Halloween. Scary. Spooky. America’s bleakest, most horrifying holiday (besides Columbus Day) also happens to have the best music! Thousands of songs across genres, from classic post-punk to heavy metal and indie pop channel spooky scary energy into some immaculate Halloween tunes. If you’re tired of listening to Thriller by Michael Jackson on loop every October, here’s a few songs from U92’s music staff to kick your Halloween vibe into turbo:
Slint- “Nosferatu Man”
If Misfits are the campy horror B-movies of music, Slint’s 1991 album Spiderland is House of Leaves. The entire album is spooky, full of weird time signatures, creepy whispering, and screams of anguish, but “Nosferatu Man” takes the cake with its allusions to vampires, castles, and Hank Williams. The heaviest track on the album, “Nosferatu Man,” is probably also one of the more accessible on it, being a good gateway into the great and terrible place that is Spiderland. -J. Paci
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ugdrdFrhI0
Phoebe Bridgers - “Halloween”
Spooky in name only, this track from Phoebe Bridgers is one of many gut punches off of her 2020 modern classic Punisher. The night of October 31 is instead the backdrop of a struggling relationship, where Bridgers begs that, like someone choosing their costume, the couple “can be anything.” It’s one of her most sparsely instrumented songs, and while certainly not something to play at a Halloween party (unless you want to ruin the vibe and make everyone think too hard),”Halloween” is always worth a listen on All Hallow’s Eve. - James Pawlowski
Ministry- “Every Day Is Halloween”
Classic goth Halloween song! A song from Ministry before they had their industrial phase, and still did a fake British accent. Everyday is Halloween because they are goth (duh) and it’s about feeling alienated by the general public because of how you dress. “They say, ‘Why are you dressed like it’s Halloween?’ ‘You look so absurd, you look so obscene!’” Great pick for the Halloween party. - Kendall Hendryx
Sonic Youth- “Shadow of a Doubt”
Before their 90s grunge phase, Sonic Youth pumped out some phenomenal post-punk albums. 1986’s Evol might be the creepiest of them, with a Joy Division-esque feeling of being in a dark, empty room. Drawing from their no-wave roots, “Shadow of a Doubt” takes this up to 11, with Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo’s signature f-ed up guitar tunings (here, they’re tuned to F#F#F#F#EB and F#F#AAEE respectively) creating a wonderfully spacey droning dissonance pairing well with the rhythm section’s thundering, primitive beats. “Shadow of a Doubt” is one spooky track. -John Parma
The Cleaners From Venus - “Only a Shadow”
It isn’t Halloween season for me until I hear this song. It’s grungy, it’s scratchy, even the words are a little spooky. A tinny guitar riff plays throughout the song, giving it almost an eerie sound, but somehow it's still a track you could dance to. The Cleaners From Venus’ whole discography is a Halloween movie soundtrack, but this one really sets the scene. It tells the story of a man who is haunted by lost love. It sets the mood, and it’s a little underappreciated. – Allie Miller
Grouper - Poison Tree
Liz Harris of Grouper fame might not make Halloween music explicitly, but the atmosphere created in her psychedelic, ambient folk track “Poison Tree” gives you all the same heebie-jeebies. Grouper’s most popular song to date, it’s a hauntingly beautiful ballad, inspired by a William Blake poem titled “A Poison Tree,” about reveling in anger and “poisonous” emotions, which doesn’t really fit the spooky vibes of Halloween on the surface. But, looping throughout is a minor-key synth arpeggio, and when combined with Grouper’s muted, longing vocals, it perfectly captures the spirit of Halloween. After every pillowcase and bucket is filled with candy, and you’re walking through the streets in the dead of the night, “Poison Tree” is the song I’d be most scared to hear. - Mason Deel
Machine Girl - Grindhouse
While this isn’t explicitly a Halloween song, it definitely brings the vibe as an October release from Machine Girl and a part of the set from their Halloween show in Brooklyn last year, which I had the privilege of attending. This track is a fusion between breakbeat EDM and hardcore, which brings an ominous vibe to lyrics about low-budget horror theatres and a dom/sub relationship. This song was the perfect addition to the Halloween show, and it’s become a permanent part of my Halloween playlist. - Fallon Nalbach
Death- Spirit Crusher
Okay. Death is literally the name of the band. How can it get any spookier? These Florida thrash/death metal pioneers made a pivot to prog on their 1998 album The Sound of Perseverance, but kept their menacing, scary selves intact. The lyrics describe a horrible, vicious creature, “human at sight, monster at heart,” waiting to rip into one’s spirit– an over the top, scary metaphor for negative jerks trying to keep you down. The proggier elements emphasize the crushingly heavy riffs and literally insane drumming, only adding to the scary vibe of the music. -J. Paci
https://youtu.be/b9AMFf5Ih7Y