Genuine shock or over-the-top camp remained difficult to separate in the Misfits' approach, leaving their actual run from 1977 to 1983 open to interpretation even as a devoted cult audience expanded afterward and split over how seriously to regard the group. Crude playing and equally rough production values did little to attract followers, yet Glenn Danzig's singular, melodic roar stood out within hardcore punk. Instead, his talent for concise, hook-driven tunes often pushed to breakneck tempos, paired with a fixation on low-budget horror cinema and graphic gore, fostered the band's intense posthumous loyalty. Metal acts such as Metallica and Guns N' Roses referencing and covering Misfits material sustained interest through the mid- and late 1980s, a period when the group's disorganized catalog surfaced only sporadically, hampered by incomplete reissues that left much essential work available solely on scarce singles and EPs. A wave of CD editions in the mid-1990s restored nearly everything to circulation, even if the packages fell short of ideal collector formats, enabling later listeners to grasp the source of the enduring appeal.
Vocalist Glenn Danzig and bassist Jerry Caiafa, performing as Jerry Only, launched the Misfits in Lodi, New Jersey, during 1977. Borrowing their name from Marilyn Monroe's last movie, they enlisted drummer Manny, later known as Manny Martinez, and issued a guitar-free single, "Cough Cool" b/w "She," on their Blank Records imprint, soon renamed Plan 9. "Mr. Jim" Catania replaced Manny, after which guitarist Frank "Franché Coma" LiCata completed the lineup for the 1978 four-song EP Bullet, whose cover infamously depicted John F. Kennedy's assassination. Although sessions yielded a full-length album intended as Static Age, no label accepted it; the unused tracks stayed vaulted until their 1985 appearance on the compilation Legacy of Brutality.
Performances at CBGB's followed, and the addition of Whorelords guitarist Bobby Steele alongside drummer Joey Image brought greater stability. This configuration cut the 1979 three-song EPs Horror Business and Night of the Living Dead, the latter issued on Halloween. An aborted U.K. tour backing the Damned prompted Joey Image's departure after Danzig's arrest during a bar altercation. Steele's tenure also faltered, leading to his replacement by Jerry Only's younger brother Doyle, born Paul Caiafa and widely recognized as Doyle von Frankenstein. Arthur Googy took the drum chair full-time while Steele formed the Undead. England's Cherry Red label released the 1980 Beware EP, collecting Bullet, two Horror Business tracks, and the Static Age outtake "Last Caress"; it later became a prized collector's item commanding high prices.
Additional 1981 singles appeared stateside, among them the 3 Hits from Hell 7" and a Halloween release titled "Halloween" that offered two versions, one attempting a low-budget eerie atmosphere. Another album, Walk Among Us, had been tracked for a late-1981 release, yet a distribution arrangement with the Slash subsidiary Ruby shifted the schedule. The Misfits finally issued their official debut under that title in 1982, widely viewed as a standout entry in their catalog. Googy exited over financial disagreements, disrupting plans for a follow-up, though the live EP Evilive surfaced later that year with a guest vocal from Black Flag's Henry Rollins. Future Samhain and Danzig bassist Eerie Von Stellman rehearsed briefly on drums but departed after a weekend; punk producer Robo ultimately handled the role. The band spent late 1982 and early 1983 tracking Earth A.D./Wolfsblood, emphasizing their heavier tendencies. Brian Damage replaced Robo for touring but performed only minimally before Danzig dissolved the Misfits in late 1983. The farewell three-song single "Die Die My Darling" appeared in 1984.
Danzig, who had already released the 1981 solo single "Who Killed Marilyn?," promptly formed Samhain with Eerie Von to explore darker territory aligned with his lyrics; Samhain later evolved into the commercially stronger Danzig. The Caiafa brothers started Kryst the Conqueror, which produced only one five-song EP. Misfits anthologies emerged beginning with 1985's Legacy of Brutality on Caroline; 1987's Misfits collection further highlighted unreleased material, while Metallica's reading of "Last Caress" and Guns N' Roses' later take on "Attitude" underscored what remained to be discovered. Additional compilations and a four-disc box set arrived in the mid-1990s as the band's cult steadily grew.
Seeking to capitalize on revived interest, Jerry Only and Doyle relaunched the Misfits in 1996 without Danzig, bringing in vocalist Michale Graves and drummer Dr. Chud. American Psycho arrived on Geffen Records in 1997, followed two years later by Famous Monsters. That lineup issued the rarities collection Cuts from the Crypt in 2001, containing no Danzig-era tracks. The covers album Project 1950 appeared in 2003. By then the group featured Jerry Only handling vocals and bass, Black Flag veteran Dez Cadena on guitar, and Marky Ramone on drums. Misfits Records, through Ryko, released Fiend Club Lounge in June 2005, presenting Misfits classics reinterpreted in cocktail-lounge style; a two-song EP, Psycho in the Wax Museum, drawn from the American Psycho sessions, followed the next year. New studio recordings remained absent until October 2011, when The Devil's Rain surfaced just ahead of Halloween, marking the first fresh material in over a decade. A live album, Dead Alive!, appeared in 2013.
Following Dez Cadena's cancer diagnosis in 2015, Only's son Jerry Caiafa, Jr. stepped in on guitar. His time proved brief; early 2016 brought the announcement that Danzig, Only, and von Frankenstein would reunite for the first time in more than three decades to headline the 2016 editions of Chicago and Denver's Riot Fests. Strong response to those shows prompted further festival bookings and arena concerts far larger than the venues of the band's original run. Horror Business-era drummer Joey Image passed away in Florida on June 1, 2020, at age 63 while undergoing treatment for liver cancer.
