10 Music Videos That Borrow from Horror Classics

Why pop culture fans crave credible deep dives into music video horror homages

Feeling frustrated by scattershot think pieces and clickbait takes about spooky music videos? Youre not alone. Fans who want rigorous, source-aware connections between songs, directors, and the horror films they reference often have to piece together evidence from interviews, director commentaries, and fan forums. This list cuts through the noise and places Mitskis new horror-tinged single in a clear lineage of musicians who explicitly borrowed from classic horror film and TV to make visuals that linger.

No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality — a phrase Mitski literally used to set the tone for her new record.

In early 2026, Rolling Stone reported that Mitski will channel The Haunting of Hill House and Grey Gardens for the rollout of her eighth album, Nothing's About to Happen to Me, and that the single Where's My Phone? already points toward a haunted, intimate narrative. Start here if you want a fast map: this article explains how Mitski joins a decadelong tradition of artists turning music videos into deliberate film homages, breaks down the visual techniques they borrow, and gives practical advice for creators and superfans who want to analyze or emulate the effect.

Top 10 music videos that borrow from horror classics

The list below is curated to show clear lines of influence, director intent, or widely documented critical consensus linking a music video to a specific horror film or TV legacy. Each entry explains the reference, the technique, and why the choice matters in 2026.

1. Mitski — Where's My Phone? (2026)

   Reference: The Haunting of Hill House and the Grey Gardens documentary aesthetic

   Why it counts: Mitskis single was teased in January 2026 with a phone line where she reads a Shirley Jackson quote. The record is described as centering on a reclusive woman whose interior life is both sanctuary and site of deviance, a concept that borrows directly from the intimate dread of Hill House and the voyeuristic domestic portraiture of Grey Gardens. The music video uses cramped camera framing, long takes in dim rooms, and an off-kilter sound design that mirrors the psychological claustrophobia of classic haunted-house narratives.

   Visual techniques to watch: close-ups on domestic decay, isolated practical lighting, and ambiguous supernatural beats that may be psychological rather than literal.

2. Michael Jackson — Thriller (1983)

   Reference: Classic zombie films and the horror-musical tradition

   Why it counts: This is the most overt and influential cinematic-music-video crossover. Directed by John Landis, Thriller pays homage to zombie cinema and the Hollywood horror musical in a way that set the template for narrative music videos. The iconic transformation sequence, the graveyard choreography, and the genre-aware wink at B-movie chills created a cultural shorthand: if a music video wanted to be scary and cinematic, it invited comparison to Thriller.

   Visual techniques to watch: theatrical makeup and prosthetics, choreographed undead movement, and a short-film structure with a framing device.

3. Radiohead — Burn the Witch (2016)

   Reference: The Wicker Man and 1970s British folk horror, plus children’s television turned sinister

   Why it counts: Radioheads stop-motion short was an explicit mashup of Trumpton-style children’s puppetry and the pagan dread of The Wicker Man. The video literalizes the lyric with escalating communal violence, using a quaint visual grammar to produce uncanny menace. Directors and band members discussed those influences in interviews, and critics widely recognized the direct Wicker Man throughlines.

   Visual techniques to watch: hand-crafted stop-motion, pastoral settings corrupted by ritual, and childlike visual palettes used for adult horror.

4. Aphex Twin — Come to Daddy (1997)

   Reference: Japanese and body-horror cinema, surreal horror shorts

   Why it counts: Chris Cunninghams direction transformed an electronica single into a short of pure dread. The video borrows the body-horror and uncanny humanoid motifs that recur in both Japanese horror and Cronenbergian nightmares. Distorted faces, sudden cuts to grotesque imagery, and an urban-decay setting make the clip a textbook example of music video as short horror film.

   Visual techniques to watch: extreme facial prosthetics, fast digital distortion, and collapsing scale to unsettle perception.

5. Rob Zombie — Living Dead Girl / Dragula (late 90s)

   Reference: Hammer films, exploitation cinema, and Universal-era monster movies

   Why it counts: Rob Zombie is an artist who deliberately channels mid-20th-century horror aesthetics across his visuals, sound, and stagecraft. Many of his music videos function as loving homages to exploitation cinema: lots of practical gore, retro fonts, and black-and-white or heavily tinted film emulations that reproduce the tactile feel of vintage horror reels.

   Visual techniques to watch: grain and film scratches, practical creature effects, period typography, and montage editing that mimics trailers and grindhouse clips.

6. Nine Inch Nails — Closer (1994)

   Reference: David Lynchs cinematic surrealism and industrial body horror

   Why it counts: Mark Romaneks Closer taps into Lynchian mise-en-scene and a clinical, fetishized grotesqueness. The video leans into decayed cloth, clinical ambiences, and suggestive mechanical contraptions to create a spectral, bodily unease that recalls art-horror more than straight slasher cinema.

   Visual techniques to watch: fetishized props, antiseptic sets contrasted with organic mess, and slow camera moves that reveal disturbing tableau.

7. Billie Eilish — Bury a Friend (2019)

   Reference: Psychological horror and Lynchian nightmare logic

   Why it counts: Billie Eilish and her collaborators forged an aesthetic of adolescent dread that often echoes nightmarish cinema. Bury a Friend uses prosthetic teeth, skewed camera angles, and clinical lighting to unsettle, and the director explained in interviews that the goal was to put viewers inside the monster's mind. The video helped normalize a new generation of pop that deliberately recruits arthouse-horror language for mainstream music videos.

   Visual techniques to watch: visceral close-ups, ambiguous threat origin, and sounddesign that foregrounds bodily noise.

8. The Weeknd — After Hours era visuals (2019–2020)

   Reference: 80s horror and slasher tropes mixed with neo-noir

   Why it counts: The Weeknds short-film approach during the After Hours rollout embraced a slow-burn, violent surrealism that borrows from slasher pacing and neon-lit, late-night horror thrillers. The red-suited protagonist wandering through bloodied hotel corridors feels like a hybrid of slashers and psychological horror, a marriage that extended across multiple connected videos and live performances.

   Visual techniques to watch: single-character descent, recurring costuming as visual leitmotif, and practical effects deployed for low-budget realism.

9. Fever Ray — If I Had a Heart / To the Moon and Back (2009–2010s)

   Reference: Scandinavian folk horror and art-house dread

   Why it counts: Fever Rays videos are deliberate visual art pieces steeped in the atmosphere of northern folklore and slow-burning horror. The visuals borrow from landscape-based dread and ritualized imagery found in folk-horror films, using fog, ritual masks, and stark color to build an unsettling world rather than relying on jump scares.

   Visual techniques to watch: mythic costuming, stark natural backdrops, and ritual choreography to build a cumulative sense of dread.

10. Radio and indie outliers — the new wave of micro-homages (2020s–2026)

    Reference: Television horror and anthologies such as The Twilight Zone and modern prestige horror TV

    Why it counts: As music videos have shrunk to shorter attention spans on streaming and social platforms, a parallel movement of micro-homages emerged. Artists and directors reference specific TV horror moments — for example, the uncanny suburban dread of The Twilight Zone or the familial terror of recent prestige shows — compressed into under-90-second clips. These videos trade long-form atmosphere for distilled visual shorthand that still signals an explicit source to attentive fans.

    Visual techniques to watch: instantly recognizable shot compositions, retro title cards, and motif repetition that telegraphs the original source in microtime.

Why these homages matter in 2026

Since late 2024 and into 2025, we saw three trends converge that made horror homages in music videos more visible and influential than ever:

• Streaming platforms expanded long-form music video hosting and promoted cinematic visual albums as premium content.
• AI-assisted visual tools lowered the barrier to craft complex atmosphere, making high-production horror tropes accessible to indie creators.
• Nostalgia cycles and the popularity of anthology horror TV encouraged artists to package specific film references into their branding and marketing.

That context means Mitskis Hill House nod isnt just aesthetic window dressing. In 2026, explicit film homages function as narrative shorthand and as a community signal to fans who want to deconstruct references across audio, video, and transmedia promotions like Easter-egg phone lines and websites.

How to spot a deliberate film homage in a music video

If you want to start identifying and cataloging visual references, here are actionable steps used by researchers, critics, and superfans.

1. Frame for signature shots — Compare compositions to well-known film stills. A hallway shot with a central vanishing point often signals a Shining nod.
2. Listen for diegetic audio clues — Film homages often borrow cues or ambient sounds rather than musical themes to avoid direct copyright issues.
3. Check director and cinematographer notes — Interviews and press releases commonly disclose inspirations. Directors frequently name-check films when explaining palettes or camera moves.
4. Look for production design Easter eggs — Props, typography, and period set dressing are safe indicators, especially when they reproduce a film era.
5. Follow the rollout — Contemporary campaigns use ARGs, phone-ins, or short films to create a narrative ecosystem that makes the homage explicit.

Practical advice for creators who want to borrow horror motifs ethically

Borrowing from a film is a creative shortcut, but there are practical and legal considerations in 2026. Here are best practices used by directors and labels today.

• Transform, dont replicate — Homage works when it reinterprets the source material to comment or extend its themes. Faithful replication risks legal and aesthetic problems.
• Credit inspiration publicly — A director note or social-media caption acknowledging sources builds trust with fans and critics.
• Use fair use smartly — Avoid lifting actual film footage or soundtracks without clearance. Instead re-create atmospheres through lighting, lensing, and costume choices.
• Plan for AI-era issues — Generative tools can recreate an actors likeness or a film's visual style. In late 2025 platforms began adding style-attribution tools; stay on the right side of emerging guideline best practices and platform policies.
• Collaborate with practical-effects artists — Practical makeup and prosthetics read as more convincing to horror fans than cheap CGI, and they honor the tactile lineage of classic films.

How fans and podcasters can build compelling deep dives

Podcasters, video essayists, and community moderators who want to cover this material can follow a reproducible format that balances research and storytelling:

1. Start with the prompt — State the music video, the suspected film reference, and why it matters.
2. Play the evidence — Include short, legally permissible clips or stills, and describe parallels in mise-en-scene rather than relying on copyrighted footage where possible.
3. Bring expert voices — Interview directors, production designers, or film scholars to confirm influence.
4. Provide a research log — Timestamp sources: interviews, press notes, and contemporaneous reviews so listeners can verify claims.
5. Create a companion resource — Publish an illustrated guide or timeline that maps visual beats back to source scenes for your community to reference and debate.

Future predictions and trend watch for 2026 and beyond

Expect these developments across the next 12 to 24 months:

• More explicit transmedia rollouts — Artists will extend film homages into AR filters, short-form serials, or immersive listening experiences that let fans step into the referenced world.
• Curated horror-video playlists on streaming platforms
• Greater scrutiny of AI-styled homages — As generative visuals become common, audiences and rights holders will push for clearer labeling and creative transformations rather than style mimicry.
• Cross-pollination with TV horror — With prestige horror anthologies flourishing, music videos will increasingly borrow TV tropes as readily as they borrow films.