Metal Insider’s Top 5 is a column where we count down the top five of…well basically anything.

It’s Halloween, which means it’s the one day of the year when it’s acceptable to dress up in costume and generally cause mayhem. So in keeping with that, we’re going to run down the scariest mascots in metal. Granted, some of these aren’t really that scary, but others are truly terrifying. And if anyone dresses up as any of these this Halloween (or did this past weekend), you pretty much rule.

5. Dio’s Murray

Dio’s demonic-looking appears on the album covers of Holy Diver, The Last In Line, and Dream Evil. And chances are that if you on any Dio memorabilia, then Murray is on it as well. We especially find him creepy on the cover of Dream Evil (try going to sleep with the thought of Murray staring at you from a window!). Plus, he scares priests! That’s pretty damn metal.

4. Motörhead’s Snaggletooth

Is it a wild boar, a wolf, or a demon? Actually, it’s all of those and then some. Originally created by Joe Petagno in 1977, the inspiration came, according to Petagno, from being a “pissed-off bastard.”  So in looking at skull types, he made a cross-breed gorilla-wolf-dog combination and threw some oversized boars horns in. Lemmy accessorized, and the rest is history. Either way, if this thing existed in real life, it’d be the last thing you wanted coming at you.

3. Anthrax’s Not Man

Is the Not Man scary? Not really. In fitting with Anthrax’s mid to late’80s permutation, he’s a little more goofy than scary. We will give him credit, however, for being the original troll face before the internet even existed.

2. Megadeth’s Vic Rattlehead

The skeleton character known as Vic Rattlehead has appeared on most of Megadeth’s albums (and making his first appearance on the band’s debut Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good!, though in a low budget version). Vic, which is short for “victim,[ embodies the phrase “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” and has become one of the most well known mascots in metal. Plus, he’s scary looking as hell!

1. Iron Maiden’s Eddie

“Who would you like to see?! Heeerrrrreeeee’s EDDIE!” Though he has had many different looks and guises over time, Iron Maiden’s Eddie is undoubtedly the most recognizable figure in metal. He’s played a key figure on all of Iron Maiden’s artwork, live shows, and merchandise. In fact, the day that Eddie doesn’t appear on an Iron Maiden cover artwork is the day that hell freezes over. And though Eddie’s been around since 1980 (making his debut on the cover of the “Running Free” single), he continues to this day to be as awesome and horrifying as ever.

Honorary Mentions:

Insane Clown Posse’s Hatchetman

First off, ICP is not metal, but since there's no Shitty Horrorcore Insider yet, we'll cover them here. Hatchetman in and of himself is kind of scary, because all clowns are, especially ones carrying meat cleavers. But what really terrifies us are their fans. I mean, there are two stories in this top ten list of juggalos attacking people with hatchets/meat cleavers. JUST LIKE THEIR MASCOT. No wonder the FBI finally got around to classifying them as a gang.

Helloween’s Pumpkin Head

Helloween's pumpkin head mascot doesn't have a name. He's also not scary at all. I mean an evil jack o lantern might have been scary at one time, but leave it to some dude at a TV station to make that go away forever. Now it's more creepy than scary. But because today is Halloween, we need to include it.

Metallica’s Lou Reed

Though this mascot has only been a part of the band’s artwork for less than a year, he’s already made an impact on the…wait, that’s a real dude? Really? Ddaammnn, fooled us!!

[pic of Dio O' Lantern via]