10. 'Schism' - Tool
The first song that got me into Tool; thanks Guitar Hero! This prog-metal masterpiece is bound to scare even the most hardened metal heads. The riffs are dissonant and bone-crunching, the timing of the beat changes to unsettle and the eerie effect of Manyard James Keenan's vocals help add to the tension in this disturbingly beautiful piece of metal. By the way, if you're really looking to scare someone, have the music video playing in the background. Honestly, look it up!
9. 'Lullaby' - The Cure
In short, it's all about a massive gnarly spider coming into Robert Smith's room and eating him. Really don't understand how this hasn't been used as the basis of a horror film. "The spiderman is having me for dinner tonight"; come on! These horror movie directors aren't trying very hard! As well as the gruesome lyrics, the plucked violins and syncopated guitar chords add to the foreboding nature of the song. Watch out for the spiderman!
8. 'Fire' - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
One of the most haunting number one hits of all time from the man who influenced every shock rocker from Alice Cooper to Marilyn Manson and beyond. Its wonderfully descending keyboard runs and riffs accompanied by Arthur Brown's attire makes for a scary performance. In all seriousness, I reckon this is what the road to Hell sounds like. Arthur Brown probably pinched the opening lyrics from Satan himself; "I am the God of hell-fire, and I bring you fire!".
7. 'Angel of Death' - Slayer
Ok, now if 'Fire' is what the road to Hell sounds like, this is what you'll have to endure during every minute of damnation. Hell doesn't sound so scary now actually! Wouldn't mind a live Slayer concert for the rest of eternity. Then again, Tom Araya's banshee vocal scream at the beginning may cause complete deafness the tenth time around. Aside from the obvious rapid drumming and unrelenting guitars, Jeff Hanneman's vivid description of experiments conducted on Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz by Nazi physician Josef Mengele are enough to send shivers down the spine.
6. 'Electric Funeral' - Black Sabbath
Let's put this song into context now. Vietnam War, Cold War, constant scaremongering of nuclear disaster. It's understandable why Geezer Butler felt the need to relieve some of his fear through his tale of a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland. For me, 'Electric Funeral' is truly the most underrated of the Sabbath classics and I was seriously upset they didn't play it at Download 2012! RANT OVER! Anyway, accompanied by one of Tony Iommi's most haunting guitar riffs, this backlash against nuclear warfare is still as relevant today as it was in the early seventies.
5. 'Eyeless' - Slipknot
Most of Slipknot's music is not scary. Too often people get too wrapped up in the image of Slipknot rather than the actual music itself, and I think that is sad. Having said that, 'Eyeless' is a juggernaut of what I can only describe as pure rage. Corey Taylor's vocals are at their strongest, Joey Jordison's drumming is still hard to wrap my head around and the rest of the band are the thumping power behind this steamroller of a song.
4. 'Welcome to my Nightmare' - Alice Cooper
It's not All Hallows' Eve without the father himself. The make up smearing, always entertaining shock rock demigod that is Alice Cooper. Although Cooper's talents as a songwriter and a singer are sometimes overshadowed by his onstage persona, it cannot be said that he has not had a lasting impact on rock music. Slipknot, Kiss and Marilyn Manson all need to bow to Alice Cooper and his haunting presence; the presence that is felt on this Cooper classic. With it's eerie introduction combined with brilliant musicianship, this effort from Cooper and his band is by far the scariest of all the glam scene.
3. 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)' - Marilyn Manson
Like Alice Cooper before him, Manson's music will always be secondary to his image in the public's eye. However, the level of myth and mystic surrounding the man could not have been sustained through image alone and had to be backed up by some truly menacing records. There were so many songs, both original and cover version, that I could have picked from but this take on the Eurythmics classic is still the most enduring. By slowing the tempo and cranking up the distortion, Manson and his gaggle of misfits managed to reinvent the eighties classic in a much more horrific image.
2. 'The End' - The Doors
Has anyone ever been so coveted in the pantheon of rock frontmen as Jim Morrison? Beautiful, powerful, talented, but above all haunting. Arguably the most understated of all the songs on the list, but for that reason it is the most mysterious and the most eerie. The East Asian style guitar, the pattering of the cymbals, the slow but earnest delivery of Morrison's vocals. This all adds up to the mystique that is The Doors and is this song. When you hear Morrison softly sing "This is the end, my only friend the end", you really do believe him. No other singer has that much of a hold on the listener.
1. 'Black Sabbath' - Black Sabbath
The song that gave birth to heavy metal. Through Toni Iommi's satanic guitar riff, the path was laid for metal to become one of the most enduring genres in modern music. However, I believe that it is Ozzy Osbourne's account of Geezer Butler's nightmarish experience that truly cement the song as a haunting metal classic. Bulter, a disgruntled accountant who loved to dabble with witchcraft, was given a book on the subject by Osbourne. After reading the book, Butler placed it on his bedside before going to sleep. On awakening, Butler saw a dark silhouette of a figure at the end of his bed. The figure fled and on his fleeing Butler noticed that the book Osbourne had given to him had vanished. Butler recounted the events to Osbourne who then went on to write the lyrics for 'Black Sabbath'. The lyrics, the guitar riff and the solemn rhythm section all work perfectly to create this masterpiece of metal horror and arguably inspired the majority of songs on this very list. However, it will probably never be known whether Butler was really witness to the Devil's apparition or whether the figure was caused by, in Iommi's words, "all the acid".
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