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Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered by the Misfits during the late 1970s to early 1980s, followed by bands such as Mourning Noise, the Undead and Samhain.
By the late 1990s to early 2000s, the genre gained wider prominence through the Misfits' reunion tour, as well as the success of groups like AFI, Son of Sam and the Murderdolls, which was then later proliferated by the formation of Blitzkid, Calabrese and Creeper.
During the earliest stages of the gothic rock genre, "horror punk" was one term often misapplied to the genre. While both horror punk and gothic rock pull from many of the same points of reference, and sometimes early horror punk groups, particularly the Misfits, are themselves cited as being "proto-gothic", the two genres are distinctly separate by modern definitions. (2025). 9781787146778, Emerald Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781787146778 However, the gothic rock genre death rock, with its emphasis on influence from punk rock, contains significant overlap with horror punk. Although, death rock lacks horror punk's rockabilly and doo-wop influences, instead paying a greater attention to musical atmospheres. Psychobilly is also a closely related style to horror punk, particularly during the 2000s when the genres became increasingly intertwined. In an article by Kerrang!, writer Chris Krovatin stated that "the two genres have become so accepting of one another, that to make the distinction feels like splitting hairs". Some psychobilly groups even take influence from horror punk imagery, notably Tiger Army.
By the early 1970s, groups such as Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath employed horror themes extensively throughout their discography, with the latter's lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, later describing the band as "horror-rock" in 1986.
In 1976, the Cramps formed in New York City, blending the sound of punk rock with rockabilly and cult horror movies, particularly those shown on Ghoulardi's Shock Theater. Their style which would later be influential in the development of psychobilly. Furthermore, the Damned one of the earliest English punk rock bands made use of a horror influenced aesthetic. In particular, the band's vocalist David Vanian shaped his stage persona around the 1931 film Dracula and its leading actor Bela Lugosi.
Alternative Press retroactively labelled Roky Erickson's 1980 album The Evil One, as a precursor to horror punk.
In the early 1980s the death rock genre was pioneered in Los Angeles by groups like 45 Grave, Christian Death, Super Heroines and Kommunity FK.Gitane Demone: 20 Years in Death, published in Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Gothic!, Schwarzkopf Verlag, Germany 1999, , p. 42 Although death rock and horror punk are separate styles of punk, they bear a significant overlap through emphasis on horror themes and imagery. Death rock band 45 Grave, in particular, are massively influential on horror punk.
A new wave of horror punk emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s. AFI, who had previously been established as hardcore band, transitioned into a horror punk sound following their 1998 recruitment of guitarist Jade Puget. A 2022 article published by Metal Hammer credited their 1999 album Black Sails in the Sunset as having "reinvented the horror punk of the Misfits for a new generation". In 2000, AFI vocalist Davey Havok formed Son of Sam alongside the 1999 reunion lineup of Samhain. This lineup released one album Songs from the Earth in 2001. Another key figure from this period was Wednesday 13, who Metal Hammer writer Rich Hobson termed a "horror-punk hero". In 2002 he formed the Murderdolls alongside Joey Jordison, which began writing by "cannibalising" the music of 13's prior band Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13. Following the band's 2004 hiatus, he began a solo-career. At this same time, horror punk-influenced bands also gained notability, including My Chemical Romance, Alkaline Trio and Tiger Army.
During the 2000s, the distinction between psychobilly and horror punk became increasingly obscured. The Creepshow were one prominent band blurring these genre lines. During this same period, Blitzkid's merger of "goth's stretching shadow and pop-punk's teenage humanity" too gained notability alongside Calabrese.
Kerrang! writer Chris Krovatin credited Creeper as the band "keeping horror punk alive" in the late-2010s. Following the release of their debut album Eternity, in Your Arms (2017) the band changed their sound towards glam rock. However, after this shift the band's vocalist Will Gould began Salem, a band reviving Creeper's earlier sound. This led Punktastic writer Tom Walsh to describe Gould as "on a crusade to single handedly revive the horror punk genre".
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