13 Songs for Your Halloween Playlist
Every Halloween, dark, holiday-themed background music emanates from the windows of countless households trying to scare the daylights out of all the little kids. Sure, ambient noise can be creepy, but sometimes you just want to hear some actual songs.
We assembled a short playlist of tunes by different bands artists that touch on the wicked deeds, mythological beings, superstitions and general lore associated with this fall holiday, the only criteria being the following: no novelty Halloween songs or direct references to Halloween itself in either song title or lyrics.
13. “Howlin’ for You” — The Black Keys(2010)
Not exactly a mysterious or even really a spooky song, in the context of Halloween “Howlin’ for You” produces some nice imagery of a blood-starved (or maybe just love-starved) werewolf — but the first verse does seem to hint at the building insanity in the narrator’s mind. Musically, it’s a straightforward blues song in typical minimalist Black Keys fashion, highlighted by a classic Gary Glitter-style backbeat; a processed, wobbly guitar lick; and a catchy (wordless) chorus.
12. “Zombie” — The Cranberries(1994)
Listening to the Irish rock group’s other big hits, such as “Dreams” and “Linger,” you’d never guess The Cranberries could get heavy, but they did on “Zombie,” a distinctive protest song with prominent distorted guitar that’s more indebted to the grunge movement than the Celtic pop that defines most of their work. Complete with a politically charged video, Dolores O’Riordan’s lyrics to “Zombie” deal with “The Troubles,” a period of war and conflict in Northern Ireland between the Protestant and Catholic sects of the population that, in the singer’s view, could turn the region into a cold wasteland filled with heartless “zombies.”
11. “Frankenstein” — Edgar Winter Group(1973)
A raging, progressive instrumental that pays tribute to Mary Shelley’s famous giant green monster (or, more accurately, the mad scientist who created him), Edgar Winter and company chose to name the song “Frankenstein” because it was the product of a much, much longer jam, individual parts of which were stitched and spliced together to create a shorter product, in essence becoming the band’s own Frankenstein creation. The end result is a dynamic, chameleonic whirlwind filled to capacity with strong ideas and memorable riffs.
10. “Werewolves of London” — Warren Zevon(1978)
Warren Zevon’s most iconic song and only true success in America, “Werewolves of London” is remembered for its jaunty piano riff and Zevon’s comical werewolf howl that comprises most of the chorus. Though it concerns the terrifying mythical being that appears during full moons, the song’s lyrics themselves are light and humorous. They satire human beings who go about their lives placing such an emphasis on maintaining a flawless external image (“I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic’s / And his hair was perfect”), suggesting these people are trying to bury the animal within them.
9. “Spooky Jookie” — Man Man(2011)
This experimental band and its music have been compared to everything from Vikings to anarchists to vaudeville performers, but for newest album Life Fantastic they’ve dialed down the wackiness in favor of a darker, more earthy sound, and “Spooky Jookie,” silly title aside, illustrates their new direction well. Though there are some clever fluctuations in tempo, the song still glides, driven by staccato piano chords and frontman Honus Honus’ manic vocals, which tell a tale of a girl slipping into a state of numb depression. There’s even a morbid candy reference buried in there: “She broke her teeth on an unsheathed piece of hard-tasting candy.”