Sure, candy may be the holiday’s top selling point, but Halloween is really all about the atmosphere. That means eerie cobwebs spun across the doorway, a bubbling cauldron of witches brew on the stove, and monsters of every shape and size milling about the graveyard. But don’t forget about the pièce de résistance: an eerie playlist to get everyone in the mood to boogie.
And, no, we’re not talking “Monster Mash” or “Ghostbusters” or even “Werewolves of London”, because Halloween’s about conjuring up the unexpected, and we’ve all jammed to those tunes before. Instead, we’re diving deep into our music library and resurrecting an alternative playlist that will make you the hippest witch or demon on the block.
1. “Lose Your Soul”
By Dead Man’s Bones
“Oh, you’re gonna lose control tonight”
2. “Wolf Like Me”
By TV On The Radio
“Got a curse I cannot lift, shines when the sunset shifts”
3. “Honky Tonk Horror”
By The Black Belles
“I had a lonely heart, and he took it in no time”
4. “Heart In A Cage”
By The Strokes
“I went to the concert and I fought through the crowd, guess I got too excited when I thought you were around”
5. “The Hearse”
By Wampire
“No there’s no other start, my mind’s ripped apart, my hearts gone dry, since the day you died”
6. “Season of the Witch”
By Donovan
“And when I look in my window, so many different people to be that it’s strange”
7. “I Put a Spell on You”
By Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
“I just can’t stand it babe, the way you’re always runnin’ around”
8. “Trick or Treatz”
By Metronomy
“I’m expecting nothing fancy, I just want you to romance me”
9. “Halloweenhead”
By Ryan Adams
“Head full of tricks and treats, it leads me through the nighttime streets“
10. “Doing It To Death”
By The Kills
“Baby lately the plans we’re making are the shape of things that never come”
11. “That Black Bat Licorice”
By Jack White
“She writes letters like a Jack Chick comic, just a buncha’ propaganda, make my fingers histrionic”
12. “Transylvania”
By Say Hi
“Dollars in my bag and Leathers in my Jag, and the ladies find me, yeah, irresistible”
13. “Fresh Blood”
By Eels
“I know you’re probably getting ready for bed, beautiful woman get out of my head”
14. “Supermassive Black Hole”
By Muse
“I thought I was a fool for no one, oh, baby, I’m a fool for you”
15. “Railroad Tracks”
By Willy Moon
“Well everybody come along with me, I’ll take you to a place you never did seen“
16. “Bone House”
By The Dead Weather
“I put your heart in a vault, that’s how I get the things I want”
17. “Cold Blooded”
By Ida Maria
“I’m not so easily distressed… I put my heart on ice”
18. “Into Black”
By Blouse
“The colors of your eyes are like a stained glass window”
19. “Vampire”
By Wimps
“Suck your blood with my fake teeth… these bats trust me, come around to my place”
20. “Halloween All Year”
By The Orwells
“Take a drink from the vial and lie with me”
