What are the most successful animated shows that featured horror?

C

Chuck Lockhart

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(there's a typing error in the title...it's supposed to be "what are the most successful shows that featured horror?")

It doesn't have to be super scary per say, but animations that incorporated horror/dark elements.

What did you like about them? what did you dislike about them?
 
I'd have to say Invader Zim off the top of my head.

Nothing screams horror like a maniacal alien sociopath trying to conquer a twisted dystopian world where everyone is marginally insane.
 
In that case then Pinky and the Brian was also horror. Seriously, the closest thing to horror in kids television is Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark. And I guess Eerie, Indiana had horror aspects but that was more of a quirky/weird type show.

EDIT:

Oh, and if we go beyond kid shows there's always the Simpsons Halloween Specials.
 
Trigun and Inuyasha would often incorporate horror/terror into their scenes.

Watership Down definetly qualifies here.

Also, Metalocalypse was sort of horror, although it was mostly brutal comedy.
 
The original My Little Pony pilot episode. I mean, it doesn't get any darker than a dark minion of Satan has ponies kidnapped and mutated into dragons to pull a a dark chariot of hellish terror. Not to mention said minion threated death to his underlings virtually every time he was on camera.
 
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and all its spinoffs (with the exception of Laff-A-Lympics, the post-Mystery, Inc. episodes of Scooby and Scrappy-Doo, and Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get A Clue) are the most successful animated shows that featured horror.

Don't look at me like that.

Every episode had some kind of horror-influenced villain, and every crime had something to do with fear. Whether it's ghosts, zombies, robots, ghouls, witches, aliens, native spirits and creatures, or people pretending to be them, horror played a vital role in nearly every episode of Scooby-Doo.

It's not filled with crim and gore like a lot of recent shows, but Scooby-Doo's success influenced and inspired other creators in the nearly 40-year history of the franchise.

There's a reason the cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer called themselves The Scooby Gang.
 
Oddly enough, I'd recommend The Simpsons for their Treehouse of Terror episodes. Even for a Halloween theme, these episodes are quite horrific and even frighteningly graphic. I almost sh*t my pants as a kid when I saw the one where the teachers were eating the students.
 
the real ghostbusters had alot of creepy and freaky eps. like the boogeyman one(even though he was kinda comical looking too) and the grendel ep. that one had a really good story and some pretty chilling moments for a saturday morning cartoon. like when the grendel is at the kid's bedroom window looking in as it's raining.
 
That's such an arbitrary comment. It's not about whether or not a show "beats" another. The question, given by the title of the thread, is "What are the most successful animated shows that featured horror?"

I think Invader ZIM featured horror in the form of weird science fiction in the traditional sense. It's a good show, but it's not really successful.

The thing is success differs from person to person and people confuse popularity for success. Popularity doesn't always equal success (though in some cases, it does, but when popularity fades, the success isn't there [see American Idol, Survivor, Millionaire, Deal or No Deal, Weakest Link, et. al]). Success is marked by the fans and viewers, the attention it grabs, its impact during and beyond its run both locally and worldwide, and a combination of any of these. Success is a strange concept because what may be successful to some people isn't successful to others.

Under the definition of success I gave, I don't think Invader ZIM was successful. The series has a fanatical vibe about it, only attracting a select few fans, but only connecting with them and not beyond them. You can't totally blame Nick for the show's lack of success as so many does. It was just made for the wrong audiences.

Some of the shows presented here are popular, but not successful. Shows like Gungrave, Requiem From The Darkness, and Paranoia Agent are popular, but their success is limited to a select group. Same deal with Courage the Cowardly Dog, Yu Yu Hakusho, Ghostbusters, The Real Ghostbusters, Count Duckula, and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Something like Death Note or Bleach has the potential to become successful in time provided they get into the mainstream. Time determines whether a show's success becomes a reality.

And only one horror-influenced animated series (not animated movie nor short) has been seen as a proven success, and, again, that show is Scooby-Doo. It has been around for almost 40 years, imitated and duplicated, and definitely created an impact beyond the medium it was created in.

Th
 
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