Ever since Black Sabbath named themselves after a horror movie and started writing dark, foreboding songs that buzzed with menace and defiance, fans and creators of hair-raising films and metal made a run into the darkness. In the latest episode of Backstaged, we dare to peer into the darkest parts of human nature through the lens of metal music and horror. Alice Cooper explains how he invented horror rock and Rob Zombie and Dee Snider talk about their entry into the world of horror moviemaking. Members of Pantera, Metallica, Anthrax, Cannibal Corpse and more describe the inextricable link between metal and horror.

Backstaged: Welcome To Their Nightmares

- Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo says horror movies and extreme metal are outlets for people who don’t deny death and accept the pain and tragedy of life. 

- Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett celebrates the darkness and gloom of metal music and horror and says guitar playing acts as a form of therapy and saved his life numerous times when he was younger. 

- Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian explains his love for the catharsis and excitement of metal and horror and considers them to be two sides of the same coin. 

- White Zombie founder and filmmaker Rob Zombie explains how he’s been drawn to horror and metal music since he was young. 

- Alice Cooper talks about how he sustained real injuries during his shows’ choreographed switchblade fights. 

- Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider is baffled by the love his character Captain Howdy in the 1998 horror film Strangeland gets from young women. 

- Film composer and Zombi bass guitarist Steve Moore states he views metal music as a reflection of the political, ecological and social traumas of the ‘90s. 

- Cannibal Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz says he and his bandmates always sought out the most extreme entertainment they could find, both in film and music. 

- Horror author Jeremy Wagner explains his fascination with horror and death. 

Listen to Backstaged: Welcome To Their Nightmares here.

Following is an excerpt from the interview with Metalica guitarist Kirk Hammett:

"I had a bad childhood. I experienced a lot of darkness early on in my life that I probably shouldn't have been exposed to. Unfortunate things happened to me as a child, and so that real-life darkness came to me way too early in my life. Basically, guitar playing and music saved my life and it was a type of therapy for me. It made me feel better when I knew that I wasn't feeling great. I was so young. I didn't understand why I was feeling this way, and I didn't know this was because of circumstances and situations. I didn't put that together.

I just knew that guitar playing helped me feel better and calmed me down as an adolescent, as a teenager, as an adult, up to like now. I mean, I have a lot of anxiety and I'm prone to depression, like most people. My guitar helps me through all that. A good heavy metal song is like a good horror movie; it's intense, it's unpredictable, it has a lot of the same feelings, of the darker things in life. Your brain just gets that feeling. Like myself, there's a lot of people out there that when they hear that darkness, that gloom, it's cathartic. It feels good. It feels like you can get to the darker parts of your life and experience them without really experiencing them."