Isekai with horror elements

Isekai as a genre probably began with stories that were a bit more straightforward and even fantasy with the likes of the 12 Kingdoms and the stage centering on Inuyasha. Modern Isekai is a bit different as there are more comic elements that go with the action.



Therefore, one does not usually associate Iskei and horror together as a match. Now, admittedly there is currently no horror show that one could say is an isekai, but there are a handful of isekai shows that have horror elements. It could be their setting, design, or the way the story goes.


5 Corpse Party

Gore, gore, and gore

To be honest, Corpse Party is a horror anime with very little isekai. It started life as a video game that came out in 2008 and gained a dedicated following. A single-episode OVA in 2012 called Corpse Party: Missing Footage was followed in 2013 by Corpse Party: Tormented Souls which continued from where the first OVA left off. Some students are trapped in an alternate dimension that could probably count as another world in some way. But that's as much as people can find in this show.


However, on the horror front, Corpse Party delivers on the terror and gore. Now some Corpse Party is lacking in the story department and with only five episodes, it's impossible to know if any of the characters really have roots, but then people who want to see people killed in the most grotesque ways. Will not be disappointed.

4 Fantasy and Grimgar of Ashes

A depressing look at the reality of Isekai

What is panic? It is a feeling that makes a person bristle, to feel a kind of fear or dread. So, while Fantasy and Ash's Grimgar may not be the first name that comes to mind when considering horror in Isekai, it is firmly placed within that genre. It is a story that shows the reality of this. Instead of an exciting adventure where everyone gets cool powers, it can be a scary experience about fighting for survival.


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Apart from transporting the audience to a new world, these series transmit a deep style of storytelling that can bring tears.

How relevant is Grimgar's horror. If any average Joe is actually sucked into another world where they have to fend for themselves, fight monsters they've only read about in books and struggle to find friends as they travel the world, it can be really scary.

3 Failure frame

Visuals can serve as nightmare fuel

Failure Frame is an isekai anime that is still running for the Summer 2024 anime lineup. It follows Touka Mimori, a loner who finds himself transported to another world along with all his classmates. He finds that he has the least attractive ability, everyone abandons him and he is sent to die, but somehow the power turns out to be OP and he becomes strong enough to clear any material in his path.


Failure Frame is a mediocre show, with some animation that viewers found less than impressive. But, it also comes with some creepy visuals that give it the required horror elements. The world is depressing and some monsters are fear inducing. In Episode 2, the hero comes up against a monster known as the Soul Eater when he wins the battle, many walk away from that battle with a grotesque design of the monster stuck on their head.

2 Re Zero – Starting life in another world

Subaru's tragic loop is terrifying to contemplate


When Re:Zero-Starting Life in Another World was first released in 2016, it was praised for doing things other Isekai at the time didn't. It followed Natsuki Subaru, an everyday boy who is then transported to a fantasy world. While trying to find his way around and help a young woman, he is murdered, but then finds himself alive again in a familiar state before the events that lead to his death.

Re:Zero featured several elements that set it apart from other shows of the time including a less-than-ideal protagonist who was by no means OP, but finds himself in a world he doesn't understand. Horrible elements show themselves in the way Subaru dies. He feels each death which makes it all the more terrifying. Also, with Subaru often powerless, going up against certain entities that are more powerful than him brings his own sense of fear.

1 overlord

Horror for everyone who allies against Ainz


Overlord is a very popular isekai that was adapted from a light novel. The world of YGGDRASIL is a very interesting one with various factions and kingdoms seeking their own interests while Ainz is also in it for the best interests of his race.

Rather fascinating is the fact that the horror elements of Overlord come from the hero and his faction. When all is said and done, Ainz is a master of some very nauseating subjects, with desires that would make anyone's hair stand on end. When watching scenes where Ainz treats people he considers enemies, it can be hard to watch. Examples include Ainge's destruction of an entire army with some pretty terrifying monsters, the torture of workers who suffer the most horrific fates, Clementine's death in Season 1…all of these show that Overlord is not a show for the faint of heart.

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