The Songs That Scare
Clockwise from top: Sufjan Stevens, Iron Maiden's "Eddie" mascot, Psycho's Bates Motel, Tom Waits.
Courtesy of the artists hide captionIf you're going out this weekend, there's a good chance you'll hear "Monster Mash," Purple People Eater" or the Addams Family theme at some point — and you won't be scared at all. On this edition of All Songs Considered, Bob Boilen and Jacob Ganz, editor of NPR's music news blog The Record, put those Halloween staples aside to focus on the music they and our listeners find truly, deeply terrifying.
Included are suburban horror stories from Tom Waits, Liars and Hayden, fantastical tales from Iron Maiden and The Decemberists, Bernard Herrmann's legendary score for a fictional killer and Sufjan Stevens' creepily empathetic ode to a real one.
The Songs That Scare
Bernard Herrmann
- Song: Psycho Suite
- from Psycho
Iron Maiden
- Song: Powerslave
- from Powerslave
Sufjan Stevens
- Song: John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
- from Illinoise
Tom Waits
- Song: What's He Building in There
- from Mule Variations
The Decemberists
- Song: The Rake's Song
- from Hazards of Love
Pink Floyd
- Song: Careful With That Axe, Eugene
- from Ummagumma
Liars
- Song: It Fit When I Was a Kid
- from It Fit When I Was a Kid
Hayden
- Song: When This Is Over
- from Everything I Long For
The Velvet Underground
- Song: The Gift
- from White Light/White Heat