The appeal of horror rock and roll
Wednesday 13 in Stroudsburg, PA April 2025 by Tara Adams The Creature Beat “In dark shadows, lurk strange things No one knows what the night brings Bloodletting, lycanthropy No one knows, what the night brings” – Wednesday 13, “What the Night Brings” Horror rock has never pretended to be subtle. It deals in monsters, blood-red stage lights, fake fangs , and songs meant to crank way the heck up. It's entertainment that borrows from the same traditions as classic monster movies and late-night horror theater, offering an escape that is loud, theatrical, and knowingly excessive. The genre thrives on exaggeration, turning fear into something playful rather than paralyzing. From Screamin’ Jay Hawkins emerging from a coffin in the 1950s to Alice Cooper’s guillotines in the 1970s, horror has long been part of rock’s visual language. Acts like KISS and Twisted Sister carried that theatrical instinct into arenas, while bands such as the Misfits stripped it down to blunt, horro...