More about: Halloween

Blink 182 had it right when they sang that they'd have "Halloween on Christmas." One seasonal occasion is objectively better than the other, and time approaches for the one that features plastic fangs, soggy pumpkins and neon green drunken sicks.

Likely you'll be having - or attending - a Halloween party, and as such you'll be needing some music to play at it. Surely you have 'Monster Mash' on there already, alongside a list of tunes as tired as Noddy Holder in December.

It's a problem we've all had, and so we thought we'd lend a (severed) hand. Below, find a list of the best and the less obvious creep out songs to add to your Alternative Halloween Playlist. 

Words by Jemima Skala, Jessie Atkinson, Shannon Cotton, Grace Almond, Vicky Greer, Melissa Darragh, Matt Glasbey and Mark McConville. 

Siouxsie and the Banshees – Spellbound

Hot Girl Summer? Nope, it’s time for Witch Girl Halloween, and Siouxsie Sioux is here to get you in the spirit with this deliciously creepy piece of goth rock with its iconic guitars and haunted house lyrics. ‘Tis the season! (VG)

My Chemical Romance – Blood

You might have missed this short hidden track at the end of The Black Parade, but now is the perfect time to dust it off. The jarring contrast between the old-fashioned cheerful sound and the horrifying lyrics shows the very best of big, theatrical emo. (VG)

Trick or Treat Dancefloor - Cherry Glazerr

Ever purveyors of the weird and wonderful, Cherry Glazerr pair a controlled riff with whispered vocals to a harrowing effect. Simply haunting, Trick or Treat Dancefloor is the perfect addition to any halloween playlist. (MD)

The Man With No Heart Or Brain - Goat Girl

Goat Girl bring all the angst and intrigue you’d want with any spooky tale. With droning vocals and a riff to die for, this one will be stuck in our brains for some time to come. (MD)

Hyde Park Coroner - Legss

No Halloween celebration would be complete without a spooky story - and London punks Legss bring a perfectly sinister contribution. A fiercely passionate tale of love and death, Hyde Park Coroner is deadly and dark - a track sure to raise the hairs on the back of your neck. (MD)

slowthai feat. Denzel Curry - Psycho

Anxiety inducing from the second you press play, ‘Psycho’ sees the UK’s slowthai in the red corner with Miami’s Denzel Curry in the blue corner as they thrash it out on this angsty juggernaut. (SC)

Viagra Boys - Down in the Basement

Viagra Boys’ Swedish sleaze seeps through every instrument on ‘Down In The Basement’. It’s sordid, salacious and perfect for a spooky shindig. (SC)

Drenge - Bonfire of the City Boys

In keeping with sinister autumnal themes, Drenge’s ‘Bonfire Of The City Boys’ places a heavy emphasis on bass and percussion lending itself seamlessly to ominous atmospheres. (SC)

Kim Petras feat. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark - Turn Off The Light

An iconic queer Halloween anthem: the fact that Kim Petras released an entire Halloween album is brilliant in itself, and this sexy pop banger goes down well at any Halloween party. (GA)

Roxy Music - In Every Dream Home A Heartache 

Is there anything more sinister than an organ? This one adds dreaded texture to the narrative of a man in love with an inflatable doll. So many parallels can be drawn between it and 1970s serial killers like the Golden State Killer: even David Fincher used it in Mindhunter season two. (JA) 

Joy Division - She's Lost Control

With a freezing wind blowing through Unknown Pleasures and a band name with a hideous backstory, Joy Division's industrial post-punk makes for excellent Halloween listening. (JA)

Symptoms of Love - Stop (Halloween Mix)

A really excellent feel-good house with a sardonic nod to 50s horror soundtracks. (JS)

Florence & The Machine - Girl With One Eye

A supremely creepy track...this one always used to make me look over my shoulder when I was listening to it because it felt like a ghost was singing it right into your ear. (JS)

Sorry - Wished

Another band with a handle on the macabre, Sorry bring the unhinged to each of their inventive guitar creations and nowhere is it more evident than in the building feedback of early single 'Wished'. (JA)

Billie Eilish - all the good girls go to hell

The queen of creepy, Billie Eilish adds demented tri-tones and twisted vocal effects to most of her songs, but this one is up there with 'bad guy' and 'bury a friend' in the creepy stakes. (JA) 

Babybird - You're Gorgeous

Have you listened to the lyrics on this deceptive pop banger? Surely the work of someone with less than savoury intentions...(JA)

Blue Foundation - Eyes On Fire

Who could forget this banger from the Twilight series - the final minute and a half combines haunting harmonies with a slow, lagging drum beat, culminating in an abrupt (but sure), finish. (GA)

Hexmaze - Hex Hex Hex

A huge, witchy feminist punk track that combines slow riffs and grinding sounds to create an undeniable atmosphere. Their frontwoman's screeches really add to the brooding nature of the song. (GA)

L.A. WITCH - Kill My Baby

Vocalist Sade sings everything as though she's just emerged, dripping, from the well at the bottom of the garden, and this dusty rock song is no different - three women returning from burying a body in the desert. (JA)

Wolf Alice - Giant Peach

Revelling in reverb and charging forward like the soundtrack to a horror movie chase, this one from Wolf Alice is a thrashing addition to our alternative Halloween playlist. (SC)

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Deadly Valentine (Soulwax remix)

Free-spirited and ethereal, Soulwax’s remix of Charlotte Gainsbourg’s ‘Deadly Valentine’ is the perfect party starter in any situation. The use of “deadly” in the title surely makes it a shoe-in for our alternative Halloween playlist too…(SC)

The Velvet Underground - Venus In Furs

The sound of S&M, the Velvets sound their most ominous on this famous early cut, the electric viola a stab in the heart at its every appearance. (JA) 

Lorde - Glory and Gore

"Glory and Gore go hand in hand" Lorde sings on a cut from her first record: an introduction to a modern day witch. (JA)

The Cramps - Human Fly

Skew-whiff rockabilly for the reprobates of the world, it’s difficult to pinpoint one Cramps track for this playlist. ‘Human Fly’ does a pretty good job of summarising the band’s sound though. Buzz, buzz, buzz. (SC)

Pixies - Bone Machine

A fan favourite with the kind of riff that tracks like a nearly-headless corpse swinging its hair around on the remaining stem of its neck. (JA)

Kasabian - Vlad the Impaler

Wonky guitars, breaking glass samples and jangly synths create a sinister tone on this one. I guess it’s less lad rock and more Vlad rock. (SC)

The Wytches - Digsaw

The clue's in the name with this one, which conjures a howling storm behind the unhinged catercauls of frontman Kristian Bell. (JA)

Unloved - Danger (Alternative Mix)

A sexy form of sinister oozes out of Unloved’s alternative mix of ‘Danger’. Featured widely on the BBC series Killing Eve, intergalactic instrumentals fit the mood perfectly. (SC)

Tyler, The Creator - IGOR'S THEME

A piercing backing track that hangs off its hinges dominates this 2019 hit from Tyler, The Creator. (JA)

Kavinsky - Nightcall

Cyborg effect vocals follow a feral wolf call and ride atop a zombie plod of synths on a song that Nicolas Winding Refn found hard-hitting enough to use in the 2011 film Drive. (JA)

The Kills - Doing It To Death

With a name like that, Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart were destined to write rock anthems with the faint air of chasing or being chased. (JA) 

Alkaline Trio - Sadie

One of Alkaline Trio's most disturbing deep cuts, Sadie is a catchy, guitar driven, morbid assessment of murderous vibes. Throughout the song, lead singer Matt Skiba describes horrifying outcomes and the track takes influence from the notorious Manson murders. It is a contribution that raises hairs and shudders the spine. (MM)

RJD2 - The Horror

A Frankenstein's monster of horror movie samples in the guise of an early noughties hip hop outing. (JA)

Singapore Sling - Let It Roll, Let It Rise

With all the charm and finesse of a severed hand, Singapore Sling put your brain in a jar and drink the still-warm liquid that surrounds it in this psychedelic banger. (MG) 

The Cure - A Forest

The Cure at their most devilish, A Forest is an atmospheric evocation of running through a misty forest, the shade of the trees making it forever night. (JA)

More about: Halloween