Psychedelic Horror to Melt Your Brain

Who says a bad trip can’t be fun?

I watched a movie over the weekend called Ash from Flying Lotus. It was a very interesting film from a visual perspective. The plot was a bit derivative, but it always kept my interest with its psychedelic visual style.

That got me thinking about psychedelic horror as a subgenre. Psychedelia can be summed up as a descriptor of the effects of hallucinogenic drugs (swirling vivid colors, repeating patterns, abstract shapes, etc.). It isn’t typically associated with horror which often relies on a pretty dark color palette, so it tends to stick out when it is applied to the genre. Without further ado, here are some of my favorite psychedelic horror films, comics, books, and games.

Films

Suspiria (1977) directed by Dario Argento

Arguably the most famous film from the master of giallo, Suspiria is also Argento’s most psychedelic film. It’s your classic tale of an American girl taking ballet in Germany while having to deal with a coven of murderous witches. That’s honestly one of the most straightforward plots for an Argento movie (please watch Phenomena for a much more bonkers Argento movie). Honestly, the plot of Suspiria doesn’t really matter. This film is all about vibes, and those vibes are decidedly psychedelic in nature. Argento’s use of color is striking, and the film becomes surreal nightmare as he uses that color palette to full effect. Just watch the trailer to see what I mean.

Lair of the White Worm (1988) directed by Ken Russell

There was no way I wasn’t going to include this absolutely bonkers film. It’s loosely based on the 1911 novel written by Bram Stoker of Dracula fame. When I say “loosely,” I mean they share the same title. That’s about it. It’s a movie about sexy snake vampires, and it stars very young versions of Hugh Grant and Peter Capaldi. What more could you want? If that wasn’t enough, it also features nightmarish dream sequences that feel like the worst acid trip of all time. I simply have to include a clip of one. Content warning for blood, nudity, sexual assault, and blasphemous images.

Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) and Mandy (2018) directed by Panos Cosmatos

I’m dropping both of these here because Panos Cosmatos is the modern master of psychedelic horror. Beyond the Black Rainbow is definitely the more abstract and trippier of the two. The plot revolves around a young woman with telepathic abilities who is imprisoned and subjected to experiments by a scientist who has had a break with sanity following experiments performed on him when he was younger. It’s a disturbing and surreal movie that’s far more concerned with the feelings it evokes rather than adherence to a strict narrative plot.

Mandy is the more accessible film, but it’s still an outrageous mindfuck of a movie. It’s a revenge movie at heart (with Nic Cage going full Nic Cage as the lead), but it operates with same kind of dream logic as Beyond the Black Rainbow. There are evil cults, demonic bikers, and even a chainsaw duel. There’s even an implication that the film might not even be set on Earth. It’s a wild ride of a movie, but it’s endlessly entertaining.

Annihilation (2018) directed by Alex Garland

I want to preface this by saying I have not yet read the novel this film is based on. If the movie is any indication, then you can be pretty certain that the book is also a great example of psychedelic horror. The premise of the film is that a meteor carrying some sort of alien life form has crashed along the coast of Florida and has begun infecting its surroundings as it spreads further and further outward in a region dubbed the Shimmer. It’s very reminiscent of the plot of Lovecraft’s “The Colour Out of Space” in that regard (as an aside, many Lovecraft stories and adaptations fall into the psychedelic horror subgenre). Annihilation is both beautiful and terrifying, and it’s a visual treat from start to finish.

Comic Books

Nameless (2015) by Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, and Nathan Fairbairn

The cover to Nameless #5 as drawn by Chris Burnham and colored by Nathan Fairbairn.

I’ve talked about Nameless before, so I won’t spend too much time rehashing it here. This series is practically the definition of psychedelic horror. It melds magic, aliens, tarot, hallucinations, demonic possession, and primordial elder gods into one giant bad trip. The series is really brought together by the art team of Chris Burnham and Nathan Fairbairn. They do an excellent job of juggling the grimy gore with the colorful cosmic aesthetics.

Injection (2015) by Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey, and Jordie Bellaire

The cover to Injection #1 as drawn by Declan Shalvey and colored by Jordie Bellaire.

Injection came out the same year as Nameless, and it tackles a lot of the same themes. It’s about an advanced artificial intelligence created through a combination of science and magic meant to jumpstart advancements in human culture. You’ll be shocked to learn that things don’t go as planned. Shalvey and Bellaire are a perfect combination to artistically portray this world of science and magic gone wrong.

Immortal Hulk (2018) by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Roy Jose, Paul Mounts, and various guest artists

The cover to Immortal Hulk #10 as drawn by Alex Ross.

This is another comic I’ve covered previously, and it certainly fits the bill of psychedelic horror. Most of that stems from the concept of the Green Door that was introduced in this run. It’s a gateway opened by gamma radiation that leads to a realm very reminiscent of Hell. Beings altered by gamma radiation pass through this gateway when they die, and they ultimately return to their bodies again as a form of immortality (hence the name). These sequences are beautifully illustrated throughout the series.

Novels

House of Leaves (2000) by Mark Z. Danielewski

This is one of my favorite novels of all time, and it’s because of its mind bending presentation that it makes this list. It’s a story about a man named Johnny Truant who has stumbled upon a book written by a man named Zampano that’s about a documentary film called The Navidson Record that’s about a house that is somehow larger on the inside than it is on the outside. Got all of that? The story is presented to the reader as a scholarly work as Truant organizes and publishes Zampano’s book while adding his own footnotes trying to make sense of what Zampano is writing as he is trying to make sense of what he’s seeing in the documentary. Everyone involved at each level of the story is also losing their grasp on reality, and the way the book is written becomes a manifestation of their own insanity.

An example of how the text of the novel is laid out in later chapters.

This book obviously isn’t for everyone, but it’s extremely rewarding for anyone interested in a truly unique reading experience.

Ghost Eaters (2023) by Clay McLeod Chapman

I’ve already written a good bit about this novel, so I’ll keep this brief. It’s a story about a drug made from a hallucinogenic fungus that allows the user to see and communicate with ghosts. Do I really need to explain how this counts as psychedelic horror? There are plenty of trippy sequences in this book, but my favorites might be the descriptions of ectoplasm being retched up by the users of these drugs.

As previously mentioned, there are many Lovecraft stories that fall under psychedelic horror as well.

Video Games

Still Wakes the Deep (2024)

Last but not least, I wanted to highlight this video game from last year. It’s a first-person survival horror game set aboard an oil rig in 1975 that accidentally releases some kind of Lovecraftian horror at the bottom of the ocean that begins infecting and mutating those it comes into contact with. It’s pretty gnarly, and it has some of the best voice acting I’ve heard in a video game. I’ll leave you with this short clip to illustrate just how psychedelic this game can get.