Recommendation of Scary Music: That Song That’s Actually Frightening
One facet of music as an art form is that it can evoke fear—just hearing it can send chills down your spine.
In this article, we’re spotlighting a range of pieces under the theme of scary music.
From classic horror movie theme songs to classical music at the core, plus rock and popular music, we’ve curated a wide selection! Some tracks might not seem particularly scary when you’re just listening, but once you learn the backstory, they suddenly become terrifying… You might make discoveries like that.
Be sure to check it out!
Recommendation of Terrifying Music: Actually Scary Songs (1–10)
VermilionSlipknot
Slipknot’s “Vermilion” is a strange alternative metal tune that overwhelms you from the very first moment with churning, anxiety-stoking guitars, murmured vocals, and a rhythm that eerily ramps up the tension.
Its thick, metallic wall of sound and hardcore-tinged production intertwine with horror and psychotic elements, creating a worldview that perfectly balances bad taste and artistry—leaving metalheads around the world with a fresh new trauma.
They’re a monster band that embodies a still-ongoing, sickened America.
SuspiriaGoblin
It’s truly an anthem-like theme of Italian horror cinema—a masterpiece among masterpieces that sends chills down your spine every time you hear it.
Dario Argento’s 1977 classic Suspiria sparked a boom in Japan as well, and the famous tagline at the time—“Do not watch it alone”—became a hot topic.
The creators of this iconic track are Goblin, the progressive rock band and frequent collaborators on Argento’s films.
The mournful, music-box-like intro and the deliberately off-kilter percussion stir up an indescribable sense of unease.
And yet, the main theme’s melody is beautiful, leaving no doubt that even as a standalone piece of music, it is overwhelmingly superb.
Cannibal HolocaustRiz Ortolani
If anything, this is the very first song I want people who don’t know the background to hear.
The warm acoustic guitar phrases, the unhurried, calming rhythm, and the melody carried by flowing strings are so beautiful that they’re sure to soothe the hearts of listeners who come to it fresh.
That said, this only applies to those who truly know nothing about it.
Composed by the renowned Italian composer Riz Ortolani, this piece, Cannibal Holocaust, is the theme for the notorious 1980 film of the same Japanese release title, “Shokujin-zoku” (Cannibal Tribe), which also caused quite a stir in Japan at the time.
Once you learn that, many of you will wonder why such a beautiful theme was used for a film with a title like that.
There’s a deliberate technique of pairing shock or horror films with unexpectedly beautiful theme music, and this track is a quintessential example.
The song plays repeatedly over some truly outrageous scenes in the film, and the overlap of the gorgeous melody with the terrifying imagery creates an intensely striking effect.
The film itself isn’t something I can generally recommend, but… if you’re curious, by all means!
The Silence of the Lambs Opening TitleHaward Shore
With its heavy yet flowing orchestral score, this piece is intensely dramatic and beautiful, yet it carries an unmistakable sense of unease—no doubt because it serves as the main theme for the masterpiece film The Silence of the Lambs.
Composed by the great film composer Howard Shore, this track alone is enough to conjure the opening scene in the minds of those who’ve seen the movie, sending a chill down their spines.
It’s a work that could only come from a film whose protagonist, Hannibal Lecter, is portrayed as a classical music aficionado, and the soundtrack is so acclaimed that it’s said to have significantly contributed to the movie’s massive success.
Even if you haven’t seen the film, you can still enjoy it.
That said, watching the movie at least once is guaranteed to double the terror!
I’m Afraid Of AmericansDavid Bowie
From a heavy, slow, anxiety-stoking intro to muttered, murmuring vocals… David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans” is a track that overwhelms with a decadent atmosphere and massive sound.
Hard, industrial-like phrases repeat in a hypnotic flow.
True to its title, it conveys frustration toward America with biting irony, beautifully and eerily transmuting anger into music—a digital rock tune that was ahead of its time.
Theme from JawsJohn Williams
A track included on the soundtrack of the popular 1975 film Jaws, composed by John Williams, who also wrote themes for films like Star Wars.
Famous as the theme of Jaws, this piece is a simple track that skillfully mixes tension and release, yet features an unforgettable phrase that, once heard, sticks in your mind.
It heightens anxiety and fear with rich horror elements, creating music that makes your spine tingle.
ErlkönigFranz Schubert
Just listening to the weighty, serious timbre of the piano lets you experience an inexpressible sense of anxiety and impatience, doesn’t it? One of the most internationally renowned Lieder, Erlkönig, is best known in the version where Schubert set Goethe’s poem to music.
Based on a Danish folk ballad, Goethe freely reworked it and published the poem in 1782; Schubert then composed it as a song in 1815 when he was 18.
However, the true value of the piece was not readily understood, and its path to publication was fraught with twists and turns.
Today, it is well known in Japan as an educational piece in music and is frequently parodied and quoted in various contexts.
In addition to the overwhelming piano part that seems to push the terror of its tragic story to the utmost limit, the technical difficulty—where a single singer typically assumes four roles (the child, the father, the Erlking, and the narrator)—combines to leave listeners with an unforgettable impact after just one hearing.