With Halloween weekend approaching fast, I found myself scrambling to finalize plans and sort out all of the things I'll need to celebrate this fun filled occasion. I've been joyously watching Freeform's annual 13 Nights of Halloween, watching all of my favorite spooky holiday movies. During an airing of The Nightmare Before Christmas, it had come to mind that people get ready for Christmas by listening to holiday themed music, but Halloween tunes aren't as common. Sure there's the soundtrack for Tim Burton's beloved film, along with plenty of kid friendly tunes most of us were taught during music class in elementary school, but it's still not enough in my opinion. I took it upon myself to compose a special playlist for my favorite holiday to really get me in the mood for the fright night festivities I have planned.
Many of my song choices have obvious Halloween ties, as they bring up ghosts, vampires, possession, and other concepts aligned with the supernatural. Of course, plenty of these artists sell themselves as dark or otherworldly groups, making their discographies overly eligible for this playlist. Some groups come to mind like Pvris, My Chemical Romance, The Pretty Reckless, The Cure, etc. On the other hand, many of the songs I felt were fitting might not stand out quite as much. For example, I threw in "Should I Stay or Should I Go" as a little shout-out to the recent pop culture obsession with Stranger Things. Similarly, I picked "Carry On Wayward Son" for fans of the show Supernatural, and "How Soon Is Now?" for anybody that loved the show Charmed as much as I did. It also seemed necessary to have "Highway to Hell" because whenever the song plays on the radio, I'm reminded of the opening sequence of Final Destination 2 and I suddenly find myself fearing for my life every single time.
A few of the tracks found on the Halloween mix were added in because of their visual components. Brendon Urie's demonic character in the "Emperor's New Clothes" video made the song an easy contender, just as blink-182's "I Miss You," music video induces chills for anybody that watches it. Urie is also featured on the track "It Remembers," which was really just a more recent song I've been listening to nonstop and thought it went along well enough to be included. Some older songs also made the cut, such as "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," which I was reminded of after binge watching Orange Is The New Black. After hearing it in one of the episodes, it seemed to be playing every place I went for the next month, which definitely made me feel a bit uneasy, which is why I had to have it listed here. Take a look at the entire collection and throw your favorites onto your very own specialized spooky playlist to get you in the Halloween spirit!
Halloween - Misfits
Lullaby - The Cure
At The Bottom - Brand New
Up There - VersaEmerge
Vampires Will Never Hurt You - My Chemical Romance
My House - Pvris
Highway to Hell - AC/DC
Enter Sandman - Metallica
Going to Hell - The Pretty Reckless
Forever Halloween - The Maine
Hollow - Mayday Parade
Arsonist's Lullabye - Hozier
Seven Devils - Florence + the Machine
It Remembers - Every Time I Die
Living Dead - Marina and The Diamonds
Spiderhead - Cage the Elephant
Creep - Radiohead
Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Serpents - Neck Deep
Haunting - Halsey
Sad Ghost - Issues
Emperor's New Clothes - Panic! At The Disco
Dust and Bones - Night Terrors of 1927
Heathens - Twenty One Pilots
I Miss You - blink-182
(Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Colt
Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas
How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths
Immortals - Fall Out Boy
Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash
Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
