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”.
To enhance your experience, pop on Theatre Trip’s Spotify playlist – “Musical Theatre’s Dark Side”➝.
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Comedic Horror Musicals
Music/Lyrics: Laurence O’Keefe Book: Keythe Farley, Brian Flemming
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1997)
Genre: Comedic Horror/Paranormal Fantasy
Music/Lyrics: Eddie Perfect Book: Scott Brown, Anthony King
Musical Type: Contemporary (2018)
Genre: Comedic Horror
Music/Lyrics: Jeff Blim Book: Matt Lang, Nick Lang
Musical Type: Contemporary (2019)
Genre: Comedic Horror
Music/Lyrics/Book: George Reinblatt Music: Christopher Bond, Frank Cipolla, Melissa Morris
Musical Type: Contemporary (2003)
Genre: Parody/Paranormal Fantasy
Music/Lyrics: Danny Abosch Lyrics/Book: John Maclay
Musical Type: Contemporary (2016)
Genre: Comedic Horror
Music: Alan Menken Lyrics/Book: Howard Ashman
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1982)
Genre: Comedic Horror/Paranormal Fantasy
Music/Lyrics: Jon Kaplan, Al Kaplan Book: Hunter Bell
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Genre: Parody
Music/Lyrics/Book: Jonathan Hogue
Musical Type: Contemporary (2021)
Genre: Comedic Horror/Parody
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
Music/Lyrics/Book: Richard O’Brien
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1973)
Genre: Parody/Sci-Fi
Music/Lyrics: David Bryan Lyrics/Book: Joe DiPietro
Musical Type: Contemporary (2008)
Genre: Comedic Horror/Paranormal Fantasy
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.
Music/Lyrics: Duncan Sheik Book: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Musical Type: Contemporary (2013)
Genre: Horror
Music: Michael Gore Lyrics: Dean Pitchford Book: Lawrence D. Cohen
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1988)
Genre: Horror
Music: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics/Book: Don Black, Christopher Hampton
Musical Type: Contemporary (2001)
Genre: Horror/Paranormal Fantasy
Music: Mark Baron Lyrics/Book: Jeffrey Jackson
Musical Type: Contemporary (2007)
Genre: Horror/Paranormal Fantasy
Music/Lyrics: Maury Yeston Book: Arthur Kopit
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1991)
Genre: Drama/Horror
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.
Music/Lyrics: Dave Stewart, Glen Ballard Lyrics/Book: Bruce Joel Rubin
Musical Type: Contemporary (2011)
Genre: Fantasy/Romantic Thriller
Music/Lyrics/Book: Dave Malloy
Musical Type: Contemporary (2014)
Genre: Song Cycle/Paranormal Fantasy
Music/Lyrics/Book: Laurence O’Keefe, Kevin Murphy
Musical Type: Contemporary (2010)
Genre: Dark Comedy
Music: Frank Wildhorn Lyrics/Book: Leslie Bricusse
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1990)
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Music: Elton John Lyrics: Bernie Taupin Book: Linda Woolverton
Musical Type: Contemporary (2005)
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Music/Lyrics: Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Alan Stevens Hewitt Music/Lyrics/Book: Tim Maner
Musical Type: Contemporary (2009)
Genre: Thriller
Music/Lyrics/Book: Brooke Maxwell, Jacob Richmond
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Genre: Dark Comedy
Music/Book: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: Charles Hart Lyrics/Book: Richard Stilgoe
Musical Type: Pre-Contemporary (1986)
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: David Zippel Book: Charlotte Jones
Musical Type: Contemporary (2004)
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Music/Lyrics/Book: Preston Max Allen
Musical Type: Contemporary (2015)
Genre: Murder Mystery
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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!
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 holds a BA in theatre, a TESOL drama certificate, and has worked and interned with Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters.