Before I start, I want to mention that legally speaking, there is a difference between serial and spree killers that's tied into the time between killings. However, fiction generally conflates the two under the term "serial killer", so for simplicity, I'm also going to use that to refer to both. Also, let's just assume this entire thread is NOT SAFE FOR WORK and save us a lot of trouble.
Anyway, this is a thread for discussing the intersection of music and serial killers. I've been drafting an outline about a visionary-type [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_killer#Visionary] serial killer reminiscent of Elizabeth Bathory with a bit of Buffalo Bill's obsession with personal purification.
As far as I can see, there are three areas this discussion can go:
1) Music favored by real-life serial killers. This probably begins and ends with the Manson family's obsession with the self-titled Beatles album and, specifically, the song "Helter Skelter". Still, if there are copycat killers and/or allusions to Manson through other songs, I'd love to hear them.
2) Music literally about serial killers. I'm blanking on decent examples of this (although Wikipedia has a list [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_killers]).
3) Music used in film and television in connection with serial killers. As probably the third darkest genre of fiction next to body and Lovecraftian horror, the music that accompanies them will generally be really disturbing (either directly or through stark contrast). I've noticed the go-to artists for television is 90s industrial metal, more specifically Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. By themselves, both used extensive shock value in their videos that suggest severe mental derangement. The former's "Closer" is most famously remixed for the title sequence of Seven:
I could also envision a bunch of other Broken/The Downward Spiral era songs carrying a serial killer mindset (namely, the obsession with purity). Here are a few I like.
With Marilyn Manson, I know their song "The Beautiful People" was used in an episode of Stargate Atlantis to introduce the monster of the week:
Beyond that, I think the song "Cruci-Fiction in Space" is very evocative as well:
And, of course, the infamous sequence in Silence of the Lambs where Buffalo Bill dances naked to "Goodbye Horses":
Also, the song "Can't Let Go" by Death of the Cool (a bonus song in the first Rock Band) sounds like the prelude to a lust killing:
What other memorable sequences and darkly evocative music comes to mind?
Anyway, this is a thread for discussing the intersection of music and serial killers. I've been drafting an outline about a visionary-type [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_killer#Visionary] serial killer reminiscent of Elizabeth Bathory with a bit of Buffalo Bill's obsession with personal purification.
As far as I can see, there are three areas this discussion can go:
1) Music favored by real-life serial killers. This probably begins and ends with the Manson family's obsession with the self-titled Beatles album and, specifically, the song "Helter Skelter". Still, if there are copycat killers and/or allusions to Manson through other songs, I'd love to hear them.
2) Music literally about serial killers. I'm blanking on decent examples of this (although Wikipedia has a list [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_killers]).
3) Music used in film and television in connection with serial killers. As probably the third darkest genre of fiction next to body and Lovecraftian horror, the music that accompanies them will generally be really disturbing (either directly or through stark contrast). I've noticed the go-to artists for television is 90s industrial metal, more specifically Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. By themselves, both used extensive shock value in their videos that suggest severe mental derangement. The former's "Closer" is most famously remixed for the title sequence of Seven:
I could also envision a bunch of other Broken/The Downward Spiral era songs carrying a serial killer mindset (namely, the obsession with purity). Here are a few I like.
With Marilyn Manson, I know their song "The Beautiful People" was used in an episode of Stargate Atlantis to introduce the monster of the week:
Beyond that, I think the song "Cruci-Fiction in Space" is very evocative as well:
And, of course, the infamous sequence in Silence of the Lambs where Buffalo Bill dances naked to "Goodbye Horses":
Also, the song "Can't Let Go" by Death of the Cool (a bonus song in the first Rock Band) sounds like the prelude to a lust killing:
What other memorable sequences and darkly evocative music comes to mind?
