Today’s song of the day is one that was used so memorably in An American Werewolf In London. From Creedence Clearwater Revival, here is Bad Moon Rising.
Bad Moon Rising
I see a bad moon rising. I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes and lightning. I see bad times today.
Don’t go around tonight, Well, it’s bound to take your life, There’s a bad moon on the rise.
I hear hurricanes a-blowin’. I know the end is comin’ soon. I feel rivers overflowin’. I hear the voice of rage and ruin.
Don’t go around tonight, Well, it’s bound to take your life, There’s a bad moon on the rise. Alright!
Hope you got your things together. Hope you are quite prepared to die. Looks like we’re in for nasty weather. One eye is taken for an eye.
Well, don’t go round tonight, Well, it’s bound to take your life, There’s a bad moon on the rise.
Don’t come around tonight, Well, it’s bound to take your life, There’s a bad moon on the rise.
Inferno (1980, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Romana Albano)
Today’s horror song of the day comes from Keith Emerson’s soundtrack of Dario Argento’s Inferno. Emerson did not have an enviable task, having to follow up Goblin’s soundtrack for Suspiria. But Emerson pulled it off, crafting a score that compliments Goblin’s earlier work while maintaining an identity of its own.
Today would have been the 101st birthday of the pioneering indie director, Edward D. Wood, Jr!
Today’s song of the day is the theme from Tim Burton’s 1994 biopic of the director. In my opinion, this remains Burton’s first film. Burton also directed the musical video below while the great Toni Basil choreographed. And, best of all, the dancer is named Lisa Marie!
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the one and only Sigourney Weaver. Seen here with Jonesy the Cat, Weaver will always be best-remembered for bringing to life Ellen Ripley and totally revolutionizing both horror and science fiction!
Today’s song of the day comes from Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic score for Alien.
For today’s horror song of the day, we have Demon, a track from the soundtrack for the 1985 film, Demons. This song was composed and performed by Claudio Simonetti, who is best known as the keyboardist of Goblin.
The music video, incidentally, was directed by Michele Soavi, who also appeared in Demons as the mysterious masked man handing out free movie tickets.
Today’s horror song comes the hypnotic soundtrack of Paul Schrader’s Cat People. This song was so good that it later showed up and was used to equally strong effect in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.
The 1986 film, Raiders of the Living Dead, features what may be the greatest song ever written about zombies. For your listening pleasure, here is George Edward Lott’s The Dead Are After Me!
It’s been a while, but I’ve always thought of October as the best month for Through the Shattered Lens. The site has always leaned into sci‑fi and horror at its core—and in the early days, it was especially heavy on the horror side of things. That was really the big common thread between Lisa Marie and me when we first got started here.
So, as part of easing my way back into being a little more active on a site I’ve watched grow for over 16 years, I wanted to spotlight something that’s stuck with me for decades: “Damien,” the ninth track off DMX’s 1998 debut album It’s Dark and Hell is Hot. That record catapulted DMX—Earl Simmons—into instant superstardom.
“Damien” has always been the track I kept coming back to, even years after the album first dropped. The album itself was pure fire: a mix of chest‑thumping, hyper‑aggressive tracks laced with one of the rawest and most distinctive voices hip‑hop had seen since the losses of Biggie and Tupac. At the time, some even saw DMX as their natural successor.
But “Damien” stood apart. The song oozes dark energy, hitting like lyrical possession from start to finish. Built around a haunting sample from Stanley Clarke’s “Slow Dance,” the beat sets the stage for DMX to pour out a narrative of bad breaks, self‑inflicted wounds, and a desperate search for a guardian angel—only to meet something else entirely. Instead of an angel, he finds Damien, a voice offering help but radiating malevolence.
When “D” first enters the track, he plays almost like a mischievous accomplice, a shadowy partner in crime. But as the verses build, that “help” morphs into something more toxic, more sinister—a presence that feeds off the chaos it creates.
DMX’s debut wasn’t just a hit album; it pushed horrorcore rap into the mainstream in a way few had managed before. With “Damien,” he delivered one of the most chilling, unforgettable examples of horror woven directly into hip‑hop—a track that feels just as unsettling now as it did back in ’98.
Damien
Uh, Def Jam Uh, Ruff Ryders Uh, my nigga TP, creep with me
Why is it every move I make turns out to be a bad one? Where’s my guardian angel? Need one, wish I had one I’m right here, shorty, and I’ma hold you down You trying to fuck all these bitches? I’ma show you how But who-? (Name’s D, like you, but my friends call me Damien) And I’ma put you hip to something (uh-huh) about this game we in You and me could take it there, and you’ll be The hottest nigga ever living (that’s a given?) You’ll see Hmm, that’s what I’ve been wanting all my life Thinkin’ about my little man, so I call my wife Well, your dada is about to make it happen (What you mean, my nigga?) I’m about to make it rapping Today I met this cat, he said his name was Damien He thinks that we’re a lot alike and wants to be my friend (You mean like Chuckie?) Ha ha, yeah, just like Chuckie (Dada, looks like we both lucky) Yeah
The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog? The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog? The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog? The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog?
Ay-yo, D (What up, D?) You’s a smooth nigga I seen you when nobody knew who pulled the trigger Yeah, you know, it’s always over dough You sure? I could have swore it was over a hoe Nah, nah, that ain’t my style (igga, you stay fronting) But you’re still my man, and I ain’t gonna say nothin’ Got some weed? Go ‘head, smoke it (what?) Go ‘head, drink it (what?) Go ‘head and fuck shorty, you know I can keep a secret (aight) I’m about to have you driving, probably a Benz But we gotta stay friends, blood out, blood in Sounds good to me, fuck it, what I got to lose? Hmm, nothin’ I can think of, any nigga would choose Got me pushing the whips, takin’ trips across seas Pockets stay laced, nigga, I floss Gs For that nigga I would bleed, give him my right hand Now that I think about it, yo, that’s my man!
The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog? The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog? The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog? The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog?
You like how everything is going? You like what I gave ya? You know if you was going down, I’d be the one to save ya But yo, I need a favor, these cats across town hate me Plus their behavior hasn’t been too good lately What? Anything for you, dog, where them niggas at? 38th from Broadway (aight, let me get the gat) Run up on ’em strapped, bust off caps in four niggas Laid low for ’bout a month then killed two more niggas Now I’m ready to chill, but you still want me to kill Look at what I did for you! Dog, come on, keep it real! Aight, fuck it, I’ma do it, who is it this time? Ayy-yo, remember that kid Sean you used to be with in ’89? Nah, that’s my man! (I thought I was your man?) But yo, that’s my nigga (hey, who’s your biggest fan?) Either do it or give me your right hand, that’s what you said I see now, it ain’t nothing but trouble ahead (uh-huh)
The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog? The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog? The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog? The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog?
In the fog, the fog, living in the fog How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog? How you gon’ see him if you living in the fog? The snake, the rat, the cat, the dog To be continued, motherfuckers Ah-hahahahaha
Through the Shattered Lens 