Indie Animation to Watch for Halloween

Halloween is upon us, which means it’s time to stock up on candy, ready our costumes, and start binging scary movies and shows on TV. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed watching plenty of shows, movies, and specials meant to get us into the holiday spirit. However, there comes a point where I need to find something new to get my Halloween fix. Thankfully, the last few years have seen an explosion of indie animation, with two studios standing near the summit: Spindlehorse Toons and Glitch Productions.

I’m RJ Writing Ink, and in the first in a series of articles for Halloween 2024, I’m here to tell you about four shows made by these two studios that are perfect for the holiday. More than that, they’re just good shows to watch, standing near the top of the food chain for indie animation.

Hazbin Hotel, Spindlehorse/A24/Amazon Prime-

First, we have Hazbin Hotel, the show that put Vivienne “VivziePop” Medrano and her studio, Spindlhorse Toons, on the map. It’s set in a version of Hell suffering from constant overpopulation and annual attacks by the Angels of Heaven. Charlie, the Princess of Hell, hopes to prove that Sinners can be redeemed and get into Heaven through her titular Hotel. Unfortunately, almost no one in Hell takes her seriously and thinks she’s a joke. In addition, most of the people at the Hotel have personal hang-ups that they must overcome. Given that they’re in Hell, that’s hard to do.

While it’s not a horror series, as it’s considered a black dramedy/musical, Hazbin Hotel does have elements associated with horror. It’s set in Hell, and most of its inhabitants are shown to be horrible people who abuse and harm each other for kicks. Then there’s the fact that every year, they get hunted by the Angels, and if they die, they’ll cease to exist altogether. The fact that these people can’t find peace even in death is a legitimately scary prospect. Thankfully, Vivzie and her team balance everything with song numbers, good character writing, and levels of violence that are so absurd that it’s funny.

The pilot came out on YouTube in October 2019 and garnered millions of views in a few months. Some even consider Hazbin Hotel to have kickstarted the current renaissance of indie animation. A24 picked it up for a whole series in 2020, which started airing on Amazon Prime in January 2024. In addition, it’s been renewed for another three seasons, showing how popular it is.

Murder Drones, Glitch Productions-

Next is a series that straddles the line between being a dark comedy and nightmare fuel on a galactic scale, Murder Drones. Set on a ruined exoplanet a thousand years in the future, the series initially seems to center around two groups of robots. The Worker Drones formed their society after a cataclysm wiped out human life. And then we have the Murder Drones, believed to be sent by humanity to destroy their rogue creations. However, when a rebellious Worker, Drone, named Uzi, befriends the kind-hearted Murder Drone N, they discover that everything isn’t as cut and dry as it seems.

Where do we even start on how scary this indie animation is? The initial premise is a subversion of usual fears regarding runaway AI, while the Murder Drones are more like mechanical vampires than actual robots. When it’s not being funny with its jokes, the Drones get torn to shreds regularly and survive injuries that would kill a human. And then there’s the gradual reveal that the Murder Drones originate from something that can only be described as a Lovecraftian horror on a cosmic scale. This series is pretty terrifying, no matter how you slice it.

Created by Australian-based studio Glitch Productions and running from October 2021 to August 2024, Murder Drones proved a massive hit for indie animation. Like the other examples on this list, it’s given rise to many merchandise, fanart, and fanworks and took the top spot whenever a new video came out. At only eight episodes long, it’s a good pick for a binge session for Halloween, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Helluva Boss, Spindlehorse-

The second hit cartoon created by VivziePop and Spindlehorse, Helluva Boss, is set in the same universe as Hazbin Hotel. Unlike HH, though, Helluva Boss follows I.M.P., an assassination company run by a group of low-level Imps that travels to Earth to kill people on behalf of clients. The problem is that their jobs rarely ever go according to plan. When outside forces don’t screw things up, the relationship problems between everyone do.

Like its counterpart, Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss is filled with violence, gore, over-the-top swearing, and surprisingly complex character writing. Premiering less than a year after Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss proved to be just as popular. Some have even argued that it’s come to eclipse Hazbin Hotel in terms of popularity, helped by the fact that it has regularly aired new episodes and shorts on YouTube. Every time something new for it gets uploaded, it hits the top spot on the website, proving just how popular indie animation has become in recent years.

The Amazing Digital Circus, Glitch Productions-

The second of Glitch Productions’ hit series, The Amazing Digital Circus, may look happy and cheerful on the outside. Still, the true horror lies underneath the surface. Set inside a virtual world of the same name, the show follows a group of human players who have become trapped and unable to leave. They’re left at the mercy of the game’s eccentric AI ringmaster, Caine, and forced to go on crazy adventures he creates. They’re supposed to keep their minds from breaking under stress and thus “abstracting” into monsters. Still, more often than not, the adventures only worsen things.

Whereas Murder Drones is a horror in the more overt sense, Digital Circus is a psychological horror. The human characters are unable to leave the game once they get inside. Nor can they remember their lives before arriving at the circus, even their names. And when they ultimately lose their sanity, they turn into monsters that cannot be helped, only locked away where they can’t cause harm, a fate worse than death.  

Since the pilot for this indie animation came out in October 2023, The Amazing Digital Circus has become one of the most popular series on YouTube. Fans have made artwork, fan animation, fan theories, and more, and the series is only on its third episode! In addition, as of October 4th, it will become the first indie series to be simulcast on Netflix. And much like Murder Drones, it’s also promising to be a well-written series.