With Halloween quickly approaching, local costume shops are selling out and grocery store candy aisles are busier than they’ve been all year. Whether your plans include watching scary movies with your friends, testing your jumpiness on a haunted hay ride or raging at a local house party, these songs should put the right amount of spook in anyone to engage in the holiday spirit.
**1. “John Wayne Gacy Jr.” — Sufjan Stevens** — This haunting horror story of a song is told with Sufjan Steven’s light and carefree voice over simple guitar chords and seemingly random piano melodies. Besides the unexpectedness of the musical aspect of the song, the lyrics are disturbing and true. John Wayne Gacy Jr. was a man who dressed as a clown and murdered 33 young men and teenage boys in the mid ’70s. The song personifies Gacy in a way that relates the killer to the artist, in a creepy yet interesting perspective. For a genuinely beautiful song with an extremely creepy undertone, this song is the way to go.
**2. “This Is Halloween” — Marilyn Manson** — “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is a classic movie watched by almost every kid in our generation and overly endorsed by the Hot Topic scene. This version of the memorable song from the movie places a new spin on the legend. Marilyn Manson — the shock-rocking, gender-bending extraordinaire — turns the song into a more electronic-beat heavy tune.
3. **”Monster Mash” — The Misfits** — “The Monster Mash” is a song played at every pre-K Halloween party while children jump around and indulge in everything bad for them. Kids at a Misfits show were basically doing the same, just with a different kind of candy. The song grows up and hardens with the typical punk style of The Misfits.
4. **”I’m a Goner” — Matt & Kim, Soulja Boy and Andrew W. K.** — The part of this song that makes it appropriate for a horror-filled playlist is actually NOT the lineup of artists involved in it. Possibly the weirdest combination of musicians that one could imagine, the end result is surprisingly good. Matt & Kim’s indie-pop tendencies carry the theme of the song, but the other two’s unique styles keep this song about waking up in a morgue interesting.
5. **”Thriller” — Imogen Heap** — Rather than play the same, old MJ song at your Halloween shindig, surprise your friends with this beautiful (yet still eerie) cover of a well-known song. Imogen Heap’s raspy highs and forceful lows drive through the drastic key changes, adding an extremely unique and effective spin on the song.
I’ve dug through the many Halloween songs that are beginning to play in every commercial or radio station to find a few that are underplayed but definitely worth your time. Halloween is the time of year to express yourself, and your music should reflect that.