Nightmare Fuel / Halsey

• The trailer for her debut album, Badlands, manages to pack an incredible amount of unsettling into just under two minutes.
  • The monologue of the Badlands trailer narrated by Halsey.
    "Hello and I'm sorry.
    A salutation and a farewell.
    I don't have much time.

    This times new roman is gonna fly from my fingertips like a plague of moths,
    The hollow black leather shells crunch into the ground,
    Like the skin of a cicada.

    This is all that's left.
    And you can do whatever you want with it.
    Keep it to yourself or let it serve as a warning.

    This city is disgusting,
    A corpse of what it used to be.
    The people are filthy, gluttonous,
    Ruled by the power exchange of sex from the hands of the proletariat to the bourgeoise.

    The tops of the skylines buzz with the lacklustre enthusiasm,
    The ground level is caked in dirt and rust and grime,
    And the people that dwell there awaken,
    Rub the filmy layer off their lukewarm eyes.

    There's some here I love,
    Some who fear me,
    And some who wish I was dead.

    I didn't ask for this.
    No one asks for this.
    You're born into it."
• The opening monologue for "New Americana" against the eerie static video:
  "We were a community. They made me their leader when I never asked to be. But the lightning in their eyes huddled me into whatever they needed me to become. We were hopeful we would win, because nothing could scare us. We feared no city, and we feared no man..."
• The chorus of "Control" is unnerving when the lyrics are taken into consideration. To elaborate a bit on that, the song "Control" is a personification of Halsey's Bipolar Disorder [1] and, as typical of mental illnesses, it borders on frightening to those affected by them:
  And all the kids cried out,
  "Please stop, you're scaring me!"
  I can't help this awful energy!
  Goddamn right, you should be scared of me!
  Who is in control?
  • The first verse of Control is sung along a very unnerving piano melody. Listen for yourself.
• "Gasoline". Specifically, the chorus; it sounds very unnerving, especially for anyone struggling with mental disorders.
  And all the people say,
  You can't wake up, this is not a dream!
  You're part of a machine and you're not a human being!
  With your face all made up, living on a screen
  Low on self-esteem, so you run on Gasoline!"
  I think there's a fault in my code!
  These voices won't leave me alone!
• In "Graveyard", Halsey discusses a relationship that is toxic yet they still loves the person the songs about. The second verse discusses how they're locked in a car with him, and he's driving under the influence. Thankfully the song is about knowing where to draw the line in relationships, or it could have ended fatally for both parties.
  You look at me
  With eyes so dark, don't know how you even see
  You push right through me
  It's gettin' real
  You lock the door, you're drunk at the steering wheel
  And I can't conceal...
• "The Tradition" the opening track of Halsey's If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power pulls no punches. The song is straightforward focusing on a woman who's been forced into sex work and how her spirit is badly broken. The chorus doesn't help, as it's told from the perspective of the man selling her, and he is utterly callous when trying to sell her off to other men. It paints a very nasty picture of how some men treat women, not just sex workers.
  So take what you want, take what you can
  Take what you please, don't give a damn
  Ask for forgiveness, never permission
  Take what you want, take what you can
  Take what you please, don't givе a damn
  It's in the blood and this is tradition
• "The Lighthouse" talks about a woman who's corrupted by the Devil one day on the sea and turns into a siren, leading other men to their deaths. She leaves them stranded and begging for death, she just laughs at them.
• Halsey sing-whispering the lyrics "you do not want this!" in the song "Whispers" sounds unnerving. Especially for those suffering through some undiagnosed mental disorders like bipolar.
• In September 2021, a dramatic live video for the song "I Am Not a Woman, I'm a God" was performed live, in which Halsey is looking directly at the audience against a dark backdrop and is splashed with blood while singing the track.