Pumpkin
It’s Halloween, and for everyone who’s tired of “Monster Mash” at parties, here are some genuinely terrifying songs for all your horror-themed purposes. These songs don’t just talk about vampires and werewolves, but are actual “scared to go to bed at night” songs.
“What’s He Building?” – Tom Waits
“Now what’s that sound/ from under the door?/ He’s pounding nails into a/ hardwood floor and I/ swear to god I heard someone/ moaning low”
Tom Waits is the master of creepy songs, with his rasping voice and a penchant for stories about lowlifes and drifters. Nearly a quarter of his output could qualify for this list, but his most unsettling track is this one, off Mule Variations. It’s a spoken word piece, a poem about a strange man who lives alone and is incessantly building … something. Waits’ voice is obscure, as if from an old radio set, and throughout the song we can hear the whine of a radio signal, the pounding of nails and the low drone of something lurking inside that building. If only we knew what it was.
“Climbing Up The Walls” – Radiohead
“And either way you turn/ I’ll be there/ Open up your skull/ I’ll be there/ Climbing up the walls”
Is it about a psychotic stalker, the evil lurking in everyone’s head or something worse entirely? No one really knows, but Thom Yorke’s eerily high vocals over the ominous drumming and creepy electronic soundscape are nothing but terrifying. Many other Radiohead songs could go on this list, but there’s no other number that will make you feel more uncomfortable walking around at night or listening to on headphones with the lights out.
“John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” – Sufjan Stevens
“Look underneath the house there/ Find the few living things, rotting fast, in their sleep”
Judging purely by sound, “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” is one of Sufjan Stevens’ most beautiful songs, with a gently picked guitar and peaceful vocals. Pay any attention to the lyrics, however, and the song reveals its horrible side. It’s about a real-life serial killer who dressed as a clown and buried his victims under the floorboards of his house. It manages to be unbearably sad and absolutely revolting at the same time, and Stevens leaves one last blow for the end of the song: “And in my best behavior/ I am really just like him.”
“A Little God in My Hands” – Swans
“Pink little lamb, on a granite slab/ Black chasm creeping, forever leaking”
I have no clue what “A Little God in My Hands” is about, and there’s nothing lyrical that makes it scary except for some vaguely unsettling phrases. Regardless, this is a terrifying song, with manic vocals, dissonant guitar lines and a lurching rhythm that sounds like a man walking slowly forward with a slash-grin stretched across his face. It goes on for about seven minutes, growing more chaotic and frightening all the while.
“Die Eier Von Satan” – Tool
A crunching, mechanized song featuring snarled German lyrics over a roaring crowd — it’s hard not to see some horrific historical comparisons. It’s deeply unsettling to hear the wholehearted joy of the crowd mingled with the violent vocals and pounding machine-driven rhythm, all growing louder and more dissonant as the song goes on. It loses a bit of its bite when you realize the lyrics are just a cookie recipe in German — but even with that in mind, the song is sure to creep out anyone who listens.
The rest of the essential Halloween playlist:
“The Mercy Seat” – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
“Halloween All Year” – The Orwells
“Careful With That Axe, Eugene” – Pink Floyd
“Doppelganger” – The Antlers
“Hell Broke Luce” – Tom Waits
