You've spent weeks planning the scare-your-socks-off costume, and zombie makeup. The grizzly streamers are in. There's (fake) blood on the dance floor. The menu is loaded with too-good-to-pass appetisers, and you have stocked up on candy for the kids. But what are the guests going to shake a leg to? All this party planning left you no time to create a deliciously spooky playlist for the night of terrors. Look no further than our ultimate playlist of true blue Halloween songs. It is packed with 50 songs, ranging from themes of your favourite horror shows and movies, to modern pop from Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, from rock classics by The Rolling Stones and Alice Cooper to iconic horror videos by Michael Jackson and Marilyn Manson.
Halloween songs fall largely into two categories, they are either dark and scary, or they are upbeat romps. Some of them merge different moods – campy (think 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings' by The Smashing Pumpkins which features in the latest Hollywood superhero movie 'Black Adam') and the terrifying (weren't you spooked by a blood-soaked The Weeknd in 'Blinding Lights'?). Prince's iconic Batdance is the funniest campy-meets-scary track in this style. Some of these tracks go deep into the philosophy of death, reminding you that death is but another plane (Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear the Reaper'), and some others celebrate the darkness within (June's 'A Little Messed Up' or Melanie Martinez's 'Mad Hatter'), taking a more accepting approach to mental health.
For your Halloween party, we have curated 50 incredible songs with all these flavours. Turn up the volume, and transmogrify this annual celebration of horrors into a night to remember.
1. 'Thriller' - Michael Jackson
2. 'Stranger Things' – Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein
3. 'This is Halloween' – From Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'
4. 'The Addams Family' – Vic Mizzy
5. 'Sympathy For the Devil' – The Rolling Stones
6. 'Bury A Friend' – Billie Eilish
7. 'Devil Inside' – INXS
8. 'Blinding Lights' – The Weeknd
9. 'Dark Horse' – Katy Perry ft. Juicy J
10. 'Monster' – Lady Gaga
11. 'Haunted' - Beyoncé
12. 'Somebody's Watching Me' – Rockwell
13. Look What You Made Me Do – Taylor Swift
14. 'Black Widow' – Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora
15. 'I'm In Love With A Monster' – Fifth Harmony (from 'Hotel Transylvania 2')
16. 'Heathens' – twenty one pilots (from 'Suicide Squad')
17. 'Disturbia' - Rihanna
18. 'Cradles' – Sub Urban
19. The Monster – Eminem ft. Rihanna
20. 'Ghost' – Halsey
21. 'Bad Blood' – Taylor Swift
22. 'Ghostbusters' – Ray Parker Jr.
23. 'Feed My Frankenstein' – Alice Cooper
24. 'Shout At The Devil' – Mötley Crüe
25. 'Spooky' – Dusty Springfield
26. 'Come To Daddy' - Aphex Twin
27. 'Highway To Hell' – AC/DC
28. 'Enter Sandman' – Metallica
29. 'Black Magic Woman' – Santana
30. 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)' – Marilyn Manson
31. 'Inferno' – Sub Urban and Bella Poarch
32. 'Teeth' – 5 Seconds of Summer
33. 'Bad Habits' – Ed Sheeran
34. 'Bad Romance' – Lady Gaga
35. 'Mad Hatter' – Melanie Martinez
36. 'Don't Fear The Reaper' – Blue Oyster Cult
37. 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings' – The Smashing Pumpkins
38. 'Blood on the Dance Floor' – Michael Jackson
39. 'Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)' – David Bowie
40. 'Voodoo Child' – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
41. 'Midnight City' – M83
42. 'Demons' – Imagine Dragons
43. 'Boogie Monster' – Gnarls Barkley
44. Gorillaz - Saturnz Barz (Spirit House)
45. 'Ghosttown' – Madonna
46. 'Batdance' – Prince
47. 'A Little Messed Up' – June
48. 'Spiderwebs' – No Doubt
49. 'Living Dead Girl' – Rob Zombie
50. 'Blood, Milk and Sky' – White Zombie
