The horror genre is a fertile ground for diegetic scores—tunes actually playing in-universe—which frequently serve to build dramatic tension, but can evoke a wide variety of emotions. These songs include bona fide classics, novelties, annoyingly catchy guilty pleasures, and straight-up auditory hell. All of the following examples manage to enhance the works featuring them.
I’ve done my best to include clips of scenes when possible, but studios can be extremely stingy with copyrighted music, and a few examples only seem to exist online in crappy edits. If an entry is missing a video of a moment you really want to see, I highly encourage you to check out the movie or show for yourself.
By no means have I seen all horror media from this millennium. If you can think of any glaring omissions, feel free to leave them in the comments!
10. Evil– “Feliz Navidad”
Evil is a deliciously twisted and darkly humorous series that examines some of humanity’s worst impulses, yet remains fun enough to avoid outright misanthropy. Throughout the show, Michael Emerson masterfully plays the smarmiest, smuggest villain imaginable. One of his character’s most despicable acts (apart from stalking, grooming, and homicide) is subjecting someone to Pavlovian conditioning using an utterly obnoxious toy: an animatronic stuffed animal that lets out a cartoonish cackle before launching into a high-pitched rendition of the most famous bilingual Christmas song.
This particular cover is already rage-inducing on its own, but when paired with the psychological torture and brainwashing of a previously sympathetic character, it will make you want to break something. I hate it, and I love it for that.
9. Jennifer’s Body– “Through the Trees”
The plot catalyst of this feminist genre deconstruction is a small-town performance by the fictional band Low Shoulder, which consists of the real band No Country (later known as Wildling), plus actor Adam Brody lip-syncing as the frontman. As the film progresses, “Through the Trees” becomes something of an anthem for the town’s residents—much to the frustration of protagonist Needy, who knows the band members aren’t the benevolent guys they’re pretending to be.
8. High Tension– “New Born”
I previously wrote about this movie in the context of spoilers and queer horror discourse, and in light of the film’s infamous twist, this example may or may not technically be diegetic. From the viewer’s perspective, though, the 2000 Muse single seems to blare from the radio of the killer’s truck while the main character pursues him. It’s not a song you’d necessarily think to pair with a car chase, but the lyrics about disconnect and the loss of innocence are thematically relevant, and the overall effect is undeniably exhilarating.
7. The Belko Experiment– “California Dreamin’” (Spanish-language cover)
Belko is full of major tonal shifts. While I do wish it had gone more balls to the walls like the superficially similar Mayhem, I can’t deny the effectiveness of this scene. When the titular company’s COO decides to take a strictly utilitarian approach to their predicament, a lot of innocent people find themselves in an unenviable position. This song plays on the radio, and the result is emotionally devastating.
6. Ready or Not– “The Hide & Seek Song”
Not to be confused with Imogen Heap’s memetic “Hide and Seek,” this faux-retro ditty plays on vinyl as protagonist Grace takes off to find a hiding spot, blissfully unaware of the game’s true stakes. The song is fun, but has spooky vibes throughout, and turns downright sinister at the end when the singer laughs maniacally—foreshadowing Grace’s realization that she’ll have to fight to survive the night.
5. The Walking Dead– “Easy Street” and “Burning Down the House”
I know a lot of people abandoned this show after a certain man and his barbed-wire baseball bat entered the picture, but there were some genuinely great moments in later seasons.
In the 7×03 episode “The Cell,” the song “Easy Street” by Jim Bianco and Petra Haden receives a great deal of airtime. Like the Evil example, it’s used to torment somebody. Viewers who blame the tortured character for the outcome of the notorious season premiere may initially find these scenes cathartic, but by the time it’s all over, even his haters are bound to feel a bit sorry for him.
Meanwhile, in the 10×16 episode “A Certain Doom,” the Talking Heads classic “Burning Down the House” scores a moment of levity during a rather grim story arc (even by the show’s usual standards), and I actually thought of it before I remembered “Easy Street.” It’s probably the most literal application of the song’s title, too, though the clip I managed to find doesn’t include the actual burning.
I might be cheating by listing examples from two different episodes, but fuck it—my blog, my rules.
4. American Horror Story: Asylum– “Dominique”
My personal favorite AHS season turns this 1963 hit into a haunting (or amusing, or irritating, or oddly comforting) motif as it loops constantly on a record player at the titular asylum. The vocals come from a Belgian nun known by at least 5 different names, but most famously Sœur Sourire to Francophones and The Singing Nun to Anglophones. Her own story is rife with tragedy, and eerily mirrors many themes present in Asylum.
3. You’re Next– “Looking for the Magic”
Like “Dominique,” this one’s a major earworm that repeats ad nauseam—in fact, it’s the only song in the film apart from incidental music. The echo effect on the singing during the verses only adds to its seemingly interminable length. And yet, the Dwight Twilley Band tune somehow fits every scene in which it appears.
2. Us– “Good Vibrations” and “Fuck Tha Police”
Unlike the dual entry for The Walking Dead, these two songs play in the same scene back to back, courtesy of an off-brand smart speaker. The first provides simultaneously funny and creepy dissonance during a brutal home invasion. The second is just funny.
1. Shaun of the Dead– “Don’t Stop Me Now”
There was no other option for the top spot. This is not only the greatest use of diegetic music in horror history, but also one of the greatest horror comedy scenes of all time. Highlights include pool cues, a fire extinguisher, and an impromptu light show. The action is timed impeccably to Queen’s beloved hit, a feat director Edgar Wright would repeat with other songs in his subsequent films—most notably Baby Driver.
If you only have time to watch a single video clip right now, make it this one. The scene is so well-executed that I can even forgive it for cutting off the song just before Brian May’s guitar solo.
Media Shower 