HORROR TEN SPOT: Top 10 Horror Voices

Last Updated on August 3, 2021

A lot of things make for great horror, but ya got nothing without an awesome villain. Now some of them are nasty creatures, others just stalk you with single-minded evil. But there are some out there that really f*ck you up with their creepy azz voice.

How do you know you have a winner? Especially when so many of our best have been parodied to death? It’s simple really. Imagine yourself walking through a parking garage at night. As you’re about to unlock your car, you hear, right over your shoulder – THAT voice. If your sphincter tightens a little at that thought, then the voice is a winner.

So let’s get to it, and don’t forget to exercise your horror voice by spitting bullets!

1. Billy; BLACK CHRISTMAS (ORIGINAL)

What? The? F*ck? That pretty much sums up my first impression when Billy boy (girl? whatever) started those phone hijinx. I was generally unsettled for about a month after I saw the movie anytime the phone rang. This flick made me feel about being on the telephone the way JAWS made me feel about being in the water. In fact, I still owe an apology to a couple of late evening telemarketers, though quite frankly they sorta had it coming.

2. Hannibal Lecter; THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

I once saw an interview with John Lithgow, who had auditioned for the role of Hannibal Lecter, and he was asked how he would have played the role differently. His response was that Anthony Hopkins created such a pitch perfect character that it was impossible to address the question. Lecter could be nothing other than what Hopkins made him. Further evidence of that is Brian Cox’s turn in the role in Michael Mann’s Red Dragon adaptation MANHUNTER. Cox does an excellent job, but he’s just not Lecter. Seriously, who else in the world could make fava beans sound sinister.

3. Pinhead; THE HELLRAISER SERIES

I’ve focused on individual movies for most of these, because no matter how badass the villain, there always seems to be a tendency for one performance to be stronger, more definitively evil than another. But with Pinhead, he’s just one bad mofo from start to finish. In fact his presence is the only thing that makes a number of the lengthy list of sequels bearable. So while the movies vary in quality, dear ‘ole Pinhead never wavers.

4. Candyman; CANDYMAN

Not too many voices can cause your marrow to shake, but the C-man gets it done. It’s not only the deep resonant bass of his delivery, but the fact that Tony Todd sounds so damn charming, and persuasive, as he gets his victims to give him his due. Rarely do we get to see a legitimate example of how evil does what evil does. This voice, along with no small help from the mind of Clive Barker, makes a strong and terrifying case.

5. Freddy Krueger; A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

Ah Freddy. The man, the myth, the psychotic child killer. How Wes Craven saw past Robert Englund as that sweet lizard alien in V, to let him create the burned up creature of our nightmares is anyone’s guess, but thank everything scary he did. Sure the character got shticky and kinda ridiculous as the series went on, but that first movie turned terror into an all the time thing, and seared Freddy’s charred, gravelly timbre into all of our nightmares.

6. Ghostface, SCREAM

“Do you like scary movies?” With one awesome question it felt like the slasher genre got a Pulp Fiction-ish shot n the ass. Of course, like Pulp Fiction, the stream of imitators all paled in comparison to the original, but SCREAM did it up right. And a lot of the credit goes to the simple scare tactic of a creepy anonymous voice on the phone. So let’s revisit the question – “Do you like scary movies?”

7. Rusty Nail; JOY RIDE

I will never in my lifetime talk to anyone on a CB radio, and the reason for that is Rusty Nail. He rips people’s jaws off. He has a superspy like ability to track you. And he’s got a voice that you very much believe belongs to a man who enjoys eating puppies (or at least cutting girls’ skin off and making a dress out of it). The only thing that would keep me from driving myself into the nearest ravine if I heard that voice in my car is if said car was K.I.T.T. and I could just let him respond…and drive.

8. Djinn; WISHMASTER

“Be careful what you wish for” indeed. Here’s a tip. If your Genie-dude insists on looking at you through hooded eyes and has a voice like sandpaper drenched in oil, clamp your mouth shut and run the other way. He’s going to make sure that things go bad otherwise. I mean, hell, this magic man kicks so much ass that he even got the drop on Tony Todd. Tell me that doesn’t make you pee in your pants just a little.

9. Chucky; CHILD’S PLAY

Brad Dourif may not possess the most terrifying vocal chords ever, and Chucky has lost most of his menace as the series went a more comedic path. That said, the first time Chucky springs to life in the mom’s arms is one of the best moments of delayed expectation being fulfilled in the history of cinema. Genius in concept. Sublime in execution.

10. Captain Spaulding; THE DEVIL’S REJECTS

What’s the matter? Don’t you think he’s f*cking funny! Spaulding kicked much ass in HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, but TDR is where he really sprung to life in full voiced, foul mouthed glory. The character was as much comic relief as menacing figure in the first flick, but come sequel time he dropped the silly airs and got down to some f*cking clown bizness.