23+ Horror Musicals – A Full List of Scary Shows

Whether you’re looking for the perfect scary musical to produce or simply looking for some new musicals to get into, there are lots of spooky options at your disposal. And that’s why we’ve put together this full list of horror musicals for you!

The following list is broken down into the following categories: “Comedic Horror Musicals”, “Horror Musicals”, and “Spooky/Scary Musicals”.

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Comedic Horror Musicals

Bat Boy

Music/Lyrics: Laurence O’Keefe  Book: Keythe Farley, Brian Flemming

Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)

Genre: Comedic Horror/Paranormal Fantasy


Beetlejuice

Music/Lyrics: Eddie Perfect  Book: Scott Brown, Anthony King

Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)

Genre: Comedic Horror


Black Friday

Music/Lyrics: Jeff Blim  Book: Matt Lang, Nick Lang

Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)

Genre: Comedic Horror


Evil Dead

Music/Lyrics/Book: George Reinblatt  Music: Christopher Bond, Frank Cipolla, Melissa Morris

Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)

Genre: Parody/Paranormal Fantasy


Goosebumps

Music/Lyrics: Danny Abosch  Lyrics/Book: John Maclay

Musical Type: Contemporary (2016)

Genre: Comedic Horror


Little Shop of Horrors

Music: Alan Menken  Lyrics/Book: Howard Ashman

Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1982)

Genre: Comedic Horror/Paranormal Fantasy


Silence!

Music/Lyrics: Jon Kaplan, Al Kaplan  Book: Hunter Bell

Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)

Genre: Parody


Stranger Sings!

Music/Lyrics/Book: Jonathan Hogue

Musical Type: Contemporary (2021)

Genre: Comedic Horror/Parody


Tanz der Vampire

Music/Lyrics/Book: Jim Steinman  Lyrics/Book: Michael Kunze  Book: David Ives

Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)

Genre: Comedic Horror


The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals

Music/Lyrics: Jeff Blim  Book: Nick Lang, Matt Lang

Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)

Genre: Comedic Horror


The Rocky Horror Show

Music/Lyrics/Book: Richard O’Brien

Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1973)

Genre: Parody/Sci-Fi


The Toxic Avenger

Music/Lyrics: David Bryan  Lyrics/Book: Joe DiPietro

Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)

Genre: Comedic Horror/Paranormal Fantasy


Young Frankenstein

Music/Lyrics/Book: Mel Brooks  Book: Thomas Meehan

Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)

Genre: Comedic Horror


Horror Musicals

The following musicals are straight-up terrifying, falling very nicely into the “horror” genre.


American Psycho

Music/Lyrics: Duncan Sheik  Book: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)

Genre: Horror


Carrie

Music: Michael Gore  Lyrics: Dean Pitchford  Book: Lawrence D. Cohen

Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1988)

Genre: Horror


Dracula

Music: Frank Wildhorn  Lyrics/Book: Don Black, Christopher Hampton

Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)

Genre: Horror/Paranormal Fantasy


Frankenstein

Music: Mark Baron  Lyrics/Book: Jeffrey Jackson

Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)

Genre: Horror/Paranormal Fantasy


Phantom

Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston  Book: Arthur Kopit

Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1991)

Genre: Drama/Horror


Sweeney Todd

Music/Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim  Book: Hugh Wheeler

Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1979)

Genre: Horror


Spooky/Scary Musicals

The following shows fall more into the category of being spooky, scary, or musical thrillers.


Ghost

Music/Lyrics: Dave Stewart, Glen Ballard  Lyrics/Book: Bruce Joel Rubin

Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)

Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Thriller


Ghost Quartet

Music/Lyrics/Book: Dave Malloy

Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)

Genre: Song Cycle/Paranormal Fantasy


Heathers

Music/Lyrics/Book: Laurence O’Keefe, Kevin Murphy

Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)

Genre: Dark Comedy


Jekyll & Hyde

Music: Frank Wildhorn  Lyrics/Book: Leslie Bricusse

Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1990)

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy


Judy’s Scary Little Christmas

Music/Lyrics: Joe Patrick Ward  Book: David Church, Jim Webber

Musical Type: Contemporary (2002)

Genre: Dark Comedy


Lestat

Music: Elton John  Lyrics: Bernie Taupin  Book: Linda Woolverton

Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy


Lizzie

Music/Lyrics: Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Alan Stevens Hewitt  Music/Lyrics/Book: Tim Maner

Musical Type: Contemporary (2009)

Genre: Thriller


Ride the Cyclone

Music/Lyrics/Book: Brooke Maxwell, Jacob Richmond

Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)

Genre: Dark Comedy


The Phantom of the Opera

Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber  Lyrics: Charles Hart  Lyrics/Book: Richard Stilgoe

Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1986)

Genre: Thriller/Mystery


The Woman in White

Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber  Lyrics: David Zippel  Book: Charlotte Jones

Musical Type: Contemporary (2004)

Genre: Thriller/Mystery


We Are the Tigers

Music/Lyrics/Book: Preston Max Allen

Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)

Genre: Murder Mystery


Related Posts:

Dark Musicals

Fantasy Musicals

Halloween Musicals

Mystery Musicals

Zombie Musicals


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Which of these horror musicals is your favorite?

Or have you ever played a role in any of the above horror musicals? Feel free to share in the comments below! And if you like these types of lists, check out the musical database. That’s where you’ll find musicals sorted by composer, theme, setting, and more!


Stacy Karyn, author of Horror Musicals.
Author: Stacy Karyn

Stacy Karyn is the founder of Theatre Trip, author of The Thespian’s Bucket List, and creator of The Cast Album List. She has a TESOL drama certificate, a BA in theatre, and has worked and interned with Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters.


 

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