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What Are Some Songs That Actually Creep You Out?

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Music is a wondrous, powerful medium that has the ability to elicit every possible emotion, from sadness to joy, nostalgia to arousal, rage to tranquility. It makes us move, dance, mosh, twirl, and whatever else we want to physically represent our emotions. But sometimes we listen to music and our movements aren’t a dance but a shiver, a shudder of fear and unease.

Obviously, I’m a huge fan of music. I mean, I’ve been writing about it on BD since October of 2009 and listening to it for as long as I can remember. And while I’m all for music that makes me feel elated, sometimes I want to be unsettled. That’s why this week’s discussion topic is all about those songs that creep the listener out.

Below I have several examples that I think will be right up the alley of anyone who wants to feel a dash of fear. Once you’ve checked them out, let me know some of your own favorites in the comments!

Radiohead – “How to Disappear Completely”

This is a great example of a song that mixes stunning beauty with a some seriously unsettling and eerie melodies. There is something just off about this song and I love it for that. You’ll hear the music rise triumphantly as though it’s about to crescendo into something joyous and wonderful only to suddenly come crashing down into melancholia. Then there are the plaintive calls of “I’m not here/This isn’t happening” that is goose bump-raising. Finally, towards the ending of the song, it warbles and pitch shifts up and down with no seeming pattern, creating a truly disorienting effect.

It’s a masterful song and a reminder of why Radiohead are so highly regarded.

Portishead – “Biscuit”

I remember buying Dummy and putting it on with the mindset that I was going to listen to it from beginning to end without skipping a single track. When I reached “Biscuit”, I suddenly felt very uneasy, almost as though something was watching me, breathing one ragged gasp after another on the back of my neck. Listening to this album with headphones at night suddenly seemed like a bad idea.

Ironically enough, “Biscuit” is still, to this day, one of my favorite songs from the album.

Marianne Faithfull, Angelo Badalamenti – “Generique (Who Will Take My Dreams Away)”

The City of Lost Children is easily in my Top 5 Movies of All Time and the soundtrack is a gorgeous sublime collection of music. But the beauty of the music doesn’t ignore the creepy story of the film and that message bleeds into this track, which sees the legendary and stunning Marianne Faithfull lend her vocals.

The Cure – “Lullaby”

Spiders. Fuck that. Enough said.

Bauhaus – “Spy in the Cab”

The English goth rock band definitely deserves a spot on this list with “Spy in the Cab”, which comes from their 1980 debut album In the Flat Field. On top of subtly creepy music, there’s something sinister and malevolent about these lyrics:
Hidden in the dashboard
The unseen mechanized eye
Under surveillance
The road is full of cats eyes
It’s sick function to pry
The spy in the cab

Coldly observing- callously reserving
A drivers time
Automated autonomy
Playing on his mind
The spy in the cab

Devendra Banhart – “Insect Eyes”

Another song where the lyrics help to create an experience of fear and unease, one that has a wonderfully delightful folk musical backdrop.

And one long red nail
That shots from her toe
Is tickling my blood
And shifting its flow

And each strand of her hair
Is really insect eyes
And each hole in her tongue
Is always occupied by the milk of the sun

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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