10 Musician And Band Names With Dark Unusual Origins
6. Iron Maidens Are Barbaric Torture Devices
Iron Maiden's name came to bassist Steve Harris while he was watching the film The Man in the Iron Mask, adapted from the Alexandre Dumas novel of the same title. The phrase reminded Harris of the torture and execution device known as the iron maiden, which he decided would be the perfect name for his band.
The iron maiden is a formidable looking iron cabinet with a hinged opening and a spike-covered interior. Torture-victims would be enclosed in the contraption, causing them to be impaled on its spikes. The positioning and length of the spikes were designed so that death would not occur quickly for the person inside. Instead, the victim would slowly bleed to death in excruciating pain. Spikes were placed where they were most likely to pierce organs, including, horrifically, the eyeballs.
Iron Maiden was certainly an apt choice of name for the band, as death and punishment are recurring themes in their works. This can be seen in popular songs like Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Prisoner and Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter, to name but a few.