3 Hits from Hell

3 Hits from Hell
EP by the Misfits
Released	April 1981
Recorded	August–September 1980
Genre	Horror punk
Length	5:54
Label	Plan 9
Producer	Robbie Alter
Misfits chronology
Beware (1980) 3 Hits from Hell (1981) Walk Among Us (1982)

3 Hits from Hell (written as 3 hits from HeLL) was the sixth release from the Lodi, New Jersey horror punk band The Misfits. The 7" EP was released in April 1981 as Plan 9 Records number PL1013. While there was no actual insert, some of the first pressing included a Misfits Fiend Club ad.

All three songs were recorded on 2" 16-track tape at Master Sound Productions in Franklin Square, New York on August 7, 1980 with Bobby Steele on guitar for London Dungeon's main riff and producer Robbie Alter playing the chords while Jerry Only's younger brother, Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein (Paul Caiafa), played the rest of the songs on September 5, 1980, following Bobby's departure. It's was during this session that Doyle officially joined the band as Bobby's replacement.

While none of the other ten songs from this session were released until 1985, after the band had broken up, all 13 tracks were later remixed for the 12 Hits From Hell release.

"London Dungeon" was written by Glenn Danzig about his experience while jailed in Brixton on December 2, 1979. Both "Horror Hotel" and "Ghouls Night Out" were based on horror films: Horror Hotel (a 1960 Christopher Lee vehicle) and the 1958 Ed Wood film Night of the Ghouls, respectively.

Pressing history

The pressing history and details of this three-song EP are the most confounding to record collectors of any Misfits' release. Since all of the known pressing records were incomplete or incorrect, it is impossible to know any more than a few facts mixed with much conjecture.

There were at least two, but possibly as many as five, distinct pressings. Estimates on the number and order of the various combinations of record attributes ranges from 3000 to 7000 black vinyl with a grey label and large spindle, which is known conclusively to be the earliest pressing, 2000 to 7000 black vinyl with a red label and large spindle, of which as many as 10 to 100 may actually be from an abbreviated earlier pressing, and 400 to 1000 black vinyl with a red label and small spindle. The only fixed number is that there were 400 white vinyl copies with a red label and a large spindle, which was the final pressing. The total number of EPs pressed is estimated to be either 6,500 or 10,000, depending on which pressing information is to be believed.

Track listing

All tracks written by Glenn Danzig. 

Personnel

Band

• Glenn Danzig – vocals
• Jerry Only – background vocals, bass
• Doyle – guitar on "Horror Hotel" and "Ghouls Night Out"
• Arthur Googy – drums
• Bobby Steele – guitar for main riff on "London Dungeon"

Production

• Robbie Alter – producer, guitar for chords on "London Dungeon"