The 85th anniversary issue of Weird Tales features our big list of “The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years.” We’re breaking it down online, too: one honoree per day, in no particular order, for 85 days!

Never even mind his biggest radio hit, the classic lycanthropic dance tune “Werewolves of London” — the songwriting oeuvre of WARREN ZEVON (1947-2003) conjures a twisted universe where upwardly mobile zoo gorillas steal the lives of urban yuppies, the ghosts of murdered mercenaries stalk their old battlefields, and Earth itself fades to the entropic assault of chemical pollution while love blooms in the mall. Unsettling, surreal, and wickedly funny, Zevon died too soon, but his specter haunts rock & roll forever.

The 85th anniversary issue of Weird Tales features our big list of “The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years.” We’re breaking it down online, too: one honoree per day, in no particular order, for 85 days!

TOM WAITS (1949– ) has built his oeuvre singing odd stories of life on the road, chronicling hobo existence, underground Americana, and downright weird folks through sordid lyrics and abrasive melodies. Every album is a singular experience, a collection of unique tales told in musical notes and gravel-throated vocals. His latest album, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards is a tour de force through the weird world of his creativity.

The 85th anniversary issue of Weird Tales features our big list of “The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years.” We’re breaking it down online, too: one honoree per day, in no particular order, for 85 days!

The stage musical tends to be a cozy, familiar, comforting form. Not in the hands of STEPHEN SONDHEIM (1930- ). Into the Woods put every classic Grimm faerie tale into a food processor and spit them all out bloodied and abused. Sweeney Todd brought the English language’s most fiendish serial killer to colorful, dancing, singing life. And Assassins is a musical circus review of would-be presidential hitmen. Take that, Ziegfeld and Webber!

The 85th anniversary issue of Weird Tales features our big list of “The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years.” We’re breaking it down online, too: one honoree per day, in no particular order, for 85 days!

With buckets of fake blood, electric chairs, boa constrictors, coffins and (of course!) guillotines, ALICE COOPER (1948– ) put flesh on the bare bones of “shock rock.” His traveling carnival may have horrified parents, but what looked like violent self-indulgence was a much-needed escape valve for a collective psyche that was ready to blow. Cooper gave voice to disaffected teens, form to nightmares nobody wanted to mention, and carved a bloody path for later acts to follow. (Marilyn Manson, anyone?)

What’s new: Cooper is touring this summer!

The 85th anniversary issue of Weird Tales features our big list of “The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years.” We’re breaking it down online, too: one honoree per day, in no particular order, for 85 days!

His voice thunders at you with an undeniable allure. You will never, never understand the songs of NICK CAVE (1957– ) on the first, second, or fifth listens, and you will sometimes question why you’re still trying — and yet, you can’t quite turn him off. He twists mythic language into an apocalyptic sound of fury and decadence, populating his world with killers, wanderers, and fallen angels. It’s as if he could fall apart at any minute — but is haunted by his muses to continue his drunken stumble through your head.