10 spooky Halloween songs

Plus that one Gob song with zombies in the video...

Arthur Brown, and presumably two other people’s arms, sometime in the 60’s when this was probably spooky as hell.

Halloween is upon us, along with this creepy crawly playlist! I’m a bit of a Halloween grinch, but I’m an immigrant, so leave me alone.

If left to my own wits I would have probably come up with a list of post-punk goth bands like Bauhaus, so like any good wife guy I actually stole the idea for this list from Kathryn - and we collaboratively assembled the greatest Halloween playlist ever… that doesn’t include the Western world’s cultural high-water mark, “Monster Mash”.

1. Aqua - Halloween

This is so painfully on-the-nose, but kind of obscure - buried somewhere in the sophomore release from a Swedish one hit wonder band best known for a song that embroiled them in lawsuits from the Mattel corporation. Channeling Abba more explicitly than probably anywhere else in their discography, Aqua do little to dispel the novelty act tag on “Halloween”. Aqua were never ashamed to be bubble gum, and I will always respect them for that.

2. The Crazy World of Arther Brown - Fire

“I am the god of hell fire, and I bring you….fire!”, proclaims Arthur brown from behind his ridiculous mask. Once the music kicks in, he appears to be wearing a flaming head piece of some kind, presumably to really drive the whole “fire” thing home, and you’re just left wondering if this is for real.

I don’t know anything about this song, or about Arthur Brown himself. What could there possibly be to learn? It’s best enjoyed for the daring lack of self consciousness that would not be seen again until the rise of social media. I did google it though, to make sure it isn’t actually just a parody of indulgent 60’s psychedelia. It isn’t. This is just some very early shock rock.

3. Twin Temple - I’m Wicked

It’s a well-established fact that Satanists are just dorks who fuck. Case in point: Twin Temple. They’re just a couple of sexy, morbid nerds. Blending 60’s R&B with Satanism, upon a cursory listen to a few of their songs I can best describe Twin Temple as Amy Winehouse in a garage revival band singing lyrics written by Anton Lavey.

4. Grieves (feat. Prof) - Super Scary Monsters

Introspective Seattle rapper Grieves is joined by Minneapolis’ finest MC, Prof (prove me wrong). On this spooky track he rhymes “‘round here they call me R.L. Stein - sending goosebump shivers up and down your spine”. A pretty great line actually, but then Prof comes in on that second verse and brings the chaos:

Crack in my socks, limping when I walk

Murder while I’m fucking, shitting while I talk

Punch you in the face looking through your money

I shot the sheriff, that motherfucker ain’t coming.

5. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - Nightmare On My Street

We tried to stick with the less obvious tracks for this list, but I don’t think everyone knows this unauthorized Freddy Kruger send up even if it’s from everyone’s favourite sit com rapper turned secret scientologist, Will Smith. It’s awful, to be sure, and way too long for a novelty track, but it’s also the one song that’s been stuck in my head while writing this up, so it is what it is.

6. Redbone - Witch Queen of New Orleans

You know that great Eagles song, “Witchy Woman”? Not Halloweeny enough, I say - so here’s 70’s native American rockers Redbone (best known for the indisputable classic, “Come and Get Your Love”) singing about an actual witch. Redbone’s rising career would be derailed by censorship when they released “We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee” shortly after the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee, because a popular native rock band singing about injustice and revolution spooked the powers that be a bit too much.

7. The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf

Led by Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, a husband-and-wife duo with two of the best punk stage names ever (after Poly Styrene from X-Ray Spex), The Cramps were a truly singular act when they formed in 1976. Combining rockabilly with a dark, dangerous vibe, they would go on to influence countless awful “psychobilly” bands that, try as they might, can never come close to the Cramps.

8. Ministry - Every Day Is Halloween

Not every casual Ministry fan knows that before they became titans of industrial metal, Ministry was a new wave band puttering around in Chicago, but they were. When I first learned this in the mid 90’s, I thought it was kind of embarrassing for them, but now that we’ve seen how boring and repetitive Ministry’s post-Psalm 69 output ended up being, maybe they shouldn’t have completely abandoned synth pop. At least this is fun.

9. clipping. (feat. Cam & China) - ‘96 Neve Campbell

I just covered these guys in my last post, but it would be wrong to not include this masterpiece. A tribute to Neve Campbell’s “final girl” character from Scream - we’ve come a long way from Will Smith rapping about Freddy Kruger as Davi Diggs and two guest MC’s craft a conversational flow over a horror movie sound effect-based beat.

10. Blood Ceremony - Powers of Darkness

Toronto doom rockers Blood Ceremony channel occult themes in a way that feels like a throwback to early Black Sabbath or Jethro Tull (the flute often takes a starring role). As they have evolved musically from album to album, Blood Ceremony’s lyrics remain witchy and fantastical - referencing Dario Argento’s 1977 horror classic Suspiria on this track.

Bonus track: Gob - I Hear You Calling

This song has nothing to do with Halloween lyrically, but if you’re around my age and grew up in Canada, this video is indelibly imprinted in your mind. Engaged in a life-or-death soccer match against a team of zombies (complete with “Thriller” dancing zombie cheerleaders), Gob manage to save the girl at the end… but she’s like, a were wolf or something?