In 2012 Houston surprised the hell out of me by producing some truly incredible music videos by local artists. The Manichean took video of the year in our annual roundup, but several other artists made more than respectable showings. Truly, we're finally catching up in that regard.

This almost-past year didn't produce quite as many unspeakably brilliant local gems as last year did, but there were definitely five really top-notch pieces of cinemaudio that deserve to be revisited. So raise a glass, guys, to another round that shows off what H-Town can do. Here's to 2014 being even better.

5. Mike Terror, "Snakes 'N' Fakes" The debut video from our own dark industrial vaudevillian is a raucous club affair full of blood, cleavage, bathroom sex, and a thorough denouncement of all things fake and phony. It's definitely an accomplishment in scope, featuring extras by the score and really pulling of a degenerate atmosphere. As far as first tries go, it proves that Terror has some great potential in film as he does in music.

4. James Caronna, "The Devil Made a Home" I cannot overstate how much I enjoyed 2013's evolution of James Caronna from a forgettable acousti-pop act into something deeper and more hurtful. Following a bad break with his family over Caronna leaving the church, Caronna's music turned darkly inward, and that personal journey resulted in a haunting re-enactment that cemented him as a voice to be reckoned with.

3. Worhol, "The Darkness" Ashley Worhol and the band she founded with her father was a surprise to your humble narrator, who thought he knew every vaguely gothic act in and around Houston. Her spirited, darksome tale of stalkers in the woods set to her groovicilous goth metal was an accidental discovery that landed them the winning spot in our weekly Last VJ column for a solid three weeks in a row.

List Continues on the next page.