Season Of The Witch: Finding The Right Halloween Song(s)

Look… I need to get this out of the way. I’m not a “Halloween person.” I don’t believe I have dressed in costume since middle school. I don’t decorate our home or look forward to the happenings of the day. Just hasn’t ever been my thing. (I’m not trying to impress you… but am I?)

But Halloween music – I do really enjoy Halloween music. I generally gravitate toward dark music: metal, darkwave, noise, etc. But Halloween music is something different. Almost by its nature it needs to be more accessible (sorry Dominik Fernow!) and touch on some element of fun/pop/quirk. That was a terrible description… but it’s hard to describe. I’d love to leave it at US Supreme Court Justice Stewart’s description of pornography (“I know it when I see it“,) but that seems both unfun and unfair.

So let’s make a mixtape… but first let’s lay down some rules!

The Absolute Rules

  1. Only accessible music: while powerelectronics, death metal, and soundtracks all might seem to fit the theme, look for something more party-worthy
  2. Halloween vibes come first: AC/DC’s Hells Bells is a good example – it’s more Friday Night Lights jock jam than Halloween hit
  3. A good title does not a Halloween song make: Hungry Like The Wolf? Sympathy For The Devil? Moondance? None of these has the Halloween vibe
  4. This is a mixtape: no repeat artists and a diversity of genres; all apologies to Roky Erickson, the Misfits, and the Cramps

Some Additional Guidelines

  1. There is no 1 vibe: it can be fun (Monster Mash!) or be a pop song (Thriller!) or be dark (goth!) or … or … or … look, you get the point; there is no single “vibe” to look for, it just needs to wholly encompass some element of Halloween
  2. Kitsch is kosher: no reason to avoid songs that might be gauche, cringe-y, or unhip the other 355 days… this is Halloween! Everything is artifice! If you really need to explain yourself, irony is a flat circle and you’ll do fine.
  3. 90 minutes: no self-respecting mixtape-maker went with a 60 minute tape and the 120 minute tapes were unreliable

Our 90-Minutes Of Halloween

Our playlist is below… enjoy! Leave your suggestions in the comments.

Leave a comment