History NightmareFuel / Eminem

->''You're not afraid of the dark, are you?''
-->--'''Slim Shady''' shortly before explaining why you ''should'' be, "Music Box"

Eminem made a name for himself as one of the most twistedly creative lyricists in all of rap music (as well as just music in general), his songs running the gamut from darkly hilarious to just plain dark. This is in part because of his in-depth knowledge of the horror conventions which, when combined with [[CreatorBreakdown/{{Eminem}} the horrors he's suffered throughout his life]], made for a catalogue of songs [[NightmareFuel guaranteed to make you pray for the light of day right away]].

-->NOW BLEED BITCH BLEED!

--> "When I wrote it, it was meant to have someone like Music/MarilynManson or Music/OzzyOsbourne sing the hook, so I said, “Em, go in there and just sing the hook so that we have it on tape and then we can show Marilyn or whoever we’re going to get on there what the part is supposed to be.” And then I’m like, “Ah, forget it. You sound great. It’s out of tune, it’s perfect, it sounds raw.“ And that was part of what his sound was. Early Eminem was kind of raw.

Eminem made a name for himself as one of the most twistedly creative lyricists in all of rap music, his songs running the gamut from darkly hilarious to just plain dark. This is in part because of his in-depth knowledge of the horror conventions which, when combined with [[CreatorBreakdown/{{Eminem}} the horrors he's suffered throughout his life]], made for a catalogue of songs [[NightmareFuel guaranteed to make you pray for the light of day right away]].

-->Now bleed, bitch, bleed!
-->[[CarefulWithThatAxe BLEED, BITCH, BLEED!]]
-->[[HellIsThatNoise BLEEEEEEEEEEED!]]

Eminem made a name for himself as one of the most twistedly creative lyricists in all of rap music, his songs running the gamut from darkly hilarious to just plain dark. This is in part because of his in-depth knowledge of the horror conventions which, when combined with [[CreatorBreakdown/{{Eminem}} the horrors he's sufferee throughout his life]], made for a catalogue of songs [[NightmareFuel guaranteed to make you pray for the light of day right away]].

* His latest album, ''Music to be Murdered By'', has a song called 'Stepdad', in which Eminem raps about the abuse him and has family received by his stepfather. Whether this is based on true events or not, there are some very traumatising things done, including, but not limited to, arguing and physically assaulting his mother, gaslighting him by turning the kitchen lights on and saying Marshall done so, and even [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals stomping on Eminem's pet chihuahua]] for [[DisproportionateRetribution urinating on the carpet]], so hard that the vet had to euthanize the dog. Granted, Eminem gets revenge on his abusive stepfather by beating him to death, but the song itself is still horrifying.

* On "Cleanin' Out my Closet" from ''Music/TheEminemShow'' he mentions that his mother had MunchausensSyndrome, and led young Eminem to believe he was sick, and it's implied that he was also led to believe he was dying. He did grow up, of course, but that must have been pretty scary, since young kids don't have any real reason or inclination to disbelieve a parent.

* The album ''Encore'' is not for the faint of heart. The last track closes with Eminem shooting his crowd and killing himself, with a robotic voice of Em ending the album saying, "See you in hell, fuckers." If you thought hearing the shooting was scary, the album booklet depicts photos of audience members either dead, dying, or running in terror.

* As far as mainstream rappers go, Eminem is pretty hard to beat when it comes to being disturbing. On the same album as "Kim" we have "Amityville", a brazen ode to Em's hometown exalting its status as the then-murder capital of the country. Of note is Bizarre's guest appearance, in which he packs his weight's worth of reprobacy into a mere eight bars.
* ''Relapse'' is a album chock-full of murder fantasies and story-telling.
** In particular, there's "Same Song and Dance" which is about kidnapping, raping, torturing and murdering celebrities. The title is perhaps the worst part, as the "song" refers to his victims' screams, and the "dance" refers to their struggle to escape as he has his way with them. And to him, it's just the same ol' "song and dance", showing he's become so desensitized to the horrible things he does that it's become hum-drum to him.
** "3 a.m." is a horror movie made into music; which was so disturbing it premiered on Cinemax of all places
*** The music video is even more unsettling. All of the shots of bloody corpses, Em with [[BlankWhiteEyes those creepy white eyes]]...and just when you think it's over, Em hits you with a JumpScare at the very end.
** [[OminousMusicBoxTune "Music Box"]], which is possibly his most outright disturbing song to date. Cannibalism, murder, Satanism, pedophilia, stalking, rape, torture... so many great, wholesome flavors make up this little nightmare anthem.
* "97 Bonnie And Clyde" from ''Music/TheSlimShadyLP'' (originally titled "Just the Two of Us"). It's one of his most haunting songs, sung from the point of view of Shady talking to his daughter, Hailie after murdering his wife for infidelity. He has his little daughter help him unload the dead wife from the trunk of his car and dump her corpse in a lake.
* While "Just Don't Give A Fuck"'s lyrics aren't too terrifying in and of themselves, the beat to both the EP and LP versions features a loop of what sounds like a large and possibly malfunctioning industrial device throughout the entire song.
* Em's lyrics on "Guilty Conscience" as the proverbial shoulder devil to Music/DrDre's (presumed) angel. At first, he just sounds shameless, casually encouraging an armed robbery and statutory rape, but in the final verse, when he encourages a man to kill his unfaithful wife, it reaches a near-visceral anger.
-->''Fuck slittin' her throat! '''''[[SerialEscalation Cut this bitch's head off!!]]'''''''

* On "Cleanin' Out my Closet" from ''Music/TheEminemShow'' he mentions that his mother had Munchausen's syndrome, and led young Eminem to believe he was sick, and it's implied that he was also led to believe he was dying. He did grow up, of course, but that must have been pretty scary, since young kids don't have any real reason or inclination to disbelieve a parent.
* "Brain Damage", a graphic narrative about Em, as a young child, dealing with a BarbaricBully at school. The bullying starts out with things like getting his lunch seat stolen and getting shoved into lockers, [[FromBadToWorse only to escalate]] into Marshall getting his nose broken and getting nearly choked to death. The song also ends with Marshall getting beaten by his mother to the point ''where his skull cracks open and his brains fall out''. The worst part is that [[AdultsAreUseless none of the school's authority figures that children are told they can trust do anything to help]]. One teacher expresses their desire to just [[BystanderSyndrome sit back and watch the beating happen]], and the school's principal [[SadistTeacher helps the bully beat his helpless victim to near-death]].
* "My Fault", about Em giving mushrooms to a woman he meets at a party. The song is mostly humorous around the beginning and middle parts, [[MoodWhiplash but quickly turns south]] when the girl suffers an overdose. The song ultimately ends with one of the most [[{{Tearjerker}} heartwrenching]] conclusions of any Eminem song.

* His latest album, ''Music to be Murdered By'', has a song called 'Stepdad', in which Eminem raps about the abuse him and has family received by his stepfather. Whether this is based on true events or not, there are some very traumatising things done, including, but not limited to, arguing and physically assaulting his mother, gaslighting him by turning the kitchen lights on and saying Marshall done so, and even [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals stomping on Eminem's pet chihuahua]] for [[DisproportionateRetribution urinating on the carpet]], so hard that the vet had to euthanize the dog. Granted, Eminem gets revenge on his abusive stepfather by beating him to death, but the song itself is still horrifying.
** Even before the song starts, there is a [[{{Sarcasm Mode}} very pleasant]] intro to the song, in which the titular stepfather character wakes up a child (Presumably representing Marshall as a child) and then [[{{Abusive Parents}} beats him]] for allegedly leaving the lights on, profusely swearing at him and ignoring the child's protests that he didn't. If you've ever had an abusive parent, be it a biological parent or a step parent, just hearing this intro could bring back traumatising memories.
* On the topic of Eminem's stepdad, "Insane" is a horrible BlackComedy song about young Slim Shady being repeatedly [[RapeAsBackstory raped by his stepfather]] into the violent insanity that he has today. While the content of the song itself is absurd, the combination of it with the [[DissonantSerenity matter-of-fact]] delivery is horrifying. Uncharacteristically for songs about Slim's childhood, he never gets revenge on anybody. In the final verse, Slim, trying to figure out why he does the awful crimes he does, has a traumatic flashback to his abuse and regresses mentally and vocally to childhood. The song ends in the flashback, where his stepfather is raping him again, [[OffscreenInertia presumably on loop throughout Shady's entire life]].

* His latest album, ''Music to be Murdered By'', has a song called 'Stepdad', in which Eminem raps about the abuse him and has family received by his stepfather. Whether this is based on true events or not, there are some very traumatising things done, including, but not limited to, arguing and physically assaulting his mother, gaslighting him by turning the kitchen lights on and saying Marshall done so, and even stomping on Eminem's pet chihuahua for urinating on the carpet, so hard that the vet had to euthanize the dog. Granted, Eminem gets revenge on his abusive stepfather by beating him to death, but the song itself is still horrifying.

* "Brain Damage", a graphic narrative about Em, as a young child, dealing with a BarbaricBully at school. The bullying starts out with things like getting his lunch seat stolen and getting shoved into lockers, [[FromBadToWorse only to escalate]] into Marshall getting his nose broken and getting nearly choked to death. The song also ends with Marshall getting beaten by his mother to the point ''where his skull cracks open and his brains fall out''.

* The album ''Encore'' is not for the faint of heart. The last track closes with Eminem shooting his crowd and killing himself, with a robotic voice ending the album saying, "See you in hell, fuckers." If you thought hearing the shooting was scary, the album booklet depicts photos of audience members either dead, dying, or running in terror.

*** The music video is even more unsettling. All of the shots of bloody corpses, Em with [[BlankWhiteEyes those creepy white eyes]]...and just when you think it's over, [[spoiler:Em hits you with a JumpScare at the very end.]]

* "Bad Guy" off of ''[=MMLP2=]''. It has undoubtedly the most evil beat out of any Eminem song, and it features the same high-pitched string patch that drove "Insane" from ''Relapse''. On top of that, the song is about [[spoiler:Stan's brother trying to kill Eminem in a successful effort that ends in the same sort of murder-suicide that took Stan and his girlfriend.]] And ''that's just part one.''

Following the introduction of his AxCrazy persona, known as Slim Shady, Music/{{Eminem}}'s discography has dived into the [[NightmareFuel nightmarish]] territory.

* The album ''Encore'' is not for the faint of heart and isn't the best music to sleep to (but then again, why the fuck would you sleep to Eminem anyway?). The last track closes with Eminem shooting his crowd and killing himself. A robotic voice ends the album saying, "See you in hell, fuckers." If you thought hearing the shooting was scary, [[http://slanginc.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Eminem-Encore-Slang-Inc-11.jpg wait until you]] [[http://www.eminem.pro/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Encore-Limited-Edition-Booklet09.jpg actually see it]].
* "Stan" is fairly disturbing. It's about a LoonyFan who eventually commits a murder-suicide because Shady won't answer any of his fan letters in a timely manner, and it has caused him to think he's ''deliberately'' not writing him back. Especially as the tape is starting to end and you can hear [[PunkInTheTrunk Stan's girlfriend screaming from the trunk]] before the car falls into the water... At the climax of the song, Stan [[DidNotThinkThisThrough realizes]] that he can't ensure that Em will receive the tape that he's recording.
** And then you get to the final stanza: Eminem responds to Stan's latest letter, revealing that he didn't actually have the time to write back, [[DramaticIrony and apologizing for this delay]]. He implores Stan to get some help, as he doesn't want him to do something that will hurt himself. After all, he recently heard this story on the news about a guy driving his car off a bridge, drunk, with his pregnant girlfriend [[ExplainExplainOhCrap in the car's trun-]]
--->'''Eminem''': [[LateToTheRealization Come to think about it,]] his name was- it was you. [[OhCrap Damn.]]

** An additional example of Nightmare Fuel from the video is actually in the long version, before the song begins. We see Stan pouring bleach over his head that turns his brown hair blonde within a matter of minutes. To anyone who's bleached their hair, this indicates that the bleach is pretty strong. And then he rubs it over his face, including [[EyeScream into his eyes]] without even flinching...
* "Kim", the prequel to "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" on ''Music/TheSlimShadyLP''. The song isn't so much rapped as screamed between Eminem and his impression of Kim, and in its six-minute timespan, it reaches heights of intensity Music/{{Whitehouse}} would be proud of. It starts out innocently enough with Em watching Hailie sleep, but quickly goes south as he shoves Kim into a car and reveals he's murdered her new boyfriend and their 4-year-old son.[[note]](Those lines were edited even in ''[[{{Bowdlerise}} the explicit version]]''--the clean version simply omits this track outright.)[[/note]] It ends with him slitting her throat in the woods.
-->You were supposed to love me!
-->Now bleed, bitch, bleed!

** As far as mainstream rappers go, Eminem is pretty hard to beat when it comes to being disturbing. On the same album as "Kim" we have "Amityville", a brazen ode to Em's hometown exalting its status as the then-murder capital of the country. Of note is Bizarre's guest appearance, in which he packs his weight's worth of reprobacy into a mere eight bars.

* From his recent album ''Music to be Murdered By'' has a song called 'Stepdad', in which Eminem raps about the abuse him and has family received by his stepfather. Whether this is based on true events or not, there are some very traumatising things done, including, but not limited to, arguing and physically assaulting his mother, gaslighting him by turning the kitchen lights on and saying Marshall done so, and even stomping on Eminem's pet chihuahua for urinating on the carpet, so hard that the vet had to euthanize the dog. Granted, Eminem gets revenge on his abusive stepfather by beating him to death, but the song itself is still horrifying.

** While "Just Don't Give A Fuck"'s lyrics aren't too terrifying in and of themselves, the beat to both the EP and LP versions features a loop of what sounds like a large and possibly malfunctioning industrial device throughout the entire song.
** Em's lyrics on "Guilty Conscience" as the proverbial shoulder devil to Music/DrDre's (presumed) angel. At first, he just sounds shameless, casually encouraging an armed robbery and statutory rape, but in the final verse, when he encourages a man to kill his unfaithful wife, it reaches a near-visceral anger.

** As far as mainstream rappers go, Eminem is pretty hard to beat when it comes to being disturbing. On the same album as "Kim" we have "Amityville", a brazen ode to Detroit which exalts its status as the then-murder capital of the country. Of note is Bizarre's guest appearance, in which he packs his weight's worth of degeneracy into a mere eight bars.

** Em's lyrics on "Guilty Conscience" as the proverbial shoulder devil to Music/DrDre's (presumed) angel. At first, he just sounds shameless, casually encouraging a shootup and statutory rape, but in the final verse, when he encourages a man to kill his unfaithful wife, it reaches a near-visceral anger.

** And then you get to the final stanza: Eminem responds to Stan's latest letter, revealing that he did in fact not have the time to write back. He implores Stan to get some help, as he doesn't want him to do something that will hurt himself. After all, he recently heard this story on the news about a guy driving off a bridge with his pregnant girlfriend [[ExplainExplainOhCrap in the car's trun-]]