Halloween seems like the perfect excuse to round up some of the creepiest, weirdest, and downright evil guitars ever made.
From skulls and demons to spiders, coffins, and H.R. Giger-inspired creations, these 13 guitars would look right at home onstage at the world’s most disturbing Halloween gig.
They’re not ranked, but I have saved the most terrifying one for last. You have been warned.
Creepy, Evil, and Horror-Themed Guitars
ESP LTD Devil Girl
This evil ESP guitar, made in 2002, features a plastic composite body in the shape of a female devil, complete with tail inlay. Only around 100 of these limited edition creations were produced.
Hutchinson Nurgle Guitar
James Hutchinson is a UK-based artist who creates themed and highly stylized guitars.
The inspiration for the Nurgle Les Paul came from the Warhammer 40,000 universe, where Nurgle is the Chaos God of disease, decay, and despair. The guitar top is heavily corroded and eaten away by rust and worm holes.
ODD ‘Spider’ 3D Printed Guitar
This one is a little different from the rest because its body was created using 3D printing.
By utilizing 3D printing technology, ODD has managed to create a ridiculously intricate and complex design, featuring a spider web body complete with tiny spiders crawling around inside.
You can view more of ODD’s 3D printed guitars on their website.
ESP Flaming Skull Guitar
Another scary creation from ESP, this one designed by the incredibly talented Jimmy DiResta.
This Halloween guitar looks like a great guitar for players who like to adopt a classical sitting position – that mouthpiece seems like it would slot over your leg quite nicely!
Ibanez Devil Mask J-Custom
This is a one-of-a-kind Ibanez J-Custom, hand-carved in Japan in 1998 for a guitar gallery in Orlando, Florida.
This was on sale for a cool $5,000, and you can see why when you look at the detail involved in the carving of this scary guitar.
Photos were hard to come by, but fortunately, there’s a great video of it on YouTube. As you can see from the video, you can look straight through the mouth of the carving, sort of like an evil version of Steve Vai’s monkeygrip!
Schecter Custom Shop Coffin Guitar
This is a 2009 USA Custom Shop offering from Schecter. It doesn’t come cheap, though – this airbrushed masterpiece would have set you back a cool $5000.
ESP Shinigami ‘God of Death’ Guitar
This work of art is a special creation by ESP Master Luthier Masao Ohmuro. It depicts a Shinigami (God of Death) slashing his scythe through the body of the guitar.
Hembry Dragon Guitar
Is it a dragon, a demon, or is it the devil? Whatever it is, it’s pretty scary-looking! For added bad-assery, the eyes on this evil guitar also light up!
Check out more crazy, evil designs at Hembry Guitars.
George Lynch Custom Skull & Bones Guitar
Made in conjunction with Ed Roman Guitars, this skeleton guitar was hand-carved for George Lynch by famous Hollywood horror movie make-up artist Johnny Frog.
Lieber Guitars Gigerstein Guitar
This scary guitar was commissioned by Chris Stein of Blondie and is based on the work of H.R. Giger, the artist behind the iconic creature design in Alien.
The bio-mechanical body design is hand-carved in wood and is adorned with carbon graphite, assorted biological materials, and bronze castings. Lieber Guitars put a price of $64,000 on it!
With this scary guitar being so utterly badass, you’d think there would be some high-quality photos of it – unfortunately, not!
Horror-Themed Guitar Finishes
Of course, if these outrageous guitars are a little OTT for you, then you could consider a more straightforward custom paint job by your friendly neighborhood artist.
Or failing that why not try a stock guitar with a crazy finish like this ESP Ltd Dan Jacobs signature DJ600?
Or how about Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and his famous signature Karloff the Mummy ESP?
Kirk also owns a few other creepy guitars with similar horror-themed finishes. Be sure to check out his famous Ouija Board ESP and the less publicly seen Red Frankenstein ESP!
One Final Nightmare…
MY EYES!!!! MY EYES!!!!.. Oh, the humanity!!! The Logan Paul signature guitar is the true stuff of nightmares. Happy Halloween, everybody!
Whether you prefer skulls, demons, spiders, or full-on horror movie artwork, there’s clearly no shortage of guitar builders willing to make something completely unhinged.
If I missed an especially terrifying guitar, let me know. There’s always room for another nightmare next Halloween.
More Halloween Content!
Looking for something to actually play? Check out these 13 Halloween guitar songs, complete with tabs and chords.
For something even stranger, take a look at these horror movie-inspired guitar amps.
