Videos: Kate Bush – Stranger Things, Hammer Horror & More

Here at Hollywood Gothique, we feel a sense of satisfaction that the British art-rocker is finally getting some attention in the U.S. thanks to one of her songs being showcased in Season IV of Stranger Things. Among many influences, Bush has shown a penchant for horror and fantasy themes, so it makes perfect sense that “Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)” would feature prominently in a memorable scene of Max (Sadie Sink) struggling to escape from a Hellscape inhabited by the demonic Vecna; it makes even more sense that the poignant music would in a sense save her, being used by her friends to summon her back to our earthly plane of existence.

For newbies interested in Bush’s horror-themed work, we have created the playlist embedded at top which begins with the Stranger Things sequence and also includes:

• Experiment IV: A mini-horror movie in which a military experiment to create a lethal sound weapon goes wrong, and the creators find themselves hoist on their own petard. (Geek alert: the video, directed by Bush, predates the very similar ending of Cabin in the Woods by over two decades.)
• Hammer Horror: In this tribute to the English company noted for their bold remakes of classic horror subject matter, a contemporary actor feels haunted by the predecessor whose most famous role he is now taking on.
• Wuthering Heights: In her first hit single, Bush portrays Cathy’s ghost, out in the cold, begging Heathcliff to let her inside – a scene inspired by an early moment from Emily Bronte’s novel, in which the narrator encounters the ghost outside his window.
• Get Out of My House:  A creepy tale, inspired by The Shining, about a house that wants no visitors.
• Waking the Witch: This third track from the “Ninth Wave” suite features a woman stranded in the ocean, hallucinating that she is on trial as a witch (presumably undergoing trial by water).
• The Infant Kiss: Suggestive song inspired by a memorable moment in the classic ghost story The Innocents (1960), based on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw).
• Lyra: Theme song from the fantasy film The Golden Compass.
• Hounds of Love: A soundbite from the 1957 horror classic The Night of the Demon (known as Curse of the Demon in the U.S.) prefaces this song about a character imagining herself being pursued by the titular hounds.