Even though countless other Batman animated shows and movies have been produced since the early 1990s, Batman: The Animated Series still holds a special position in fans’ hearts. It proved yet again that an animated show doesn’t automatically equal a show for children. While Batman: TAS does have some light-hearted and hilarious episodes, it also has a fair share of dark ones with horror themes.
Multiple Batman animated movies followed in the show’s footsteps, using animation to tell surprisingly grave tales that sometimes even ended with the death of several characters. Halloween is the best time to watch the scariest episodes of Batman: TAS, but there’s no denying they work any time of the year.
5 Eternal Youth
Season 1, Episode 16
Poison Ivy is one of the more prominent Batman villains, and she means business. As such, it’s never a good idea to mess with her, and Batman struggles with defeating Ivy more than once. At her core, Ivy means well as she attempts to protect nature from people, but she doesn’t always choose the best way to go about it. One example comes in this episode, when she decides to rob the rich citizens of Gotham at a spa and then turn them into trees.
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The episode combines scarier moments with funnier ones, such as when Alfred and his friend Maggie appear on the scene. The notion of being turned into a tree and becoming helpless is one of the reasons why the episode manages to build an impressive atmosphere. Even though it’s not the scariest episode of Batman: The Animated Series, it still leaves an impression.
4 Dreams In Darkness
Season 1, Episode 31
The Arkham Asylum is a scary place. That’s a well-established fact in the world of Batman comics, movies, and TV shows alike. But it becomes even scarier when Scarecrow and his fear toxin appear on the scene. In this episode, Batman finds himself at the receiving end of the toxin, and the result isn’t pretty. Suddenly, Batman finds himself in an imaginary world full of terror that proves yet again how powerful nightmares can be.
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The episode features some intense imagery. It doesn’t hesitate to draw from Batman’s most hidden fears and traumas, such as the tragic loss of both of his parents. The story is strong as a whole, but the dream sequence in it stands out and pushes “Dreams in Darkness” into the horror genre.
3 Heart Of Steel
Season 1, Episodes 39 And 40
Batman: The Animated Series includes multiple two-part storylines, but “Heart of Steel” is one of the more memorable ones. It works with the familiar, yet always frightening notion of people being replaced by seemingly identical copies who, nonetheless, feel wrong. That can lead to a lot of horror moments combined with the uncanny valley effect, as alien invasion movies such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers showed.
In Batman: TAS, Batman has to battle a powerful opponent who wants to replace humans with androids. And since he isn’t quite sure whom he can trust, the tension rises high. Some fans consider the main villain in these two episodes to be among the best in the shows to this day.
2 See No Evil
Season 1, Episode 56
Invisible people are a common theme in movies and TV shows. More often than not, not even the greatest optimist would call them good people, as they tend to use their power to wreak havoc and cause problems, hurt, and kill people. In this episode, a young girl named Kimmy’s supposed imaginary friend turns out to be someone who has potentially much darker intentions. Fighting an evil that Batman can’t see is a challenge even for the seasoned superhero, and the stakes are high.
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The episode keeps the audience guessing what will happen next, building a tense atmosphere of uncertain terror. A curious detail is that Elisabeth Moss, who voiced Kimmy, went on to star in The Invisible Man years later, in 2020. Once again, her character was pursued by an invisible man.
1 House And Garden
Season 2, Episode 6
Poison Ivy returns in yet another horror-themed episode. This time, the story manages to join together two different horror tropes: monsters and body snatching, making for an atmospheric must-watch for all fans of the genre. It also provides further information about Ivy, fleshing out her character. While Ivy is busy building a new, non-criminal life, strange creatures are wreaking havoc in the city. Batman and Robin are on the case, attempting to crack it before it’s too late.
The episode is surprisingly dark and heart-wrenching at moments, especially when Ivy’s hopes get shattered. There are multiple episodes in the show that manage to humanize Batman’s villains without making them any less impressive, and “House and Garden” is one of the best. The episode offers a surprising twist and its finale is chilling (and no, that’s not a Mr. Freeze pun).
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