2 cover stories in our archive
Behind the Covers' archive includes 2 album covers documented under the "horror" design theme, spanning the 1970s, 1980s. These covers sit within the metal tradition and feature work by Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath. Each entry below includes the cover artwork, the designers and photographers behind it, and a short story about the visual choices that defined the release.
Derek Riggs created Eddie the Head's most iconic incarnation by painting the devil-horned mascot controlling Satan himself like a marionette puppet. The audacious role reversal made Eddie more powerful than the Prince of Darkness, cementing his status as metal's greatest mascot.
A cloaked figure stands frozen before a haunted-looking watermill, draped in false-color crimson and shadow. For fifty years no one knew who she was. The mist on the water was faked with dry ice, then a smoke machine, in a morning shoot that helped launch heavy metal.