"Horror Business" is the third single released by the American horror punk band Misfits. It was released on June 26, 1979, through vocalist Glenn Danzig's own label, Plan 9 Records, and is commonly said to have been inspired by the unsolved murder of Nancy Spungen. The B-side of the single features the songs "Teenagers from Mars" and "Children in Heat".
The single's cover artwork features the titular character from the 1946 film serial The Crimson Ghost. The skeletal figure became a mascot for the band, and its skull image would serve as the Misfits' logo for the rest of their career.
Background and recording
On October 12, 1978, the body of Nancy Spungen was discovered in the bathroom of her room at the Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City. Spungen had been living at the hotel with her boyfriend, Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious. Her body was found with a fatal stab wound in her abdomen, Vicious was arrested and charged with second degree murder, and after pleading not guilty he was released on bail, awaiting trial. On the evening of February 1, 1979, a small group of Vicious's friends, including Misfits bassist Jerry Only, gathered to celebrate Vicious having made bail at his new girlfriend Michelle Robinson's Greenwich Village apartment. Vicious had undergone a detoxification program during his time in jail at Rikers Island, but at the dinner gathering, Vicious had English photographer Peter "Kodick" Gravelle deliver him heroin. Vicious died of an overdose at some point during the night, and was discovered by his mother, Anne Beverley, and Robinson the following morning. and invited her to attend a Misfits recording session. "Horror Business", "Teenagers from Mars", and "Children in Heat" were recorded from January 26 to February 5, 1979, at C.I. Studios in New York, where the band had recorded their proposed debut album Static Age a year prior. Beverley attended at least one of the sessions. Writer and vocalist Glenn Danzig insisted that the band record as many tracks as possible during their allotted time in the studio in an effort to save money.
The title track, "Horror Business", contains lyrics such as "You don't go in the bathroom with me" and "I'll put a knife right in you". Because of such lyrics, along with the connections between the Misfits and Vicious, the song is commonly said to have been based on the unsolved murder of Spungen. which features a scene involving a character being stabbed to death in a bathroom. The second pressing, from August 1979, consisted of 2,000 copies on yellow vinyl. Many copies contained an insert with a fabricated story claiming that the band had recorded the single in an abandoned haunted house in New Jersey, and that, when later mixing the tapes at a recording studio in New York City, they heard strange voices and noises in the background of the recordings. A live version of "Horror Business" was included on the EP and album Evilive, released in 1982 and 1987, respectively. Eduardo Rivadavia of Ultimate Classic Rock also ranked the song #7 on his list of the top 10 Misfits songs, comparing the track's "knuckle-scraping riffs" and Danzig's "distinctively punchy pronunciation" to the music of the Ramones. Aaron Lariviere of Stereogum ranked the track #9 on his list of the best Misfits songs, calling it an example of a Misfits song with lyrics that are "just awesome".