Songs That Scare
- Kristen Petronio
- Oct 22, 2024
- 5 min read
There are a lot of songs that could fall under the “Halloween music” banner, but a lot of them sit on the side of whimsical. Think, “Monster Mash” and “Ghostbusters.” These are tracks that fit the Halloween vibe but aren’t scary. Looking at many Halloween playlists you can find on Spotify, many of them feature classics that fit the mood, but not many of the tracks would be considered scary. Except the “Halloween” theme. Even if you’re a fan of the franchise, that score can still put you on edge.
Think of the songs you hear at a Halloween party. How many send a shiver down your spine? That is the goal of today’s blog. To put the spooky back in spooky season, we’ve scoured the internet looking for songs that may actually scare or unsettle you. They’re not Halloween themed, but there’s something about them that puts the listener on edge. Whether it’s the singer’s tone or the lower-register beats or the subject matter, these songs bring about fear and dread. Check out our playlist of songs that scare you!
To start out the playlist, let’s ease into the scares with a few milder selections...
“bury a friend” - Billie Eilish
It’s the tone of singing and sound effects of this one that make you wonder if you’d want to hear this alone in a dark room.
“Sappy” - Kurt Cobain
It’s the subject matter and tone that Cobain sings in this one that makes listeners feel haunted. The song’s been interpreted in many ways over the years, but the bottom line seems to be the feeling of thinking you’re happy but you’re actually sad, or sappy.
“Season of the Witch” - Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey’s breathy, slowly sung cover of “Season of the Witch” is going to get you in a spooky season mood at the very least.
“Haunted” - Evanescence
The intro alone incites dread, and put it with the lyrics of being stalked, it’s hard not to feel a little unsettled by this Evanescence track.
“Kim” - Eminem
This is 6 minutes of Eminem yelling at his then-wife Kim and using a higher-pitched voice to emulate her responses. It features moments of abuse including a part choking her out and what sounds like dumping a body bag on the side of the road. It’s so chilling knowing he wrote this in response to his now ex-wife cheating on him.
“Den of the Picquerist” - Thy Art Is Murder
If you’re a person who finds metal “scary” that may be enough for you to feel uncomfortable with this track, but those who needs a little more may feel their skin crawl when looking at the lyrics about a person who enjoys piercing the skin of another with sharp objects.
“Hacksaw Decapitation” - Cannibal Corpse
Lyrically, most Cannibal Corpse songs are intense but those saw noises in the background take this song a little more over the edge.
Now let’s get into some more unsettling options...
“Angels of Light” - We Are Him
There’s something about that lower frequency, especially in the first minute, that puts the listener on edge. Then when the singing kicks in, the chanting gives this uncanny valley that is hard to explain, but if you get it, you get it.
“Ave Santani” (from The Omen franchise) - Jerry Goldsmith and Mark Korven
Whether you listen to the version from the original or the latest version from the prequel The First Omen, the operatic singing that rises in urgency the longer it plays is bound to put anyone on edge, waiting for evil to come.
“Tubular Bells” - Mike Oldfield
Thanks to its use in The Exorcist, “Tubular Bells” ramps up tension and puts the listener on edge.
“Halloween Theme” - John Carpenter
There’s nothing like the creeping dread of John Carpenter’s score and one can’t help but picture Michael Myers stalking toward his next victim as you listen.
“Run Rabbit Run” - Flanagan and Allen
This one was already unsettling, but after its use in the Jordan Peele movie Get Out, it can’t be heard without feeling a creeping dread, wondering if you’re the hunter or being hunted.
“The Demise of Mrs. Baylock” - Gerry Goldsmith
Another entry from 1978’s The Omen, the scream-like operatic singing in this followed by the chanting is enough to put anyone on edge. This entire soundtrack is total nightmare fuel.
“We Were Children Once” - Coraline Ensemble Cast
This track from Coraline is sung so ominously that one has to be in the right mood to even let it play all the way through.
“They’re Coming to Take Me Away – Haha! - Sloppy Jane
Sometimes those old-style songs feel so unsettling from a modern lens, adding in a singer that is purposely singing on the verge of a breakdown adds to an uncomfortable feeling that digs into you.
“Full of Fire” - The Knife
For nine minutes, you can listen to soft singing backed up by creeping low register guitar licks, or you can run the heck away. The choice is up to you.
“Where the Watermelons Rot” - Madelynne Whitt
This takes the classic rhyme “Down the Bay” and twists it into a story about a girl who sees people she can’t tell others about, and it’s those lyrics that are bound to give you chills.
And these are songs you definitely wouldn’t want to hear alone in a dark room at 3am...
“13 Angels Standing Guard ‘Round the Side of Your Bed” - ASMZ
If that title doesn’t unsettle you enough, just one minute of this track will activate your fight or flight.
“Necro” - A001
Used in the 2022 horror film Barbarian, “Necro” has a siren-like quality to it that makes you feel like something is on its way down the hallway and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.
“Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima” - Krzysztof Penderecki
Sometimes screeching violins are all you need to hear to say, “nope, I’m out.” When you remember this song is lamenting the victims of Hiroshima, it becomes even more haunting. Nothing scarier than the real-life horrors of the world.
“Frankie Teardrop” - Suicide
This song takes you on a journey that feels like spoken word, recounting the story of a factory worker who cannot take the stress of his life anymore and kills his entire family. The breathless way that the singer Alan Vega relays the story is quite disturbing but when the killing happens, the singer begins to scream on the track, it takes the song to another level of scary.
“Hamburger Lady” - Throbbing Gristle
When you learn that the lyrics of this one come from a real account from a war medic who worked in a burn victim unit where he treated a woman scorched from her waist to her face, one can’t help but feel a little uncomfortable. Real life horrors sink deeper into the psyche, and the way Genesis P-Orridge gives a deadpan delivery of the story makes the entire song feel off.
“Asbestos Youth” - Wolf Eyes
Let’s just say this one is a vibe, and the vibe is unsettling. You have to wait a full two minutes before the vocals come in, but the vocals don’t make this any more relaxing. This is another track that would make the mind wander to dangerous places in a dark room.
All the songs have been gathered into a Spotify playlist for your listening convenience and so you can use it to scare your friends. You can listen to it here:
I hope this list scratches that itch to be scared. Everyone’s barometer for what scares them varies, so hopefully at least one got under your skin. If none of them scratched that itch, let me know what really scary song you love in the comments! Whether you like to be scared or you’d rather skip ahead to Christmas, I hope this list got you in the spooky season mood. Thanks for reading!
Special thanks to the following resources that helped me create this list...
Written by Kristen Petronio
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