You’re alone in the dark, and the only voices of reason you have are your thoughts. Don’t be fooled; darkness is not a place of solitude. Sounds that are ordinarily mundane, like a dripping faucet or a creaky wood floor, become amplified, grabbing your undivided attention. If you’re devoid of light for too long, these sounds might completely betray you.
Welcome to the sadistic and moribund world of Halloween. Below we’ve compiled a list of song with lyrics and situations that will make you look behind your back and perhaps leave you scared…shitless.
Megadeth – Go to Hell
Don’t fear the reaper? That’s nonsense when your soul is wagered on a game of eternal blackjack. The Charon, the ghastly oarsman that shepherds souls, bears little comparison to the fateful entity that has dominion over the realm of fire and brimstone. Uncorrupted minds everywhere: if you hear Dave Mustaine’s verses, rebuke them immediately. Or damnation will be upon you.
Audra – You’re So Pretty
The acoustic scales over the chamber alone are chilling. The sequence of the four-note motif cycles in this tune like the seconds along a clock. What’s the fate of this woman trapped in the basement? What will happen to her? Only time will tell.
Alice Cooper – This House is Haunted
The timbre of Alice Cooper’s voice recalls the voice of a late-night creature feature TV host. Or it’s the last voice you hear before your imminent doom in this haunted house. The song starts off carefully and deliberately, like walking up a rickety staircase. All of a sudden, a massive guitar riff floors you, leaving you helpless, by the wayside. You make great fodder for the hungry vermin that anticipate your fall.
Ice-T – Midnight
The marriage of metal and hip-hop music bore a subgenre called Horrorcore. Ice-T dabbled with the sub-genre like a warlock, black magic. This heart-racing story is the rapper’s first-person account of dodging bloodthirsty car-jackers and rogue cops in South Central Los Angeles. In the lyrics, a mix of hyperbole and realism is layered, and the song samples the brooding harmonic progression that is the intro of Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath.”
Bauhaus – Bela Lugosi’s Dead
This is vampire’s ball music. The dance of the undead. Peter Murphy’s minimalist vocals emulate the voice of Bela Lugosi from the grave. Dracula lives! Watch your neck!
Ralph Stanley – O Death
This somber song told from the point of view of death is a bluegrass standard but is most remembered by Ralph Stanley’s icy reinterpretation for the film O Brother Where Art Thou. You can’t negotiate with death. “I’ll fix your feet so you can’t walk/ I’ll lock your jaw so you can’t talk,” Death says. And in the end, no one can escort or accompany you.
Jerry Goldsmith – Ave Satani
This is the theme song to the film The Omen. It may be in another language (Latin), but the atonal chanters will leave you distressed as they invoke things that go bump in the night. What’s a good Halloween without devilish incantations?
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Halloween
This may sound upbeat, but keep listening. This gothic punk jam has hypnotic allure. Siouxie is a night prowler with the stare of a scorpion. You might not want to stick around long enough to stare back. A stinger might be just as treacherous as a razor blade in an apple. Childhood pranks and urban legends are retrospective. Halloween ain’t like it used to be.
Geto Boys – Mind Playing Tricks on Me
The horror of the so-called urban jungle can drive a man to insanity. In its despair, drug abuse and self-destruction lead to the decay of man’s innate goodness. Bushwick’s verse is the most terrifying. After harassing trick-or-treaters, his impish alter ego amps up and begins attacking an innocent man, savagely beating him. The crimson blood dripping from his hands turns out to be a red herring. The victim is Bushwick himself, beaten into the concrete after a hallucinogenic trip. And that’s just the beginning of the nightmare.
Happy Halloween!
