I really love Halloween. So much so that in All Saints’ Eve spirit, I have perused my music library and compiled a playlist just for the holiday. It turns out, surprisingly, that I have a lot of weird and creepy (but still amazing) songs in the recesses of my iTunes library. They might not be the songs you’d blast at a party, but with eerie beats and themes of ghosts, witches, werewolves and the like, these 10 songs will get you in the mood for Oct. 31 in no time. In fact, these songs are so re-playable that you can listen to them whenever. But of course, they’re best for walking through graveyards at night. Which I totally haven’t ever done. In years.
1)
Dead Man’s Bones, “My Body’s a Zombie for You” — So Ryan Gosling doesn’t just act. He sings too. Gosling and a friend, Zach Shields, wrote their self-titled debut album inspired by the idea of a “monster ghost love story.” The magic of the album, and this song in particular, is the backing vocals supplied by Los Angeles’ Silverlake Conservatory Children’s Choir.
2)
Blitzen Trapper, “Furr” — Blitzen Trapper is a six member “pop balladry” band from Oregon. “Furr,” the title track from their 2008 album, is an upbeat and folksy tune that is ostensibly a werewolf story, which doubles as a metaphor for embracing the freak in all of us. What better song for Halloween?
3)
Stars, “The Ghost of Genova Heights” — Stars is a Montreal-based indie pop band, several of whose members also moonlight with fellow Canadian group Broken Social Scene. Lyrically, “Genova Heights” is, as the title suggests, a creepy ghost story. It’s presented, however, in pop format with falsetto refrains like “I see you when I never should.” Perfect to dance to if you happen to be in a haunted roller disco.
4)
The Decemberists, “Eli, the Barrow Boy” — Besides performing at Dillo Day 2009, The Decemberists, fronted by singer Colin Meloy, are known for their folk-pop ballads that frequently integrate historical themes (the band’s name itself is a reference to an 1825 Russian revolt). “Eli” is a beautifully subdued half love-story, half ghost-story, about the tale of a man who loses his lover and dies himself, only to return in the moonlight to “push his barrow all the day.” No one uses the accordion quite like The Decemberists.
5)
Florence + the Machine, “Howl” — Sometime in the last year Florence + the Machine’s popularity exploded in America, culminating in a September performance at the VMAs. Genre-wise, it’s difficult to classify band leader Florence Welch. She combines rock, pop and soul all in one. “Howl” is a powerful, drum and violin-heavy song full of Gothic imagery telling the story of a woman so possessed with love that she becomes a beast — a werewolfess? This song sort of kicks Twilight’s ass.
6)
Queens of the Stone Age, “Burn the Witch” — Queens, an American hard/alternative rock band headed by lead vocalist Josh Homme, released “Burn the Witch” on their 2005 album Lullabies to Paralyze. The song, a bluesy rock number featuring Homme’s falsetto vocals, follows a sort of Salem/Crucible plot of girls ratting out a woman as a witch. If you watch the music video — in all of its CGI glory — it turns out that she really is a witch, with a shit-ton of skeletons to back her up.
7)
Josh Ritter, “The Curse” — Essentially what you have with “The Curse” is a case of necrophilia. It’s a bittersweet piano song about a female archaeologist who falls in love with a mummy, only to grow old and die while the mummy remains unchanged. Ritter, an alternative-folk artist, released “The Curse” on his 2010 album, So Runs the World Away, a folksy, acoustic, story-driven compilation. Also, there is a fan-made YouTube video of “The Curse” which, if you’re overly emotional — or have a deathly fear of puppets — will probably make you cry.
8)
M83, “Graveyard Girl” — M83 is an electronic French duo whose songs typically feature soft vocals melded with strong, almost overpowering instrumentation. “Graveyard Girl” continues this tradition, relying on drums and guitars as well as echo-ey synth vocals. The song revolves around a Goth girl who is really unicorns and rainbows on the inside — “she worships Satan like a father but dreams of a sister like Molly Ringwald.” It’s not particularly supernatural, but hey — it’s Goth kids. Halloween is like a second cousin to them.
9)
The Pierces, “Secret” — I totally did not know that this was the theme song to Pretty Little Liars. I stole it from Gossip Girl! The Pierces, a sister duo, released “Secret” on their 2008 album Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge. It doesn’t really have a Halloween-y theme (besides death), but the carousel tune definitely gives it a creepy, catchy vibe. It will certainly stick in your head.
10)
Little Boots, “Ghost” — So, I discovered Little Boots, a.k.a. Victoria Hesketh, this past summer, when I happened upon her electro-pop single “Remedy” on last.fm and subsequently ended up singing it whenever publicly acceptable for the next month. “Ghost” has an electro-waltz/military march feel to it. The song is not really about a ghost, but rather the narrator getting the cold shoulder from a boyfriend. Still, Hesketh’s eerie, reverberating vocals make the song feel right at home on this playlist.
