Don't Walk Home Alone After Dark: A horror Animation Anthology

Horror is not a genre that is often discussed in relation to animation. Which is weird, because as anyone who was ever scarred by a scene in a cartoon when they were a kid can tell you, animation can go to pretty gnarly places. When your only limitation is your imagination, horror animation can be really gross, creepy and surprisingly scary. Arguably, by connecting with you on a deeper level, it can sometimes be more disturbing than live-action horror.

Somewhere in the depths of YouTube, in amongst all the crap "Stories Animated" and AI slop, there can be found a horror gem. Just in time for Halloween! Don't Walk Home Alone After Dark is a series of animated horror stories that will bring a chill to your bones.

The series began about four years ago and was created by Canadian animator Andy Coyle who was a director and producer on the acclaimed series Hilda for Mercury Filmworks. The first episode in the anthology was The Pine Creepers. It was a 1995-set tale of three friends who ventured into the woods, and what they found there, they will never forget. Featuring a very creepy atmosphere, mixed with a sense of nostalgia, plus a visual style that is decent but doesn't draw attention to itself, it made quite a splash. It has since racked up over 1.1 million views.

 

The Worm followed approximately one year later. With a more ambitious 15-minute runtime, and a much bigger team involved, it was a step-up for the series. In this episode, a psychologist tries to uncover the mystery behind the strange behaviour of his teenage patient. And gets much more than he bargained for... The Worm is the most popular of the  DWHAITD shorts, having been watched more than 3.7 million times.

At 22 minutes, The Devil's Rock is the biggest episode to date. Perhaps unsurprising that it took another two years to be released. In this short, we follow a teenage runaway named Hayley who finds herself stuck on a large boulder in the middle of a cornfield.  She is accompanied by Logan, an injured farmboy. Mysterious creatures lurk in the cornfield and attack anything that enters, but oddly refuse to leave the corn themselves. The short is the second most-watched instalment and has over 1.7 million views to date.

Which brings us up to date with the latest episode, Kali. In the usually quiet town of Hamelin, teenage girl Kali Maclaire finishes her part-time shift at the convenience store and makes the fateful decision to walk home alone. On the way, she encounters a horrifying entity that may be preying on the children of the town. Perhaps the darkest short in the series so far (and also the shortest), it is very atmospheric and creepy stuff. It has been online for about a month and has a viewcount of 993k to date.

Coyle has perfectly pitched these creepy tales for a teen and YA audience. They're scary without being too grizzly, and they centre young people in their plots. The stories stand alone, but have subtle connections and easter eggs to link them together. With 344,000 subscribers, followers aren't too put off by having to wait a year or two for the next instalment. Following the channel's success, Mercury Filmworks acquired the rights to produce a TV series adaptation, with Coyle himself directing. Look out for more chills and spills coming to a small screen near you, soon. The series is currently in production.