legal streaming sites (if any) you can watch them on, cause I think in my prior versions of this the need to say it for each entry separately and then add edits when changes happen later made them difficult to read. But it does mean some shows may get mentioned more than once if they’re on more than one website/app.
I’m starting to write this many months in advance with the plan to post it on October 1st 2023, I intend to double check and make sure everything I say here is on a given website/app still is, but if anything slips through the cracks I apologize. Also knowing my luck something could be taken down the day after I post this.
I’ll start with the Freest Anime Streaming Site, RetroCrush, because getting people to access what's most accessible is one of my main goals.
The Vampire Princess Miyu OVAs from the 80s are still there, and last I checked, still only Dubbed which is sad because it’s one of the few things where I don’t particularly recommend the Dub, the Dub is adequate, it certainly could have been worse, but sounds stiff at times. But besides occasionally awkward Dub voice acting they hold up really well, with a nice mood and atmosphere amplified by really distinct sound effects.
Boogiepop Phantom is is there which I wasn’t expecting.
They also have Go Nagai’s The Devil Lady which I recently watched and is pretty good.
The movie Hells is pretty fun as well.
Honestly there’s probably a lot more on Retrocrush I’m just not familiar with yet, my tastes in Anime are pretty modern, fortunately they have a Halloween Collection of their own featuring the shows I just listed. And maybe if I’m lucky before October is over they’ll add some of the stuff I plan to talk about at the bottom of this post.
A number of Anime on Retrocrush are sometimes also on similar Free apps like Tubi, MidnightPulp and Filmrise, but I don’t feel like keeping track of which. Since almost all Anime on any of those is also on Retrocrush with the most notable exception being Case Closed/Detective Conan which isn’t a Horror show but has the occasional Hallween episode.
Of the 50 episodes on Tubi none work as a Halloween episode. Of the original 123 on Filmrise Episode 20 A Haunted Mansion Murder Case would probably be the first. Season 2 Episodes 6-7 Mountain Villa Bandaged Man Murder Case also works, episode 24 qualifies but it’s not one of my favorites. Season 3 Episodes 7-8 have Ghost in the name. Season 4 Episodes 2-3 is another Mountain Villa set up, however I feel episodes 6-7 is the most traditional Halloween episode among them since it’s Dracula themed. Season 5 episode 6 is also worth mentioning.
I recently learned that Cowboy Bebop The Movie is essentially the Die Hard of Halloween movies and it’s only on Tubi.TV.
Pokemon has its own Free Streaming App PokemonTV, not all of the Anime is on there and much of what is often changes, but the earliest Seasons usually are as well as most spin off series not part of the main Anime. The Early seasons have a few Spooky focused on the Ghost Pokemon, and the Generations Miniseries has one for one its Gen4 entries.
On Adult Swim’s App and Adult Swim On Demand should still be Housing Complex C which last year very quickly earned its status as an essential Halloween recommendation, it finally cracked the code of how to make Lovecraftian Horror work in a visual medium.
HIDIVE still has some of the best Halloween Anime, but it now lacks a couple key Anime that it used to have.
On the subject of Zombie Anime, as I’ve said before, if you want something that feels like a Moe Anime take on George a Romero watch School Live!. But if you want one that feels more like a Zack Snyder Zombie Movie go for High School of The Dead.
One of last year’s recent additions to the Halloween Anime Canon is Call of The Night which isn’t actually scary at all but is still pretty watchable and has the right vibes.
Monster Princess is a fun and trashy Halloween Anime.
Lunar Legend Tsukihime’s 2003 Anime is not liked by most fans of its franchise, but I found it enjoyable and certainly fits the season.
Rozen Maiden also has nice Halloween vibes.
Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess will start airing on October 7th six days after I plan to post this. So I don’t know if it’ll actually be good or not but I’ll check it out. [Update: this show isn't what I expected, it may still be good but I don't think it fits as a Halloween show.]
[Update: The Eminence in Shadow season 2 happens to begin with a Ghoul arc.]
Honestly I wouldn't recommend subscribing to Amazon Prime just for the Streaming Anime that comes with it, but between all the good non-Anime stuff on Prime (like Britannia which can be a fun show to watch for Samhain) and saving you shipping and handling on Amazon orders there isn’t much of a reason not to get it. In which case there are a couple Anime you can watch there specifically.
Elfen Lied I dedicated a full post to back in August.. In short it gets dismissed a lot today as the ultimate substance-less edgelord Anime, but there is a real Heart to it that those critics are ignoring, I’m even willing to call it downright Wholesome at times. But however you interpret it there are certainly many who’d find something like it fun to watch for Halloween.
Vatican Miracle Examiner is a 2017 show I didn’t finish, but I’m willing to recommend it to people who have Prime on its first 4 episode Arc alone. It’s like the ultimate absurd B-Movie horror premise, I don’t want to spoil where it goes, just trust me. If only it had a Dub.
Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarock seems interesting.
In addition to the Anime that comes with Prime you could also Digitally purchase some stuff if you can afford it, like Lupin III Secret of Mamo (I don’t know which Dub the Amazon purchase comes with) which has potential Halloween appeal. The original Vampire Hunter D is also Purchasable that way.
Hulu has some options but I wouldn’t recommend subbing to Hulu for Anime alone. Some of what is and isn't on Hulu seems to rotate a bit, it has a lot of the same stuff HIDIVE does but I’ve never noticed any of the Halloween stuff I mentioned above on it before. It also has some CR overlap.
The original Hellsing (not Ultimate) is another Anime I consider fun for Halloween.
Seraph of The End: Vampire Reign is a show I had fun with once a few years ago but haven’t rewatched it since.
Blood-C is amazing, I was enjoying it from early on but then was totally blown away by where it went.
Wandering Witch is about a Witch but usually isn’t actually scary.
Netflix is one of the more expensive but it does have some solid options.
Vampire in The Garden is a show I enjoyed in the Summer of 2022 but forgot to talk about when October came along. It’s the kind of show I would have had a lot more to say about if I could have seen it during the height of my Vampire fixation in 2009-2014.
Monster is a classic 00s Anime that is on there now after lacking a legal streaming option for years.
Fate/Apocrypha is a show I cautiously recommend with its unique takes on Frankenstein and Dracula and Jack The Ripper.
Zom 100 is a new show from this year that I haven't watched any of yet myself so I don’t if i can recommend it, I may try it during this month.
And Netflix also has some Resident Evil content.
Castlevania is a show I have mixed feelings on, including being mixed about if to even count it in an Anime discussion. And its spin off Nocturne went up just a couple days before October started.
[Update: Good Night World released on Netflix on October 12th wound up having some Halloween appeal.]
Crunchyroll, some may argue I should’ve started there since it’s used by pretty much every Anime fan willing to pay for a legal streaming App at all. It has a greater volume of stuff then HIDIVE, I’m not sure I want to write mini reviews of everything on there potentially relevant.
The one I most actively recommend is Garden of Sinners aka Kara No Kyoukai which sadly still isn’t dubbed but is fantastic regardless.
Gankutsuou is a classic no one should miss out on.
Sankarea is very good, I could have sworn it was on Hulu when I first watched it but now it’s only on CR.
In/Spectre is another one I'll go out of my way to recommend since some prominent Canadians have been stupidly hating on it, don’t listen to them it’s awesome.
Ms. Vampire who lives in my Neighborhood is a fun show from recent years. Zombieland Saga is a show I still haven’t watched myself but I’ve heard consistently good things about it from those who have. Holy Knight is a Vampire OVA I have mixed feelings on.
Dance in The Vampire Bund is interesting. Its pilot works as a neat short story all on its own, I think many will who won’t like the rest of the show. It’s also a shaft show so cna visually remind one of other Shaft shows like…. Omg it just occurred to me Monogatori could be Halloween relevant but I can’t watch it, it has no dub and is already Text heavy even before Localization.
Occultic;Nine and Chaos;Child are good recommendations if like me you’re feeling oddly Nostalgic for 2016 and 2017 this year.
Some stuff on CR may still be on Funimation if you're still subscribed to it (or if it even still exists in October), some may even still be only Dubbed there like Boogiepop Phantom. Phantom beats the proper Boogiepop and Others Anime on pure Aesthetic, but both are worth a watch.
Witch Hunter Robin is an old personal favorite of mine that doesn’t get talked about as much as it deserves.
Of CR’s planned Fall 2023 shows starting in October, only The Family Circumstances of The Irregular Witch seems even close to relevant, but I have my doubts. [Update: turns out this is the kind of show who's one joke wears thin pretty quickly.]
[Update: Dead Mount Deathplay is a fun show with good Halloween vibes, and it's second part starts today October 10th. Don't know if it's Dub will resume before October ends though.]
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Sadly there are still some Anime that can’t be legally streamed anywhere including some Halloween relevant options. Occasionally a sufficiently old and niche one can simply be found on YouTube like Monster of Frankenstein or the Live Action Boogiepop and Others movie both of which I recommend.
I don’t want to publicly promote where I go to watch what I can’t officially watch for a number of reasons. Otherwise I’d definitely direct people to someplace where they can watch Karin, a great early 00s hidden gem Vampire Anime.
The 90s TV Anime version of Vampire Princess Miyu is a mixed bag (especially its Dub which is indeed worse then what the OVAs got), but I do see value in some episodes so I am sad it’s not streaming anywhere.
Most of the Blood The Last Vampire franchise can’t currently be officially streamed, the original movie from 2000, Blood+, the Live Action movie and The Last Dark movie which continues the story of Blood-C, are all worth checking out.
Detective Conan’s 25th Movie The Bride of Halloween is sadly still not officially localized for The West in any capacity.
But perhaps most tragic is the inability to legally watch Umineko When They Cry anywhere. Like Tsukihime I'm nearly alone in considering it’s Anime good, but I consider it very good, I rank it much higher than Tsukihime. Its penultimate episode made me Cry.
And it turns out even Higurashi isn’t on HIDIVE anymore, along with Vampire Hunter D. Two of the absolute must sees. Night Walker is also gone.
I may add updates to this post if anything changes before October is over.
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