This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Augustana chapter.
October is one of the best months of the year. It’s the start of a series of fun holidays, the leaves turn a variety of colors, the weather cools down, and candy is everywhere. The best part of October is, unfortunately, the last day of the month: Halloween. The preparation for the big day is also pretty fun. Bonfires, scary movie nights, costume shopping, and, of course, Halloween parties.
Every good party needs music and I’m here to give some spooky recommendations! Even if you aren’t partying, maybe you need some tunes to listen to while you wait for trick-or-treaters, while you carve pumpkins with your friends, or just because you love Halloween songs! No doubt you probably have hits like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and some variation of “I Put a Spell on You” already on your playlist, so how about something a little bit different?
- “Black Magic” – Little Mix This pop song is upbeat. While it’s about love, other topics found in the song are magic, crystal balls, potions, and spells. “Black Magic” earns a spot on my list for being both fun to listen to and having a cool setting.
- “The Greatest Show Unearthed” – Creature Feature This song was chosen for its “welcoming” tone and ultimately spine-chilling lyrics. Creature Feature always delivers when you’re looking for a spooky song. The band is all about making horror-themed music, so it was hard to narrow their many songs and choose just one for this list. If you enjoy this one and select it for your own playlist, check out their other stuff and add as many songs as you need to turn your playlist into something truly terrifying.
- “Voodoo” – Godsmack If there’s anything I never want to mess with, it’s voodoo and any related practices. Godsmack delivers on this eerie song, mentioning demons, snake bites, and, of course, voodoo. It’s enough to earn a spot on today’s list.
- “This Club is a Haunted House” – Sharon Needles, RuPaul RuPaul throws some shade during the intro to “This Club.” Drag queen Sharon Needles treats us to a song featuring several Halloween themes like trick-or-treating, haunted houses, and even murder. Not only is it relevant, but it’s a song we can all get down to on the dance floor.
- “Magic Dance” – David Bowie You need to have at least one more classic on your playlist. Why wouldn’t you add the late, great David Bowie and the song that keeps on giving? If you’ve never watched Labyrinth, add that to your October to-do list, too, before it’s too late!
- “Living Dead Girl” – Rob Zombie Rob Zombie’s “Living Dead Girl” always frightened me as a kid during car rides with my dad. Now at 21, I can’t believe how well Rob Zombie puts together horrifying, but exciting, lyrics into a great rock song.
- “Psycho” – Puddle of Mudd The music video for “Psycho” pays tribute to classic horror movies, like Psycho and Halloween. The lyrics reveal the thoughts of someone wondering if they are schizophrenic. Because the lyrics are so fitting and the music video resonates with Halloween movie fans, Puddle of Mudd’s “Psycho” is perfect for this list.
- “Dead!” – My Chemical Romance Nothing like a song about someone being glad that someone else has died. Since horror films focus so much on people/monsters watching other people die (the Saw series, Child’s Play), I believed “Dead!” was relevant due to its rather petty lyrics but enthusiastic vibe.
- “Creepy Doll” – Jonathan Coulton This song will always give listeners the creeps. It’s perfectly executed as a song focused on a, well, creepy doll. If you didn’t have a fear of dolls before, maybe you will after giving “Creepy Doll” a listen.
- “Haunted” – Evanescence Evanescence’s “Haunted” is chilling as Amy Lee’s gorgeous voice introduces us to a character who feels she is being watched. I’m not sure if the character is talking about a ghost, demon, past love, or some other thing, but I do know that being watched is terrifying in general.
- “Carnal Carnival” – Here Come the Mummies If I didn’t put a band of mummies on this list, I don’t think I deserve to create a Halloween playlist for anybody. HCTM invites us to a [carnal] carnival with freaks and beasts running about in “Carnal Carnival.” Clowns and ringmasters are popular around Halloween (even on our own campus in 2016) so why shouldn’t we boogie to a song celebrating them, among other things worth celebrating?
- “Remains of the Day” – Danny Elfman Corpse Bride is a staple in my Halloween movie collection (which is rather small, I’ll admit). “Remains of the Day” tells the story of a young bride who was betrayed and murdered by her husband (unbeknownst to her) and became an undead woman (a corpse bride) living under the earth. The chorus reminds all of us that despite our praying and hiding, death finds us all and we, too, will end up the remains of the day.
- “Tainted Love” – Marilyn Manson Marilyn Manson’s cover turns Soft Cell’s cover of Gloria Jones’s “Tainted Love” into a sensual song about complicated love. Because Marilyn Manson’s version is by far the creepiest (as the band is known for being), it easily earns its spot on this list.
- “Mad Hatter” – Melanie Martinez The Mad Hatter and other Alice in Wonderland characters are very popular costumes during the Halloween season. Melanie Martinez explores a lot of disturbing themes in her song, such as peeling off one’s skin and being insane. “Mad Hatter” is also a great song to jam to, so don’t worry about your party guests not digging the beat.
- “Not Ready to Die” – Avenged Sevenfold Created for the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops‘s Zombie map “Call of the Dead,” “Not Ready to Die” is based on the ideas of survival and defiance, subjects that are present in the Zombie mode of the game as well as during any zombie epidemic we’ve seen in movies and TV shows. While this playlist already features songs about the undead, it’s time we had a song that gets us in the mood to power through zombie hordes.