Check out the 25 best songs about serial killers and mass murderers.
The term "serial killer" may only have passed into common use in the 1970s, but the notion of the lurking killer, the demon haunting alleys and highways, has captivated and terrified the popular consciousness for far longer, since the likes of Jack the Ripper hijacked headlines and the streets of London. With complex, mercurial psychologies, troubled pasts, and motives worth investigating with equal parts empathy and repulsion, serial killers make natural acquaintances to song writers seeking fertile, powerful ground for new ideas. Unsurprisingly, remarkable, poignant songs have arisen from the exploits of some of the world's most frightening, troubled inhabitants.
This is a list of songs about or referencing to killers (serial killers and mass murderers).
(See also Top 15 Serial Killer Artists)
(See also The 100 Best Serial Killer Movies)
(See also Top 35 Books About Serial Killers)
(See also Top 8 Famous Serial Killers And Their Music Choices)
25. Slayer - "Angel of Death" (1986)
Serial Killer: Josef Mengele (Germany)
Nickname: Angel of Death (German: Todesengel)
Number of victims: Unknown
Technically, mass murderer. Josef Mengele (16 March 1911 – 7 February 1979) was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) officer and physician in Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.
He was notorious for the selection of victims to be killed in the gas chambers and for performing unscientific and often deadly human experiments on prisoners. After the war, he fled to South America, where he evaded capture for the rest of his life.
24. Tyler, the Creator - "Blow" (2009)
Serial Killer: Ted Bundy (USA)
Proven victims: 35
Possible victims: 36+
Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy (born Theodore Robert Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer, kidnapper, and rapist who assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier.
23. The Smiths - "Suffer Little Children" (1984)
Serial Killer: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley (United Kingdom)
Proven victims: 5
Possible victims: 5+
The "Moors murderers" abused and murdered five children in the 1960s. The lovers, who buried the bodies on the moors near Manchester, were jailed for life in 1966. Hindley, her face immortalised in a police mug shot, died in 2002. Brady, now 71, is still being held at high-security Ashworth Hospital, Merseyside, where he has been on hunger strike for most of the past 10 years.
22. Eminem - "Stay Wide Awake" (2009)
Serial Killer: Ted Bundy (USA)
Proven victims: 35
Possible victims: 36+
Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy (born Theodore Robert Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer, kidnapper, and rapist who assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier.
21. Pearl Jam - "Dirty Frank" (1991)
Serial Killer: Jeffrey Dahmer (USA)
Number of victims: 17
Between 1988-91, Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer killed 17 men in Milwaukee, WI before the escape of his would-be 18th victim led to his capture. Dahmer is perhaps best known for dismembering and consuming parts of his victims, many of which were found in his apartment at the time of his arrest. Was sentenced to life imprisonment; murdered in prison in 1994.
20. The Adverts - "Gary Gilmore’s Eyes" (1977)
Serial Killer: Gary Gilmore (USA)
Number of victims: 2
Technically not a serial killer. Gary Mark Gilmore (December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international notoriety for demanding the execution of his death sentence for two murders he committed in Utah.
19. Thin Lizzy - "Killer on the Loose" (1980)
Serial Killer: Jack the Ripper (United Kingdom)
Proven victims: (5 canonical)
Possible victims: 11+
Unidentified serial killer who stabbed at least five prostitutes and mutilated four in the Whitechapel district of London. Nobody was ever brought to justice for the crimes which are still considered one of Britain's most infamous unsolved murder cases.
18. System of a Down - "ATWA" (2001)
Serial Killer: Charles Manson & The Family (USA)
Number of victims: 6+
Charles Milles Manson (born Charles Milles Maddox, November 12, 1934) is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in the California desert in the late 1960s. In 1971 he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the murders of seven people: actress Sharon Tate and four other people at Tate's home; and the next day, a married couple, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca; all carried out by members of the group at his instruction.
17. The Boomtown Rats - "I Don't Like Mondays" (1979)
Serial Killer: Brenda Spencer (USA)
Number of victims: 2
Technically, mass murderer. On January 29, 1979, 16-year-old Brenda Spencer killed two people and wounded nine when she fired on San Diego's Grover Cleveland Elementary School with a .22-caliber rifle from her family's house across the street.
The two victims were Principal Burton Wragg and custodian Mike Suchar. Eight students and a police officer were wounded. Spencer, the original high-school rampager, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. When asked why she did it, she said the often quoted: "I just don't like Mondays." At the time she also told negociators, "It was a lot of fun seeing children shot."
16. Ke$ha (Kesha) - "Cannibal" (2010)
Serial Killer: Jeffrey Dahmer (USA)
Number of victims: 17
Between 1988-91, Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer killed 17 men in Milwaukee, WI before the escape of his would-be 18th victim led to his capture. Dahmer is perhaps best known for dismembering and consuming parts of his victims, many of which were found in his apartment at the time of his arrest. Was sentenced to life imprisonment; murdered in prison in 1994.
15. Ill Bill - "The Anatomy of a School Shooting" (2004)
Serial Killer: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (USA)
Number of victims: 13
Technically, mass murderers. Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold (September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were the two American high school seniors who committed the Columbine High School massacre. The pair killed 13 people and injured 24 others, three of whom were injured as they escaped the attack. The two then committed suicide in the library, where they had killed 10 of their victims.
14. Sufjan Stevens - "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." (2005)
Serial Killer: John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (USA)
Proven victims: 33
Possible victims: 34+
Known to have murdered a minimum of 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978, 26 of whom he buried in the crawl space of his Chicago home. Gacy was known as the "Killer Clown" due to the fact he often entertained children at social events dressed in a self devised clown costume. He was executed by lethal injection in 1994.
13. Slayer - "Dead Skin Mask" (1990)
Serial Killer: Ed Gein (USA)
Proven victims: 2
Possible victims: 8
Also known as the "Plainfield Ghoul", Ed Gein claimed responsibility for the deaths of two women in 1954 and 1957. Both women were shot, dismembered, and kept for trophies in Gein's house and shed. He was tried and convicted for the murder of Bernice Worden and died in a mental facility in 1984.
12. The Rolling Stones - "Midnight Rambler" (1969)
Serial Killer: Albert DeSalvo (the Boston Strangler), (USA)
Number of victims: 13
The Boston Strangler is a name given to the murderer (or murderers) of 13 women in the Boston area, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, in the early 1960s. The crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo based on his confession, details revealed in court during a separate case, and DNA evidence linking him to the last murder victim. Since then, parties investigating the crimes have suggested that the murders (sometimes referred to as "the silk stocking murders") were committed by more than one person.
11. Rammstein - "Mein Teil" (2004)
Serial Killer: Armin Meiwes (Germany)
Number of victims: 1
While technically not a serial killer, Armin Meiwes has made it to this list based on the unusual nature of his crimes. Armin Meiwes (born 1 December 1961) is a German man who achieved international notoriety for killing and eating a voluntary victim whom he had found via the Internet. Meiwes killed his victim and proceeded to eat a large amount of his flesh. Because of his acts, Meiwes is also known as the Rotenburg Cannibal or Der Metzgermeister (The Master Butcher). His main occupation was working as a computer repair technician.
10. Celtic Frost - "Into the Crypts of Rays" (1984)
Serial Killer: Gilles de Rais (France)
Number of victims: 150+
Gilles de Montmorency-Laval (prob. c. September 1405 – 26 October 1440). Gilles de Rais (Baron de Rais) was a Breton baron, marshal of France, and possibly one of the most interesting murderers in history. His fascination for Satanism and murder led him to commit atrocious acts that would remain in history as some of the vilest murders. Officially, Gilles de Rais is known to have murdered 150 children, but there are some authors who report a much bigger number of about 800 children.
9. Judas Priest - "The Ripper" (1976)
Serial Killer: Jack the Ripper (United Kingdom)
Proven victims: (5 canonical)
Possible victims: 11+
Unidentified serial killer who stabbed at least five prostitutes and mutilated four in the Whitechapel district of London. Nobody was ever brought to justice for the crimes which are still considered one of Britain's most infamous unsolved murder cases.
8. Porcupine Tree - "Blackest Eyes" (2002)
Serial Killer: Ted Bundy (USA)
Proven victims: 35
Possible victims: 36+
Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy (born Theodore Robert Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer, kidnapper, and rapist who assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier.
7. Mudvayne - "Nothing to Gein" (2000)
Serial Killer: Ed Gein (USA)
Proven victims: 2
Possible victims: 8
Also known as the "Plainfield Ghoul", Ed Gein claimed responsibility for the deaths of two women in 1954 and 1957. Both women were shot, dismembered, and kept for trophies in Gein's house and shed. He was tried and convicted for the murder of Bernice Worden and died in a mental facility in 1984.
6. Venom - "Countess Bathory" (1982)
Serial Killer: Elizabeth Báthory (Hungary, Slovakia)
Number of victims: 650+
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (Báthory Erzsébet in Hungarian; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a countess from the renowned Báthory family of nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary known for being a serial killer. She has been labelled by Guinness World Records as the most prolific female murderer, though the precise number of her victims is debated. Báthory and four collaborators were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of young women between 1585 and 1610. The highest number of victims cited during Báthory's trial was 650. However, this number comes from the claim by a woman named Susannah that Jacob Szilvássy, Countess Báthory's court official, had seen the figure in one of Báthory's private books. The book was never revealed, and Szilvássy never mentioned it in his testimony. Despite the evidence against Elizabeth, her family's influence kept her from facing trial. She was imprisoned in December 1610 within Csejte Castle, Upper Hungary, now in Slovakia, where she remained immured in a set of rooms until her death four years later.
5. Suicide Commando - "Bind, Torture, Kill" (2006)
Serial Killer: Dennis Rader (USA)
Number of victims: 10
Known as the "BTK Killer" (blind, torture, kill), Dennis Rader was charged with the murders of 10 people in Kansas including four members of a neighboring family and several other he stalked and became obsessed with between the years of 1971-94. In 2004, Rader began communicating with police, even going so far as to send them information on a floppy disk that would eventually be traced back to his residence. Rader was apprehended and charged with the murders and is currently serving ten consecutive life sentences in a Kansas jail.
4. Sarah Jarosz - "Shankill Butchers" (2009)
Serial Killer: Shankill Butchers (United Kingdom)
Number of victims: 23+
The Shankill Butchers was an Ulster loyalist gang — many of whom were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)—that was active between 1975 and 1982 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was based in the Shankill area and was responsible for the deaths of at least 23 people, most of whom were killed in sectarian attacks. The gang was notorious for kidnapping and murdering random Irish Catholic civilians; each was beaten ferociously and had his throat hacked with a butcher's knife. Some were also tortured and attacked with a hatchet.
3. Ghost (Ghost B.C.) - "Elizabeth" (2010)
Serial Killer: Elizabeth Báthory (Hungary, Slovakia)
Number of victims: 650+
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (Báthory Erzsébet in Hungarian; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a countess from the renowned Báthory family of nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary known for being a serial killer. She has been labelled by Guinness World Records as the most prolific female murderer, though the precise number of her victims is debated. Báthory and four collaborators were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of young women between 1585 and 1610. The highest number of victims cited during Báthory's trial was 650. However, this number comes from the claim by a woman named Susannah that Jacob Szilvássy, Countess Báthory's court official, had seen the figure in one of Báthory's private books. The book was never revealed, and Szilvássy never mentioned it in his testimony. Despite the evidence against Elizabeth, her family's influence kept her from facing trial. She was imprisoned in December 1610 within Csejte Castle, Upper Hungary, now in Slovakia, where she remained immured in a set of rooms until her death four years later.
2. John 5 - "Noche Acosador" (2012)
Serial Killer: Richard Ramirez (USA)
Proven victims: 13
Possible victims: 16+
Richard Ramirez, "The Night Stalker", went on a killing spree in the Los Angeles area that claimed the lives of at least 13 and as many as 16 in a spree that included shootings, mutilations, and rapes of his actual and intended victims. He was caught in East LA after his mugshot was broadcast across Southern California and he was accosted by a mob in the process of attempting to steal a car. Ramirez was sentenced to death in 1989, and died of natural causes in 2013 while still on death row.
1. Polkadot Cadaver - "Last Call In Jonestown" (2013)
Serial Killer: Jim Jones (USA)
Number of victims: 909+
Technically not a serial killer. James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American religious leader and community organizer. Jones was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, best known for the mass murder-suicide in November 1978 of 909 of its members in Jonestown, Guyana, the murder of five people at a nearby airstrip, including Congressman Leo Ryan, and the ordering of four additional Temple member deaths in Georgetown, the Guyanese capital. Nearly three-hundred children were murdered at Jonestown, almost all of them by cyanide poisoning. Jones died from a gunshot wound to the head; it is suspected his death was a suicide.