Vampires & werewolves & zombies, oh my! The scariest Halloween videos ever
curated by Lyndsey Parker
Yes, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is classic scary stuff, a true inductee in the Halloween Hall of Fame. But while “Thriller” reigns supreme among Werewolf videos, there are plenty of vile videos in the Vampire, Zombie, Skeleton, Creepy Kids, and general Gross-Out categories — all freaky and frightening enough to give you nightmares until Halloween 2019.
So brace yourself for Yahoo Entertainment’s most spooky, kooky, altogether ooky video picks — starting with bunch of vampiric vids to sink your teeth into. And remember… in cyberspace, no one can hear you scream…
VAMPIRES
WEREWOLVES
A few years ago, there was a sudden onslaught of “Wolf”-named indie acts: Wolfmother, Wolf Eyes, Wolf Parade, Sea Wolf, Patrick Wolf. But none of them made videos as cool as these hairy-chested, full-moon-fevered offerings. From the aforementioned classic Michael Jackson mini-movie “Thriller” to Ozzy Osbourne’s vintage ‘80s horror show, from the artsy frightfest by buzzy Brooklynites TV on the Radio to the modern-day Little Red Riding Hood interpretation by technoheads Death in Vegas, these videos are something to howl about.
ZOMBIES
Ironically, there are no videos by either the Zombies or Rob Zombie on this list. But this fearsome foursome of videos starring flesh-rotting, brain-feasting cemetery-dwellers still provides the perfect spooky soundtrack to your personal night of the living dead.
SKELETONS
Acts like fop-poppers the Killers, former boy-band star Robbie Williams, and Gallic robots Daft Punk probably don’t seem like they’d be all the scary. But the Killers’ “Bones” was directed by none other than Tim Burton; the Robbie video gets as bloody-and-gutsy as Saw 3D about midway through; and the Daft Punk clip is simply one of the most bone-chillingly disturbing spectacles you’ll ever watch. Bone up on your scary pop here.
CREEPY KIDS
As anyone who’s viewed Children of the Corn or The Omen will attest, little kids are NOT always cute. And the hatchet-wielding tykes at “Y Control”’s terrifying tea party, the Shining-style twins in Slipknot’s video, and most of all the Aphex Twin-faced mutant children in “Come To Daddy ”– THE (CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED) SCARIEST VIDEO EVER EVER EVER EVER – are all enough to make even the super-est Supernanny run away screaming.
WITCHES
QOTSA’s spooky Salem-trial salute is hard to top, but HAIM’s Coven-inspired collaboration with Calvin Harris is also casts a bewitching spell.
JUST PLAIN FREAKY
Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, and Tool all deserve honorary mentions for making some of the creepiest, crawliest videos of all time. And as for Skinny Puppy’s montage of gross-out slasher-flick scenes, Crystal Castles’ sampling of the freaky film Possession, and Interpol’s casting of the least cute, least Muppet-like puppet ever…well, they defy categorization, but simply must be included.