By Melody Lau and Andrea Warner
Horror is a pretty subjective thing, but whether you're into psychological terror or all things blood and guts, these 20 music videos are pure nightmare fodder. Some are controversial or graphic, obliterating all boundaries of basic decency, while others taunt and tease out the suspense until every bump in the night has our nerves on constant alert. From machete-waving killers to skin-tearing cannibalism, this Halloween-themed playlist is not for the faint of heart. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Editor's note: graphic and potentially offensive material ahead, plus strong language.
Aphex Twin, 'Come to Daddy'
Creepy barely begins to cover the horrors on display in this traumatizing bit of electronic mayhem. A gang of children all wearing the same face masks and pony tails (think Andy Samberg crossed with Steven Segal) wreak havoc and attack people indiscriminately against the backdrop of pained, droning beats that lift the hair from the back of your neck. One curious bit of catharsis: at one point, an elderly woman and an alien-looking, webbed ghoul shout into each other’s faces for a long time. If this is scream therapy, I'm in.
Depeche Mode, 'Wrong'
Another creepy face mask to give everybody nightmares, only this time a man has been duct-taped and tucked behind the steering wheel of a moving car he can’t control or stop. It’s a tense, all-encompassing mind-f--k that we don’t know what happened or how he got to this point, but it’s a forgone conclusion that he’s doomed and we’re along for the ride.
FKA Twigs, 'Video Girl'
This video is more about what we don’t see, but what we do witness is haunting all the same: a man faces lethal injection, blood spills from another man’s mouth and Twigs plays three different characters, two of whom dance in twisty, jerky movements, embodying the violence that lurks beneath her twisted, ethereal vocals.
Robbie Williams, 'Rock DJ'
The former Take That boybander gets his groove on in hilarious fashion, rocking out in the middle of a circle of model-esque glamazons. The cheese factor is high Gouda until the video takes a sharp left turn into peeling flesh and cannibalism.
Antony and the Johnsons, 'Cut the World'
A man in a suit stares out a window, contemplative and fiddling with his wedding ring, in his glass tower overlooking the city. A well-dressed woman brings in a folder. They exchange mannered, meaningful pleasantries. She leaves with another folder, only to return with a huge knife. What transpires within less than five minutes will kick off hours of speculation if you let it.
Keane, 'Disconnected'
Why wouldn’t this beloved, but arguably kinda boring, English indie rock band be huge fans of ’70s Italian giallo-style horror films? The video is a perfect homage to the genre, and fittingly acts as a short film with proper credits running over gorgeously rendered drawings after the shocker ending. Even if you’re not a fan of the music, press
mute and enjoy.
Buck 65, 'Zombie Delight'
The Toronto-based rapper tries on a variety of identities as the walking dead roam the streets, feasting on fresh corpses and wreaking havoc and — dancing? Yes. Apparently the flesh-eaters are fond of flash mobs. Who knew?
Kanye West, 'Monster'
Bling, bravado, ego and misogyny are all things to expect from a Kanye West song, but this is also salient social commentary highlighted by a video that's graphic, disturbing and full of terrifying images straight out of the Saw franchise, with a little classic monster magic mixed in.
Aesop Rock, 'Coffee' feat. John Darnielle
A hip-hop horror show: blood spurting, spilled intestines, brain eating and feasts of flesh, choreographed vampire bride and monster pygmies dancing, and someone is beaten to death with a freshly severed limb. Awesome.
Broken Social Scene, 'Sweetest Kill'
Axes, bone saws and blood: Broken Social Scene, we thought we knew you. Even though the band’s own Andrew Whiteman reportedly hates the Bijou Phillips-starring video, it’s hard to argue that the song’s soft creepiness doesn’t suit the stylishly grisly affair.
Sufjan Stevens, 'Mr. Frosty Man'
Radioactive waste reanimates a burial site and brings a murderous snowman to life
in the bloodsoaked, quasi-zombie-themed, stop-motion video for the new track off the freak-folk singer-songwriter’s upcoming Christmas box set, Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas Volumes 6-10.
Two Fingers, 'Vengeance Rhythm'
Oh, the endless carnage of a seemingly psychopathic teddy bear whose targets for annihilation include Barbie, a rubber duckie and a number of his stuffed brethren. But this new video from Toronto-based beat pioneers Amon Tobin and Joe "Doubleclick" Chapman has a brilliant twist that’s well worth riding out this warped toy story.
The Shoes, 'Time to Dance'
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a drug addict who slaughters people that love to dance. No real background on whether his character’s murderous rage is inspired by jealousy, or if he’s harboured a long-festering anger from having two left feet, but his vicious crime spree will make you think twice about the handsome, quiet ones.
Health, 'We Are Water'
We all know that classic horror trope: damsel in distress gets chased through the woods by a machete-wielding killer. While the slow-motion scene is enough to get our hearts racing, the video gets even gorier when the protagonist fights back by taking a stab at the villain in a rather unexpected place.
Metallica, 'Enter Sandman'
Falling, drowning, being surrounded by snakes and getting run over by a giant truck: the boy in Metallica’s "Enter Sandman" video is having the worst nightmare ever.
The Prodigy, 'Breathe'
Frontman Keith Flint would make an incredible movie villain, and the video for "Breathe" is an ideal demo reel for the British artist. Sure, there are many creepy elements that intensify the video (worms, cockroaches, rundown rooms), but it’s Flint’s terrifying performance that kept us up at night.
Michael Jackson, 'Thriller'
Part music video, part horror film, "Thriller" is the hallmark of scary music videos.
Fever Ray, 'If I Had a Heart'
There’s something deeply unsettling about the imagery in Fever Ray’s haunting video for "If I Had A Heart": two kids in a canoe floating toward an ominous ocean, dead bodies lying around an empty mansion and artist Karin Dreijer Andersson’s skull-like face standing over it all as she performs a quasi ritual with her song.
Timber Timbre, 'Black Water'
The shadowy close-ups make it tough to figure out exactly what we’re seeing in Timber Timbre’s "Black Water," but the retro-filtered clip provides an intimacy that’s more menace than comfort.
Related:
66 of the spookiest, creepiest songs for Halloween
by CBC Music via Electronic RSS
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