Welcome to The Children of Hammer - a celebration of the very best of UK Horror Punk as well as the hallowed horror history of these islands.
The Children of Hammer playlist is available on Spotify (and other platforms) and is my - completely unofficial, of course, attempt to highlight the very best output from the UK Horror Punk scene. Eventually I hope to turn this from an idea for a streaming playlist into a physical compilation, and on the 'official' side as well, but for now this exists online only and without absolutely zero authorisation from the bands included on it!
My thanks to Kez who produced the quite simply stunning artwork for this playlist/project.
Each song on the playlist is detailed below - continually updating, of course!
1 - 'Bury Me' - Siblings of Samhain
(from the Tales Of Love, Death & The Macabre album, 2022)
The opener on the final Siblings of Samhain album - the rather superb Tales Of Love, Death & The Macabre -
is a gothic horror punk song which sounds like it's straight out of the graveyard. Perfectly summing up what made the band one of the very best examples the UK has produced it's a rather traditional sounding horror punk song with a sombre atmosphere but highly memorable.
2 - 'Frankenstein Girl' - Toria and The Terror
(from The Operating Table EP, 2026)
Toria and The Terror are a glorious band - mixing horror punk sensibilities with gothic, metal and riot grrrl influences they are a band that should be the next big thing. This song opened their The Operating Table EP - a ferocious blast of fuzzy metal garage punk which paints a picture of horror whilst making a pointed critique of society. Always teetering on the edge of exploding, it's horror punk but not necessarily as we know it. It may just be better.
3 - 'Damned If You Do' - Midnight Feature
(from the Hex Rentals album, 2026)
Another band who have an extremely promising 2027 ahead of them, Midnight Feature deliver a slice of horror punk doo-wop in the best traditions of the genre; a nostalgic sound to get your toes tapping too, as it delivers a killer tale. Reminds me of Murderland - and as they are one of my favourite bands ever, that is very much a good thing.
4 - 'Lord of the Dark' - Lupen Tooth
(from the With Death We Come album, 2020)
Bristol's Lupen Tooth may no longer be with us, but their legacy will be enjoyed for generations. Eminently catchy, highly melodic horror punk with memorable hooks, With Death We Come can stake a claim at being the best album in the genre to emerge from this country. One of the best songs on a packed release, this is a hugely fun tale of being rejected for the charms of Satan himself and just drips with the band's quirky, macabre lyrics.
5 - 'Haunted House Of Love' - Zombina & The Skeletones
(from the In Sinistereo album, 2025 - originally on the In Sinistereo part 4 EP, 2017)
It wasn't going to take long before an appearance from Zombina and The Skeletones. The finest purveyors of UK horror punk have been the big guns, the main attraction, the numero uno of the scene for over two decades with their distinct mix of bubblegum, horror-filled punk. This one, from the excellent In Sinistereo album (and the last of the EP's of the same name before it) is classic Zombina - a sugar-coated tale of love in the guise of a haunted house. There is a reason they are at the top of the tree.
6 - 'Screamplay' - Esmeralda's Ghost
(from the Invasion Of The Zombee Girls album, 2026)
Esmeralda's Ghost bring a slice of Yorkshire to proceedings with the excellent Screamplay from the equally excellent Invasion Of The Zombee Girls. A solid piece of horror punk merging movie icon name-dropping with a bit of romance, it rumbles along and is catchy enough to bury itself in your head like some sort of very cool parasite.
7 - 'Pandora's Vinyl Curse' - das Ghoul
(from the More Spectral Manoeuvres In The Dark EP, 2024)
From the darkened depths of Oxfordshire emerge the shadowy, masked figures of das Ghoul. This song from their (at time of writing) latest release perfectly sums up the gothic-tinged, horror-stained terrorpop that makes them such a unique - and exceedingly good - band. An absolute killer of a song all about a cursed record delivered with the theatrical and catchy style they do so well.
8 - 'The Return of the Living Dead' - Garbage Day Massacre
(from The Return of the Living Dead single, 2024)
These Welsh bin men from the grave have a penchant for writing catchy horror punk tunes - perhaps none better an example of this being this very song. Recalling the iconic horror punk movie, this is an enormously fun, instantly memorable punk rock song from a band that has a bright (hi-vis even, you could say) future.
9 - 'Darkness' - Bats Bats Bats
(from the All My Friends Are Ghosts and Soon I Will Be Too album, 2025)
Bats Bats Bats take on the emotional-horror punk side of the genre, walking in the well-trodden footsteps of Creeper, Alkaline Trio and Salem, and deliver an album chock-full of great songs. Darkness is one of their best - a gloomy punk rock song with great hooks and a catchy chorus. Another UK band worth keeping a very eager eye on.
10 - 'Werewolf on Minimum Wage' - Zen the Heretic
(from the I'm in Love With a Satanist EP, 2026)
I don't know much about Zen the Heretic; seemingly a project from the owner of the Black Metal Archives label/blog, this is certainly not metal, Black or otherwise. Horror-themed tales of an extremely British nature (something we don't get a massive amount of), this one is a fabulously catchy, and funny, tale of your everyday werewolf working in a supermarket. The whole EP is worth a listen - it's like a horror/folk punk The King Blues. Sort of.
11 - 'Zombie Crew - Send More Paramedics
(from The Hallowed and the Heathen album, 2004)
I've been listening to Zombie Crew for more than 20 years and it never gets old. The UK's best undead thrashers Send More Paramedics released an all time classic with this; a riotous call to arms for the zombie army. It's not horror punk by-the-numbers, but yet it ain't just another thrash song - SMP's brand of crossover can unite the factions, and this... this... is their ultimate calling card.
12 - 'Forbidden Planet' - The Magnetic Monsters
(from the Wrong Side of Town album, 2025)
The North East of England is a bit of a hot spot for horror punk at the current time and this ode to an all time-classic B-movie is one of the best on The Magnetic Monsters debut album. Horror punk melodies, hooks and woah-oh-oh's but delivered with great lyrics.
13 - 'Scream Come True' - Al B. Damned
(originally from the For Old Times Stake album, 2015 - this version from the Horror Night, vol 2 compilation, 2017)
Legendary for both his self-named releases, as well as with The Texas Drag Queen Massacre and currently as frontman for South of Salem, Al B. Damned/Joey Draper brought the hard rocking, sleazy glam metal style of horror punk to the UK scene - and did it very well indeed. This song is the only one from Al B. Damned on Spotify, but it's a bit of a gem, showcasing the sort of sound that brought him, and TDQM, a legion of devoted fans.
14 - 'Through The Vast Of Night' - Headstone Horrors
(from the Headstone Horrors album, 2023)
15 - 'Monsters Prefer Blondes' - The Dead Beats
(from the Monsters Prefer Blondes' EP, 2022)
16 - 'Graveyard Shift' - Coffin Nails
(from The Dead Don't Get Older album, 2009)
17 - 'Sirenhead' - Soviet Blackout Frequency
(from The Port Hope Incident album, 2020)
18 - 'Jack the Ripper' - Oracular
(from Jack the Ripper single, 2026)
19 - 'City of the Living Dead' - Vampire Death
(from the Rock! Horror! Punk! album, 2019)
20 - 'Made to Be Mine' - South of Salem
(from The Sinner Takes It All album, 2020)
21 - 'Trip to the Morgue' - Acid Cauldron
(from the Haunted House EP, 2026)
22 - 'Nightbreed' - Gravedale High
(from the Good Sense of Horror album, 2012)
23 - 'F.E.A.R.' - Haddonwood
(from the Deadcase album, 2025)
24 - 'Dungeon girl' - A Murder of Crows
(from the Ghouls, Gaels & Gaols EP, 2024)
25 - 'Destroy Me' - Salem
(from the Salem EP, and released as a single, both 2020)
26 - 'Hammer Horror Glamour' - Devilish Presley
27 - 'Santa Clara' - Hellbound Heist
28 - '2 Scoops of Brain' - Zombina & The Skeletones
29 - 'This Is Hell (On Earth)' - Dead Pleasures
30 - 'She Must Die' - The Ruined
31 - 'Night Creatures' - Screaming Dead
32 - 'Evil Dead' - Nightwalker
33 - 'Charlie Chainsaw' - Planet Strange
34 - 'Horrors Of The Crown Hotel' - Lesbian Bed Death
35 - 'Another Horror Story' - So Long Until the Séance
36 - 'Black Mass' - Creeper
37 - 'Gravedigger's Wife' - In Dante's Eclipse
38 - 'Demons Of Dockside' - Keghammer
39 - 'Formaldehyde Face' - VxHxS
40 - 'Pumpkin People' - Crater Creek
41 - 'Leather & Velvet' - The TV Casualties
42 - 'Undead Again' - Covenless
43 - 'Fresh Meat' - Zombiehater
44 - 'Cemetery Love Song' - Hallows Deadman
45 - 'Blood from the Mummy's Tomb' - Devilish Presley
46 - 'Evil Science' - Zombina & The Skeletones
47 - 'She Likes It Spooky' - Doctor Caligari
48 - 'She Doesn't Like Misfits Anymore' - Lupen Tooth
49 - 'Fuck You (If You're Not Bruce Campbell)' - Damage 66
50 - 'Bring out Your Dead' - Lesbian Bed Death
Alternative Playlist covers:
Before the incredible work from Kez on the artwork for the playlist, I did have a pop at doing some Hammer horror (and others!) inspired covers. When I say inspired I of course mean I took the original posters from films and just made changed them for The Children of Hammer concept!
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| My first attempt at a cover, this is taken from the US poster for Horror of Dracula - the American title of the original Christopher Lee Dracula film. |
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| Based on the Blood From The Mummy's Tomb poster which is rather iconic. |
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| Not just Hammer of course - The Blood on Satan's Claw is an all time classic and I make no excuses for my love of the unholy trinity of UK folk horror films. An all time great poster. |
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| Toyed around with trying a different name for each 'part' of the playlist - this would have been one such part. Same poster as above but just a different name! |
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| Have you rewatched Ghostwatch recently? It's fucking terrifying. Genuinely one of the finest pieces of horror ever conceived, especially relevant in today's 'reality' obsessed world. Thought about doing a playlist with this as the cover - didn't in the end but it is an iconic image. |
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| I'm not actually the biggest fan of The Descent but wanted to see if there could be a poster based on a more-modern film. |
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| Don't really need an explanation for this one - it's iconic and covers not only the music and film influence but has a massive Castlevania vibe, so somewhat of a triumph all round (the original that is - my hack attempt at altering it is my usual amateur-hour DIY attempt. Still good fun though!) |
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| I took way too long altering this one, which of course is from Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. Another example of just how good these original Hammer posters are though. What an image. |
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