Alt Hallows' Eve

After the terrifying times we've been living through as of late, this Halloween season feels different. Cheesy horror movies and plastic bats suddenly don't seem so scary when you're living through a global pandemic. Wearing zombie and vampire masks feels a little surreal after having to wear medical masks for a year and a half. Even with the usual Halloween festivities becoming viable again, it all feels a little... off.

This is the feeling that I wanted to capture in this playlist. I didn't throw in Thriller, Monster Mash, or a single Nightmare Before Christmas song, because that's what I would do any other Halloween. To convey the uneasiness of this spooky season, I gathered songs from a variety of alternative, indie, rock, and punk artists.

This is the kind of playlist I'd want to listen to at my first Halloween party in two years, when I'm feeling self-conscious about my medical mask clashing with my robot costume, or uncomfortable about the lack of proper social distancing. This is the playlist for people who want to party this Halloween, but find the prospect of doing so scarier than anything else the season has ever had to offer.

This is Alt Hallow's Eve.

Here are just a few of the songs and artists that make this playlist special to me.

Anybody Else - Dom Fera

While I recommend listening to this playlist on shuffle, I must admit I usually throw this song on first. This one and a few others like it at the top of the list were my inspiration for making a Halloween playlist in the first place. This song sent me on the search for others like it—songs that sound unique, fresh, and modern, but that incorporate those spooky Halloween-y sounds we all know and love. It's different, but with very familiar shreds of the season in there. It perfectly sets the tone for what this playlist is all about, and, by extension, for what I feel this entire Halloween season is all about.

Haunt, The Cartoon Heart - Bear Ghost

There's not much I can say about Bear Ghost's suitability for this playlist that you won't pick up on immediately once you hear their music. Much of their discography is brazenly, unashamedly cartoonish and camp. This song especially encapsulates this, be it through the vintage rubber-hose style cover artwork or the vampiric vocals. Yet, there's still a certain flare that feels ever-so contemporary. While I could talk about all of their songs with as much praise and more, I'll leave it at: they rock. They're another big reason this playlist exists in the first place.

Rock Star Skinny - The Real Zebos

This song and music video are so much fun. That droning funeral-esque sound loop makes the song fit perfectly, while also making it feel a bit nostalgic. Maybe it's just the youthfulness of the music video, but there's something about Rock Star Skinny that puts me in a very pre-pandemic mindset. I think it's healthy to reminisce about what things used to be like so we can do our best to get our world back to that state, or as close as we can to it.

My only gripe with the song is that the instrumental outro at the end isn't longer, because it's just that good. That funeral-sound breaks breaks down into this high-pitched whirr, and it's so eerie yet so groovy. Do people say groovy anymore? Whatever, next song.

Stockholm Syndrome - Superet

I'd say this is the first song in the playlist that is truly unsettling. If I close my eyes while listening to it, I can just picture the horror movie ending scene play out. You see the empty halls, the bloody walls, the bodies on the floor—the brutal aftermath of the atrocities committed. The credits roll. The movie's over, but the song plays on. Even when it's over, you can't help but hear its echo. You wonder if it's still playing, or if it's all in your head. Who knows...

ALIENS! - Autumn Kings

There aren't many songs more on-point to the theme of horror than a song about alien abduction. That being said, if all alien abductions sound this good, maybe they're not so horrifying after all.

Your Number's Up - Ice Nine Kills

This is one of the few songs that's more on-point. It's a straight-up metal musical parody of the movie Scream, and while it doesn't have a music video to accompany it, the excellent performances from the vocalists helps to visualize the scene playing out just fine.

Also, there's a reason there's a disclaimer in the beginning of the lyric video; the song gets pretty brutal, especially towards the end. It's well-worth the buildup, but if you're sensitive to blood, death, or the implication thereof, this one might be a skip.

Also also, I lied; I did put Thriller in the playlist, or at least, the Ice Nine Kills cover of Thriller. Sorry, not sorry.

Mx. Sinister & Choke (Acoustic) - I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

Full disclaimer—I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME (or IDKHOW for short) is my all-time favorite band. Frontman Dallon Weekes is my favorite musician. Most of my playlists include at least one of his songs. It's fortunate, then, that so many of his songs are right at home in this particular playlist.

Mx. Sinister is a song Dallon has been playing live for years. Recently, a studio version was released that was well worth the wait. It's a more real-life sort of scary, being from the perspective of a stalker. His melodic voice contrasts so well with the dark nature of the lyrics—it's good. There's not much I can say about it besides: it's good.

For the song Choke, I included the acoustic version because I feel like it's even scarier than the regular studio version. It has this sort of twisted carnival sound to it that never fails to put me right on edge in the best way. It's beautifully frightening and uniquely scary, which is exactly the balance I aim to maintain with this playlist.

And the songs I've discussed here are only a handful of those the playlist has to offer. As it stands, I've compiled nearly three hours of thematically-similar, sinister, spooky songs. And the closer we come to All Hallows' Eve, the more I'll be adding.

So, gather some friends. Grab a speaker and give a listen.

Eat, drink, and be scary, and remember to stay safe out there.

Make this Halloween one you'll never forget.