The band released two additional singles in 1979: "Horror Business" and "Night of the Living Dead", both on Plan 9.

The band broke up due to internal tensions on October 29, 1983, just two months before their second album Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood was released through Plan 9.

Following the band's breakup a posthumous single for "Die, Die My Darling" was released in 1984, followed by two compilation albums of out-of-print and previously unreleased material released through Caroline Records: Legacy of Brutality (1985) and Misfits (1986), which later became more commonly referred to as Collection I. Evilive was also re-released in 1987 as a full album.

After a series of legal battles ending in 1995, Jerry Only and Doyle re-formed the band with a new lineup including singer Michale Graves and drummer Dr. Chud.

Evillive II was released in 1998, followed by Famous Monsters in 1999 on Roadrunner Records with a single and music video for "Scream!"

Graves, Chud, and Doyle all left the band in 2000, and a compilation of demos and b-sides from this era was released in 2001 as Cuts from the Crypt.

As the only remaining member of the Misfits, Jerry Only took over vocal duties and recruited Dez Cadena and Marky Ramone to fill out the band.

This lineup released Project 1950 in 2003, an album of cover versions of rock and roll songs from the 1950s and 1960s, on their own label Misfits Records.

The Misfits lineup of Only, Cadena, and drummer Eric Arce released the band's seventh studio album, The Devil's Rain, in 2011.