Halloween is just around the corner, which means it's the spookiest time of the year. 2020 has been especially spooky, but if there has ever been a time to get rid of the ghosts and ghouls that are currently haunting your house, it's now.
We've put together eight of our favourite scary songs to help you get in the Halloween mood. It doesn't matter if you're a skeleton who's got no body to dance with, you'll feel yourself bopping along to these tracks (as long as you're not too freaked out)!
Sub Urban - Cradles
The lyrics for Sub Urban's Cradles will have you checking under your bed. It's a song about living in a fantasy world, and spending time there to escape from the reality of the world.
Sub Urban just wants to be able to live in a world made from his imagination, and escape the horrors of day-to-day life. People are trying to force him to realise what's happening in front of him, but he's insistent on remaining in this world made by him, for him. The creepy music box sounds will give you Victorian child ghost vibes for sure.
Billie Eilish - all the good girls go to hell
The video for Billie Eilish's all the good girls go to hell might as well be a horror film - it's that scary. It features Billie growing black wings after being injected with a mystery substance, and fires start flaring all around her. Her wings light on fire, and it turns into a real-life hellscape.
The video discusses the all-too-present horror of climate change. In a statement, Billie says about the video, "Right now there are millions of people all over the world, begging our leaders to pay attention. Our earth is warming up at an unprecedented rate, ice caps are melting, our oceans are rising, our wildlife is being poisoned, and our forests are burning."
Ashnikko - Halloweenie III: Seven Days
Ashnikko loves Halloween, and she's just dropped her third Halloween-themed track. Halloweenie III: Seven Days sees her continue to claim her title as the Queen Of Halloween, and features some absolutely gory imagery.
The song is gruesome, and follows the theme of the 12 Days Of Christmas. If you're not feeling spooked by the end of this song, then you're not listening closely enough.
Melanie Martinez - Mad Hatter
The video for Melanie Martinez's Mad Hatter features Melanie using stuffed toys to represent her real friends, which honestly frightens us a little bit. She built a cute world for her debut album Cry Baby, but there's something a bit unsettling about it...
The video for Mad Hatter was the last music video for Cry Baby, and a representation of everything she'd worked on for the album. It reminds us of films like Coraline, in the best way. It's scary, but also a fun watch. It might even give you some Halloween costume inspiration.
Sloan Peterson - Nightmare
Sloan Peterson's Nightmare might not freak you out - unless you're a creepy dude in the music industry. If that's the case, then Sloan's coming for you.
The video for Nightmare sees Sloan wondering if she's a nightmare, or if she's just confident in going after what she wants. We think it's the latter - Sloan deserves nothing but the best, and if anyone wants to stand in her way, then they better watch out. And somehow Sloan looks damn cool in a coffin.
Kanye West - Monster
What's most scary about Kanye West's Monster is just how great Nicki Minaj sounds. Kanye, Rick Ross, JAY-Z and Nicki all flex on the track, but it's Nicki that shines brightest.
The song also features several horror movie references, and the video was so graphic and scary it was banned from MTV. The song was nearly cut from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Family (madness!), but it's gone onto be one of Kanye's biggest hits.
My Chemical Romance - Helena
The music video for My Chemical Romance's Helena represents the band's aesthetic just as much as the song does. Helena is about lead singer Gerard Way's late grandmother Elena Lee Rush (whose friends called her Helena), and would often close the band's live shows.
The music video features the band performing at a young woman's funeral, with Gerard playing a priest. During the video, the body rises from the casket and dances, before falling back down. It's enough to freak you out - especially if you're watching the video alone late at night...
Skrillex - Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites
Skrillex released the lead single from his second EP, Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites, all the way back in 2010 - but it's still as spooky as ever. The song has special powers, too - according to a study in Acta Tropica, it can help protect you against mosquito bites.
The song is a great example of the power of EDM and captures the energy and excitement that existed around the new forms of electronic dance music at the start of the 2010s.
Named after David Bowie's 1980 album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), Skrillex's second EP would introduce dubstep to the mainstream - with the lead single a huge part of creating a new musical phenomenon.
