The King of Pop is no longer with us. As newspapers, news shows and websites everywhere are reporting (among them Variety), music legend Michael Jackson passed away today at the age of 50. While most know Jackson as the creative force behind hit singles like "Beat It" and "Bad", I, like most genre fans, have fond memories of the singer-dancer for two music videos/short films in which he starred during his heyday in the 1980s – Captain Eo and Thriller.

Captain Eo was a 3D, special-effects-fueled sci-fi musical extravaganza produced by George Lucas (and directed by Francis Ford Coppola) that played exclusively in the Disney theme parks. And although it wasn’t exactly cool for a white suburban boy to like Jackson’s music when I saw it back in 1986, I remember thinking it was actually pretty nifty when it played at Disney’s Epcot Center. Thriller was another matter. Directed by American Werewolf in London helmer John Landis, it served as an extended music video for the hit title track, and a classic short horror film. Rick Baker’s makeup saw Jackson transform into a werewolf in the video’s opening “film within a film” as well as a zombie in Thriller’s climactic undead dance-off. Vincent Price’s silky narration lent an extra layer of spooky atmosphere to one of the defining touchstones of ‘80s pop culture. Heck, there’s even a cameo appearance by the late fanboy icon Forrest J Ackerman!

Jackson’s later career was creepy in another sense, filled with bizarre facial surgery, questionable parenting tactics, and daft marriages – not to mention some highly publicized, though ultimately unproven, allegations of child molestation. But back in 1984, with Thriller, he helped pioneer the horror musical, a subgenre that’s since grown to encompass everything from the Buffy Musical to Repo! The Genetic Opera. Back in ’84, he helped make being weird cool. And, for that, I join horror nerds everywhere in mourning his passing.