10 Songs Based On Horrific Actual Events

Music is the ideal vessel to convey emotions and messages; everybody's entitled to delivering and putting on record any thought conceived and make the message glue to the listener through the music (always taking into account that the deepest, most explicit and truthful forms of expression are not always the most successful). Some of these songs may not be scary per se (music-wise) but they are based on much of what makes this world a scary place.

Skinned - Blind Melon

What real case is it based upon?: Serial killer Ed Gein

The title of the song that kicks off the list is as literal as any would think. Nonetheless, if found blindfolded, it may as well seem as the most accessible and least intimidating song here.

Even so, the intentional and dissimilar juxtaposition of the music and the lyrics makes it arguably the most unique and deceiving entry featured. Out of all the songs mentioned in the list this is the only one that could get away with being played during a road trip and still sound extremely suitable for the situation. Please, do not do that. Ever.

Get a glimpse of the song: "I'll make a shoehorn outta your shin
I'll make a lampshade of durable skin
And, oh, don't you know that I'm always feeling able
When I'm sitting home and I'm carving out your navel?
I'm just a sitting here carving out your navel

When will I realize that this skin I'm in? Hey, it isn't mine
And when will the kill be too much meat for me to hide on? "

The Ballad Of Leonard And Charles - Exodus

What real case is it based upon?: Serial killers Leonard Lake and Charles Ng

The Ballad Of Leonard And Charles is based on one of those cases that totally suffice to make anyone mad and paranoid. It is worth mentioning that it also aids in realizing that the absolutely lame and nugatory security and justice systems are a palpable reality virtually everywhere.

I do not intend to explain all the background of these two individuals (about whom plenty of information has been already produced) but it is more than enough saying that entire families were massacred by them and their modus operandi is grotesquery at its more literal. The lyrics are explicit enough to understand the key points (and I do believe they fall short).

Get a glimpse of the song: "Committed horrific and brutal crimes
Then laughing with total disdain

Dragging their victims into lunacy
And putting it all on film
Wretched dregs of society
Killers of children
Rapists of women
Sado-sexual violence"

The Way - Fastball

What real case is it based upon?: Disappearance and death of Lela and Raymond Howard

Ambiguity and uncertainty are truly two of the primal ignitors of fear and uneasiness and said aspects are what earns The Way a spot in this post. The song itself is not as fearsome as some others around here, but the very occurrence and the lack of details are enough to trigger very thought-provoking theories and speculations regarding the incident. 

To sum it up; an elderly couple went missing after setting a trip to a festival. Their bodies were found at the bottom of a ravine hundreds of miles away from their destination. No further details are really available besides some hypothesis provided by the police department. What happened to Lela and Raymond Howard? Were they murdered? Did the find someone or something on their way to the festival? We may never know.

Get a glimpse of the song: "They drank up the wine
And they got to talking
They now had more important things to say
And when the car broke down
They started walking
Where were they going without ever knowing the way?" 

Unit 731 - Slayer

What real case is it based upon?: Covert biological and chemical warfare Japanese research unit during World War II

You may be wondering Unit 731? Really? I do admit that out of the extensive catalogue of appalling songs created by Slayer some other options come to mind before this one; Dead Skin Mask is ghastly and depicts Ed Gein truthfully and Angel Of Death might be their most iconic song and the best one in regard to World War II.

I opted for Unit 731 for how atrocious the case was and because a lot has already been mentioned and written about the two aforementioned songs. Jasenovac concentration camp in Croatia and Unit 731 located in China share a scary similarity; both were deemed as too violent and cruel by none other than the Nazis themselves. That speaks volumes of what was happening inside their facilities.

Get a glimpse of the song: "Bacterial target, eyes exploding
Melting flesh through your mind
Become your madness insanity wins
Infant's flesh on the walls
Testing limits threshold of pain
Ripping out teeth to observe
I want blood!"

Holiday Of Horror - Macabre

What real case is it based upon?: Serial killer Ronald Gene Simmons

Simmons was not the regular serial killer. He didn't fake dementia in order to not face the full penalty of law; he admitted and stated that anything short of death would not suffice and would be totally unfair and cruel. Oh, and the man also killed his family during Christmas time; something quite extravagant even for despicable people like him.

Regarding the song, the way in which it is presented and executed make it "fun"; short run-time, catchy hooks (music-wise of course) and a rispy voice that is clear enough to understand the lyrics (the pace may impede it but it is not up to the clearness in the voice). Indeed, a song born from this nature can never be fun and this one should not be exception.

Get a glimpse of the song: "He built a wall
Around his trailer home
So the neighbors would leave him alone
And he didn't want them to see
How he abused his family

Merry Christmas
He gunned his family down
His bullets were their presents
Dead relatives all around
Happy New Year
One they won't be here to see
It's the holiday of horror
Because of Ronald Gene
Simmons"

Richard Ramírez Died Today Of Natural Causes - Sun Kil Moon

What real case is it based upon?: Serial killer and sexual offender Richard Ramírez

To excel and be able to be highlighted above the rest of people within a context is something extremely complex to achieve. Imagine what it takes to have such a feat but in regard to mass murder, sexual offenses and just being evil for the sake of being evil. There are a bunch of names that pop up once said topic is address such and John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Charles Manson. Richard Ramírez belongs in that same league.

The Mexican American individual, whose aka was The Night Stalker, targetted different areas in Los Angeles and San Francisco having a killing spree of almost two years. Authorities claim that 15 people, children included, were raped, tortured and killed by him. This song is based on some of the things he did and his fate: death from complications with B-cell lymphoma while waiting for his execution.

Get a glimpse of the song: "Richard Ramirez died today of natural causes
Got amped up on speed and broke into houses
Bludgeoned people to death and wrote shit on their skin and left 'em
They finally got him and he went to San Quentin

His last murder was south of San Francisco
A guy named Peter Pan from the town of San Mateo
A little girl in the Tenderloin was his first
In the laundry room, and took a dollar from her fist"

Woman Of Dark Desires - Bathory

What real case is it based upon?: Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the alleged greatest and most notorious female serial killer of all time

Of course Bathory had to create a song that justified and demonstrated the legacy of the character they chose to name their band after. The result, for both the name of the band and the song, is nothing but some of the most iconic elements in metal and extreme music.

It is fair to say that it is rather difficult to establish how much of Elizabeth Bathory's story and infamous reputation is well-earned and how much it is fictional information; not even historians have agreed on and stated solid and definite points. Nevertheless, if what has been mentioned about the countess turns out to be true, we are before the gargantuan quantity of 600 young women murdered rendering her as the most prolific female serial killer ever and just the second most prolific in human history.

Get a glimpse of the song: "Now the hour is comed, the time is right for the feast to take its roll
And by the sunrise sixty bodies will be found raped from their blood and souls
The beauty patiently selects the victims for the night
Innocent blood will give eternal beauty eternal life

Woman of Dark Desires
Woman of Eternal Beauty
Woman of Dark Desires
Elizabeth Bathory"

Dance With The Devil - Immortal Technique

What real case is it based upon?: Not one but many

This entry is extremely novel and tricky to address. Peruvian-american rapper Immortal Technique once stated this song was based on a real case. When questioned about which one he alluded to no just one but many cases like the one described in the song.

There are countless Billy Jacobs out there right now might be one of the coldest and, unfortunately, realest facts. Rap music is no stranger to violence, drugs, gangs, suicide or even rape. In spite of that, you have never and certainly will never encounter those elements in the order and way depicted in this song.

Get a glimpse of the song: "She struggled hard but they forced her to go up the stairs
They got to the roof and then held her down on the ground
Screaming, "Shut the fuck up and stop moving around!"
The shirt covered her face, but she screamed and clawed
So Billy stomped on the bitch, 'til he broken her jaw
Them dirty bastards knew exactly what they were doing
They kicked her until they cracked her ribs and she stopped moving
Blood leaking through the cloth, she cried silently
And then they all proceeded to rape her violently
Billy was made to go first, but each of them took a turn" 

Mein Teil - Rammstein

What real case is it based upon?:

Eating a dick after a nice talk and dinner with a person you like may not seem a scary topic; it might even be an ideal date for some people. Well, what if I told you that the aforementioned first line is literal? And by literal I allude to the very meaning of the word.

What you experience through the song is the real story of a German man named Armin Meiwes who used the internet to look for his ideal person. Certainly something that happens all the time all around the world, doesn't it? What sets apart his post from your average one is the description: Looking for a well-built 18 to 30-year-old to be slaughtered. From that point on what you get in Mein Teil (translated as "My Part") is a very explicit and concise depiction of cannibalism that centers its attention on... could you guess what? Exactly, a penis.

Get a glimpse of the song: "Today I will meet a gentleman
He likes me so much he could eat me up
Soft parts and even hard ones
Are on the menu
Because you are what you eat
And you know what it is
It is my part - no
My part – no
There that's my part – no
My part – no"

Special Mention: The Little Ones - Yusuf And Cat Stevens

What real case is it based upon?: Israeli occupation and massacre in Gaza and the Bosnian genocide (and basically any other conflict and massacre in which children are murdered)

The Little Ones is a song that, unfortunately, is as relevant today as it was 30 years ago, if not more. Intended to be related to a different conflict (the Bosnian genocide in which thousands of children were ruthlessly murdered) it ended up being among the most important means of conveying messages and emotions regarding one of the most despicable and horrifying modern conflicts in the world.

If you have chosen to use your cognitive capacity and basic human reasoning, you do know why it is important to make any fact and occurence related to this conflict visible and why this song is a very straight and brutal depiction of one of the main aspects that make this situation totally reprehensible.

Get a glimpse of the song: "Now they're burying the little ones
And they're making the graves deep
So the world cannot see
That tonight we may sleep.

While they wash away the blood
The mothers all weep
Oh they're burying the little ones
And they're making the graves deep"

Honorable Mentions:

-Suffer Little Children - The Smiths

-Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen

-Angel Of Death - Slayer

-Blow - Tyler, The Creator

-Daddy - Korn

-The Kindness Of Strangers - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds

-Death Valley 69 - Sonic Youth

-I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats

-Georgia Lee - Tom Waits

-Riders On The Storm - The Doors