Gruesome music genre becomes subject of scrutiny
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Farmville slaying suspect arrested at airport
Surveillance camera video of Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III being arrested at the Richmond International Airport
ALEXA WELCH EDLUND/TIMES-DISPATCH
A Virginia State Police investigator prepared a camera Saturday at the Farmville home where the bodies of four were discovered.
On horrorcore music message boards, fans identify themselves with handles such as "psycosick" and "freshdeath."
They discuss new artists such as Randum Shotz and stalwarts of the genre, Kid Crusher, Twiztid and the most mainstream of the lot, Insane Clown Posse and Slipknot.
They are passionate about this fusion of hip-hop and rock with lyrics that focus on death and murder.
But for most people, horrorcore was a completely unfamiliar musical style until last weekend, when a 20-year-old California man heavily involved in the horrorcore scene was identified by police as a suspect in the bludgeoning deaths of four people in Farmville.
Matt Molgaard, a California-based contributing writer for Fangoria magazine, the pre-eminent outlet for fans of horror movies, comics and music, described horrorcore as "an aggressive and gruesome sub-genre. A dead branch of the hip-hop tree, if you will. Like horror cinema, horrorcore is a grittier take on topics that just about every musical genre explores."
On his MySpace pages, Farmville slayings suspect Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III describes his interest in horrorcore music. The aspiring horrorcore artist and promoter, who goes by the stage name Syko Sam, also records dark songs about violent murder.
"There are still club songs, but rather than liquor, it's blood spilling. There are still love songs, but resolution is often found in violent actions -- there's no talking about it," Molgaard said. "Horrorcore is really a ventilation system for those with a generally more sinister mindset."
On Friday, Farmville authorities discovered the bodies of Debra S. Kelley, 53, an associate professor of sociology and criminal-justice studies at Longwood University; her daughter, Emma Niederbrock, 16; Emma's visiting friend, Melanie Wells, 18, of Inwood, W.Va.; and Kelley's estranged husband, Mark Alan Niederbrock, 50, the six-year pastor of Walker's Presbyterian Church in Appomattox County.
The bodies were found inside Kelley's home. All died of blunt-force trauma, officials said.
McCroskey, who has been identified as the suspect in all four killings, has been charged only with Mark Niederbrock's death.
Shortly before the killings, McCroskey had traveled with the teenaged girls to a horrorcore concert in Michigan.
On the Web site http://www.horrorcore.com, one message-board thread focuses on the Farmville murders. Without exception, the posts express respect and sorrow for the loss of life. But they also express frustration that McCroskey being named as the suspect in the killings has turned a spotlight on their underground musical outlet.
Molgaard, who has interviewed and reviewed scores of horrorcore artists, said he thinks the appeal of the music is that it offers a release.
"People aren't supposed to run around the streets slashing people to death for having premarital sex or impaling kids for smoking a little weed," he said. "Any semi-stable individual understands that that is not acceptable behavior -- it's common sense."
One of the most popular horrorcore artists, Insane Clown Posse -- or, ICP as they're known among fans -- uses clown makeup and gimmicks such as naming their fans "the Juggalos" as entertainment tactics.
On one of McCroskey's MySpace pages, he refers to himself as "a juggalo," and a video posted on his YouTube page that was filmed inside his California bedroom shows at least one large Insane Clown Posse poster on the wall.
The Detroit-based ICP duo -- Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (Joseph Utsler) -- has enough of a mainstream following that its latest album, "Bang! Pow! Boom!" debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart two weeks ago (it's since slipped to No. 43). The group is on a 64-city tour that stops at The NorVa in Norfolk on Oct. 16 and The National in Richmond on Dec. 3.
A spokesperson for Plan 9 Music in Richmond said the new Insane Clown Posse album has been among its Top 20 sellers since its release but that the chain doesn't carry much horrorcore music outside of the handful of better-known groups.
Despite the commercial success and acceptance of groups such as Insane Clown Posse, Molgaard said it's easy to understand why horrorcore -- and horror, in general -- sometimes is misunderstood.
"Whether we're talking about film, music or any other aspects of life in which horror is present, we're ultimately talking about fear, rage, violence and terror," he said. "If the genre wasn't understood, I'd be even more frightened by the potential dangers of society."
Contact Melissa Ruggieri at (804) 649-6120 or
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Reader Reactions
>BigB:
Don’t you even read what you write yourself? You wrote “There is evidence to suggest that Hitler was both an atheist and a catholic. He never actually denounced his faith. “
He could not have been BOTH. Since he killed thousands of Catholic priests in the holocaust, along with Lutheran ministers, he was more likely an atheist. There are persuasive arguments that he was trying to create his own Aryan church with himself as the Saviour.
>BigB:
There are no religions that endorse abortion.
Not all “church-going” people actually “walk the walk” of their religion.
When millions die, there can only be estimates of casualty counts.
“Islam” did not exist until the early 7th century, by which time the Torah was over a thousand years old.
I believe I made my point without reference to the Islamic wars.
Like the bodies in Pol Pot’s “killing fields,“ your errors are too numerous to count.
Your straw man argument: “My initial point was that someone made a comment that atheists people don’t care about other lives and are more prone to kiling others, thats not true.“ uses an obvious misinterpretation of my statement “In order to commit a murder, the murderer must first decide that the life he/she is about to take has no value. At this, nobody excels like an atheist.“ You have seen what you wish toi see, and not what was actually written. I was writing about all *murderers*, not all atheists. Had you paid attention to what you were reading, you would not have taken it so personally, unless you are a murderer?
C’mon Big B, I’m showing you respect by taking your words at face value instead of ignoring your ignorance of history. Just because you don’t research your statements, are imprecise with your words and have an axe to grind with Christians does not mean that you should be let off the hook for comments middle schoolers might utter. So go read some books on the topic of religious vs. non-religious despots, add up the numbers and then see what appears! Or if you prefer, go to wikipedia and use their numbers.
PS: Oh, and calling people names will get you sent to the principal’s office and you mom will be called, so take it easy tough guy. :)
Before anyone points out, i did not go fully into how morality is not dependent on belief because it strays from the topic - there is alot more evidence to suggest that it does not.
There is evidence to suggest that Hitler was both an atheist and a catholic. He never actually denounced his faith. I am of the belief that he used faith to get more people on the side of his cause. One interesting side note in this that is often left out of the debate is that the greater majority of German Nazi soldiers committing the heinous crimes during the war were infact good Christians.
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I think having faith in religion is completely irrelevant as to whether or not you are a moral person or not. If this were the case then a simple look at prisons would show that there were no people of faith serving time for committing theft, rape or murder. This is obviously not the case, and the religious beliefs percentages reflect the same as (or very close to) those for regular society.
The problem presented with dogmatic ideologies such as Christianity and other religions is that leaders can persuade large groups of people (followers) that what they are doing in the name of their God is divine will - its what god wants. For the majority of followers, the evil of the crimes are outweighed by the idea that they are being done in the name of god. It is dogmas such as these that are the problem. This is the reason behind atrocities committed by Stalin and Hitler. Contrary to what many people say, they were not doing these things in the name of atheism - these men were deranged dictators who fully utilised the power of dogmatism to control their people.
Man killing in the name of God is justified by religious beliefs. It is then the use of dogma that controls people into following it. Man killing in the name of mankind is an absurd notion - it is man killing in the name of power and control and is enabled also through the use of political/pseudo-religious dogma.
you people are such JERKS ready to disect people words that you dont pay ATTENTION!!!My initial point was that someone made a comment that atheists people don’t care about other lives and are more prone to kiling others, thats not true, religious people have been killing others for years(RELIGIOUS WARS)!!!do you know how many people are killing others in war right now and are doing so wearing a cross around their neck, while praying to god so they wont get killed, but i guess thats alright huh?
you still didnt answer my question you SCHOLOAR how the heck can you put abortions under a NON-RELIGIOUS GROUP, seriously, and no you were incorrect all of them are not teenagers, and if so why wouldnt they count?
Really, Big B, the Islamic wars have been going on since before the Bible was written? That must have surprised Mohammed since he lived 300 years after the last book of the Bible was written… seems like your advice to “try again” would be well heeded when you construct a timeline, eh?
Also, the quoted ranges by tadchem are off some and did not include Mao’s numbers that probably exceed the USSR’s, neither of which are known exactly since the purges erased people and their records. The USSR was estimated at 20-25MM in the 80s when I was in the military and I’ve seen as high as 40MM; Mao was between 50-70MM.
The comment about “church going girls” is just puerile- we are not talking about teenage girls or what they do out of convenience, but what different BELIEF SYSTEMS promote. Seriously.
and after looking back at what i just typed i realzed there were a few errors, i know there is going to be atleast one smart@$$ that is dying to correct those.
how the heck can you state abortions as non-religious??!! that’s false. I know quite a few “church going girls” that have had aborotions. Secondly, look at you range of deaths. 10 - 30 million and 11-17 millions? thats about 27 millions deaths you have no clue about come on now, thats a huge difference. Third, Islamic wars have been going on since before the bible was even written. and you have said nothing about them. TRY AGAIN…
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