10 best anime to watch if you like Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror

Junji Ito's acclaimed horror anime Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror follows teenager Kirie Goshima as she investigates a malevolent curse centered around spirals plaguing her town. Bizarre events and twisted bodily transformations occur as residents become obsessed with spiral imagery.

With surreal, nightmare-ish visuals and an oppressive atmosphere, this series stands out for its cosmic horror. If you’re a fan of Uzumaki and its surreal, unsettling brand of psychological horror, here are 10 anime that capture a similar tone and style.

From reality-bending premises to violent descents into madness, these shows are perfect to spiral into after enjoying Uzumaki.

Shiki, Perfect Blue, and 8 other anime for fans of Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror

1. Paranoia Agent

The acclaimed Paranoia Agent comes from legendary director Satoshi Kon. It follows a series of assaults by a mysterious youth on random victims using a bent golden baseball bat.

As public anxiety builds, two detectives investigate the case, soon uncovering the societal anxieties and psychological breakdowns lurking beneath the attacks. With its surreal, dreamlike visuals, Paranoia Agent excels in blurring fantasy and reality as the characters descend into madness.

Like Uzumaki, it portrays fracturing psyches and the breakdown of individuals in terrifying ways. Darkly satirical, this psychological thriller is a bizarre trip into the horrors of modern society.

2. Mononoke

This unconventional horror anthology series is steeped in traditional Japanese folklore and mysticism. The Medicine Seller is a mysterious wandering character who faces mononoke, spirits that linger due to unresolved emotions or circumstances. To defeat the mononoke, he first learns their Form, Truth, and Reason before unsheathing his Exorcism Sword to vanquish them.

With a unique visual style that resembles Ukiyo-e woodblock prints come to life, Mononoke combines cryptic allegorical tales and atmospheric psychological horror to deliver some of the creepiest animated experiences out there.

3. Shiki

A strange family moves into the long-abandoned Kanemasa mansion in an isolated rural village. Soon after, mysterious deaths spread through the town.

Shiki explores the escalating conflict between humans and vampires as survival on both sides comes under threat. With its layered social commentaries and religious themes, Shiki elevates vampire horror to new heights.

The show paints both humans and vampires as sympathetic and monstrous in equal measure, blurring moral lines. With a heavy, ominous atmosphere and striking visuals, Shiki is an intelligent take on horror, perfect for Uzumaki fans.

4. Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain (Image via Triangle Staff)

The cerebral, avant-garde Serial Experiments Lain focuses on introverted high school girl Lain as she becomes obsessed with the Wired after receiving an email from a deceased classmate. As Lain withdraws further into the virtual realm, her sense of reality and personal identity begins to unravel.

With its slow-burning psychological tension and artistic visuals, Lain shares key similarities to Uzumaki's themes of losing sanity when faced with entities beyond human understanding.

Strange events cause both protagonists to spiral into all-consuming obsessions that blur their sense of self. Ambiguous and layered, Lain will leave you piecing together meaning from its intricacies long after viewing.

5. Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories (Image via ILCA)

Drawing from Japanese urban legends and Shinto folktales, this horror anthology series replicates the eerie experience of gathering around a kamishibai stage to listen to ghost stories. Each chilling tale is animated in a unique paper-cutout style that heightens the creepy atmosphere.

Like Uzumaki, Yamishibai immerses you in Japanese supernatural horror with relatable characters caught up in the creepy confines of ancient spirits and legends. If you enjoy frightening folktales told in an intimate, visually striking manner, Yamishibai will send shivers down your spine.

6. Another

In 1972, popular high schooler Misaki died suddenly. Decades later, transfer student Kouichi Sakakibara arrives, and strange events and deaths return to plague Class 3-3. Eyepatch-wearing Mei Misaki is linked to the supernatural curse.

Another utilizes gorgeous stylized visuals and violent deaths around every corner, complementing Uzumaki’s foreboding atmosphere. With a similar curse-driven plot circling a small community, Another brings horror in creative, gruesome ways that are sure to appeal to horror anime fans.

7. The Junji Ito Collection

The Junji Ito Collection (Image via Studio Deen)

No recommendations for Uzumaki fans would be complete without mentioning this horror anime anthology based on works by Junji Ito. From hanging balloons to twisted musical legends, The Junji Ito Collection animates some of the mangaka’s most iconic and chilling tales.

While the animation quality is generally considered subpar, seeing beloved Ito stories like Fashion Model and Souichi brought to life makes this a must-watch for fans looking for more Junji Ito adaptations with the core elements of body horror and existential dread intact.

8. Perfect Blue

Legendary director Satoshi Kon blends thriller with surrealism in Perfect Blue, following a pop idol turned actress tormented by a dangerous stalker and sinister doppelgänger. Her sanity unravels as fantasy and reality mix.

Like Uzumaki, Perfect Blue uses visual distortions and metaphors to chillingly depict a crumbling psyche against a backdrop of horror and paranoia. Both anime share a razor-sharp psychological edge as their protagonists' worlds unravel.

For thoughtful, gripping, animated horror, Perfect Blue delivers in spades.

9. Higurashi: When They Cry

Higurashi: When They Cry (Image via Studio Deen)

After relocating to the countryside, young Maebara Keiichi befriends his new classmates and begins attending festival activities. But gruesome, sinister events begin after night falls, tearing apart the seeming tranquility of rural village life.

With its violent depictions of madness and paranoia, Higurashi matches Uzumaki’s potent, horrific atmosphere. Horror unfolds in small rural communities tucked away from the wider world in both series, making them eerily cozy yet filled with dread. If you enjoy violent spirals into insanity, Higurashi delivers terror in spades.

10. Boogiepop Phantom

A beam of light pierced the night sky five years before the events of Boogiepop Phantom, connected to the incidents in Boogiepop and Others. The series explores the lingering consequences of that event and its impact on a Japanese town.

The urban legend of Boogiepop, said to embody death, becomes entwined with the stories of several individuals’ lives. Surreal, non-linear, and visually stunning, Boogiepop Phantom shares Uzumaki’s flair for trippy psychological horror.

Time jumps unpredictably as the unusual characters see their worlds shift in bizarre ways. For supernatural weirdness done in a stylish, episodic manner, Boogiepop Phantom is a strong selection.

Final thoughts

With its utterly unique style of cosmic, reality-warping horror centered on spirals, Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror has cemented itself as one of the most memorable and chilling horror anime.

For anime fans hungry for more mind-bending animated horror after being enthralled by Uzumaki’s madness, be sure to check out these 10 fantastic series for more darkly surreal thrills.

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Edited by Shreya Das