10 Horror Movie Icons That Would Make Badass Metal Album Covers
Nothing screams metal like horror, and nothing screams horror like a monstrous album cover that looks like it could rip your soul straight from your body. Over the years, horror films have delivered some of the most visually striking and nightmarish imagery—perfect inspiration for a brutal metal album.
Here are 10 horror movie icons that would look absolutely killer gracing the front of a metal record.
1. Pinhead (Hellraiser)
Clive Barker’s hell priest, with his grid-carved face and icy stare, is practically made for a blackened death metal album. Imagine his cenobite crew in the background, chains and hooks twisting in the air—a perfect visual for an album dripping in doom and despair.
2. The Tall Man (Phantasm)
Few horror villains exude doom quite like The Tall Man. His towering presence and deadly flying spheres would make for an avant-garde metal album that teeters on the edge of cosmic horror and madness.
3. The Thing (The Thing, 1982)
A constantly shifting nightmare of body horror and existential dread? Sounds like the perfect match for a grotesque death metal or sludge album. Imagine album art that morphs into something new every time you look at it—pure horror fuel.
4. Pennywise (IT, 1990 & 2017)
A demonic entity that feeds on fear, cloaked in twisted circus aesthetics? Pennywise could easily be the mascot of an industrial or experimental metal band, with a chaotic album cover full of nightmare fuel.
5. Michael Myers (Halloween)
The blank, expressionless face. The cold, relentless pursuit. Michael Myers embodies the eerie, repetitive intensity of a doom metal or blackgaze album. A darkened Haddonfield with autumn leaves swirling? Perfect cover art for a haunting masterpiece.
6. Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
Freddy’s burnt face, razor-glove, and dream-warping powers scream thrash or speed metal. Picture an album cover with dreamlike distortions, fire, and twisted nightmare imagery—an absolute headbanger.
7. The Xenomorph (Alien)
HR Giger’s nightmare creature already looks like it belongs on a progressive death metal cover. The biomechanical terror, dripping acid and lurking in the shadows, is pure technical brutality.
8. Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)
A towering, unstoppable force of nature with a machete? That’s classic heavy metal energy. Picture Jason standing in front of a blood-soaked Crystal Lake under a full moon—instant metal cover gold.
9. Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
A filthy, gore-splattered maniac wielding a chainsaw? That’s grindcore in its purest form. The raw brutality and unhinged violence of Leatherface fit right at home with a brutal death metal or goregrind album.
10. Candyman (Candyman, 1992 & 2021)
With his tragic yet vengeful backstory, his hook hand, and the swarms of bees surrounding him, Candyman would make for an eerie, atmospheric black metal album. Imagine cover art blending gothic horror with urban decay—a hauntingly beautiful nightmare.
Horror and metal have always gone hand in hand, feeding off each other’s dark, visceral energy. These horror movie icons don’t just terrify audiences—they inspire musicians, artists, and fans of the macabre.
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Which horror icon do you think belongs on a metal album? Let us know in the comments!
🤘 Stay brutal, stay horrifying. 🤘