Music and Halloween: Spooky Sounds for the Season

On All Hallows’ Eve, music was once a solemn affair. Liturgical hymns created a reverent, somber atmosphere, while early-20th-century blues songs featuring the Devil offered veiled commentary on oppression (www.citybeat.com).Over time, Halloween music evolved into a playful blend of spooky and fun. Classic hits like Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ and Ray Parker Jr.’s ‘Ghostbusters’ still reign supreme, but new pop anthems like Lady Gaga’s ‘Abracadabra’ and K‑pop tracks are bringing fresh energy to October nights (www.timeout.com).Today’s playlists mix the old with the new: staples such as ‘Monster Mash’ and ‘I Put a Spell On You’ sit alongside recent hits like Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Vampire’ and Halsey’s ‘Ghost’ (www.goodhousekeeping.com). Whether you’re hosting a haunted house or carving pumpkins at home, the right soundtrack can set the mood and make Halloween celebrations truly unforgettable.To appreciate Halloween music, it helps to know how the genre developed and the instruments that give it a spooky sound. Halloween music is broadly defined by its association with the holiday and themes of horror and the supernatural (en.wikipedia.org). Its roots lie in blues music, which detractors nicknamed ‘the devil’s music’ because of its secular lyrics and its connection to racial oppression; the blues scale can create dissonant, spooky sounds (en.wikipedia.org). As the genre evolved, novelty songs like “Monster Mash” appeared in the 1950s and 1960s and rock songs such as ‘Highway to Hell’ and ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ brought sinister themes into popular music (en.wikipedia.org). Horror film scores from movies like The Exorcist, The Shining and Halloween further cemented eerie music as a Halloween staple (en.wikipedia.org). These songs often rely on techniques like dissonance, tritones, irregular time signatures and ostinato, and they frequently feature instruments such as the theremin and ondes Martenot to unsettle listeners (en.wikipedia.org).

Halloween music also varies widely across cultures. In Celtic tradition, the festival of Samhain inspired haunting tunes performed on fiddles, uilleann pipes and tin whistles, and songs like ‘Molly Malone’ lend a ghostly undertone to the holiday (www.gigstarter.co.uk). In Mexico, Día de los Muertos is celebrated with mariachi bands playing lively pieces such as ‘La Llorona,’ ‘Cumbia de Satanas’ and ‘Calaverita’ (www.gigstarter.co.uk). China’s Hungry Ghost Festival incorporates opera, Buddhist chants and instruments like the guzheng, erhu and dizi (www.gigstarter.co.uk). In Western culture, Halloween playlists range from pop hits to hard rock: while many people gravitate toward staples like Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller,’ Ray Parker Jr.’s ‘Ghostbusters,’ Tim Burton’s ‘This is Halloween’ and Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition,’ others prefer the dark energy of heavy metal or the eerie soundtracks of horror films (www.gigstarter.co.uk).

‍