A spine-chilling, terrifying song. Japanese music that evokes madness and horror.
Don’t you ever feel like listening to scary songs? That sensation where curiosity about scary things wins out—like with horror movies, haunted houses, or famous ghost spots.
In this article, I’ll introduce tracks with chilling themes: horror-inspired worlds, madness and hidden psychology, twisted love, and more.
If you’re a horror-song freak, this is a must-read.
It might also help when you’re thinking, “There was a scary song I heard once long ago, but I don’t remember the title.”
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A spine-chillingly scary song. Japanese tracks that evoke madness and horror (21–30)
The Metropolitan Museum of ArtOhnuki Taeko
It’s a song that was played on E-tele’s “Minna no Uta.” At first, it has an exciting premise about secretly exploring the Metropolitan Museum of Art at night, but at the very end there’s an unexpected and terrifying twist.
Combined with its uniquely atmospheric animation, it seems that quite a few people above a certain age consider this song traumatic.
Tenshō Shō Tenshōkikuo
“Tenshō Shōtenshō” stands out with its gothic atmosphere and a strongly driving, fast-paced melody.
Rather than feeling creepy, it leans heavily into a gothic vibe.
The track itself is produced in an EDM style, so even though the melody exudes an eerie mood, it’s still an easy song to get into and groove to.
A spine-chillingly scary song. Japanese tracks that evoke madness and horror (31–40)
ChikotanGasshou Kyoku
Told in lighthearted Kansai dialect, it seems like a boy’s cute first love—until the middle, when a shocking twist hits: the girl he likes is suddenly run over by a car and dies.
For a time it was talked about online as the “most traumatic song ever.” If you listen closely to the lyrics, it may be less scary than it is sad and instructive.
To celebrate this child’s seventh birthdayasaki
A song used in Konami’s BEMANI series.
As suggested by its title, which quotes a line from “Tōryanse,” often considered the quintessential eerie children’s song, the lyrics—crammed into a fast tempo—are gruesome and cruel, evoking a clammy, distinctly Japanese kind of madness.
Delusional DiaryShido
The four-member visual kei rock band SID is known for vocalist Mao’s sexy, richly resonant voice.
“Mousou Nikki” is included on SID’s full-length indie-era album Renai (written with the characters for “pity” and “sorrow”).
The song portrays the obsessive love of a woman whose feelings for the other person are too intense.
Her clingy behavior, stalking morning and night, is terrifying in its suffocating persistence.
What’s more, the fact that the other person doesn’t even know she exists—making it a completely one-sided case of stalking—adds an extra layer of fear.
I like you, I like you—I love you.Togawa Jun
This “Suki Suki Daisuki” is less outright scary and more suffused with a mad, deranged atmosphere.
The melody is strangely upbeat, which in turn accentuates the sense of fear and madness.
The chorus has an extremely strong impact, so first-time listeners might be startled.
Delusional DiaryShido
No matter how you interpret it, this is unmistakably a song by a stalker woman.
They say the scariest thing in this world isn’t ghosts, but living humans—how true that is.
What will become of the man who’s the object of this dangerous woman’s affection…? I hope he gets away as soon as possible.