Welcome to the most genuinely unnerving Halloween week in memory.

All the costumes, trick-or-treating and spooky-season fun is essentialy off the table due to COVID-19. But the real terrors of a rampaging virus and a tense election (to say the least) are very present. Michael Myers himself would probably take one look around and head back into Laurie StrodeB次元官网网址檚 closet to hide this one out.

If youB次元官网网址檙e stuck doing witchy incantations at home (or just pounding mulled cider until the morning of Nov. 4), The Los Angeles TimesB次元官网网址� music team pulled together a playlist to keep the demons at bay, from nu-metal nightmares to grisly horrorcore hip-hop to Belarusian goth TikTok hits.

Backxwash, B次元官网网址淪pells (feat. Devi McCallion)B次元官网网址�

Zambian Canadian artist and 2020 Polaris Prize-winner Ashanti Mutinta, better known as Backxwash, beckons us to wade in the bog of her brain in the murky witch-hop of B次元官网网址淪pells,B次元官网网址� featuring sinister howls and spitfire verses by MC Devi McCallion. B次元官网网址淚 told my mama that the devil got a place for me,B次元官网网址� McCallion rhymes, B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 going to hell and I bet you IB次元官网网址檒l be safe for weeks.B次元官网网址� (Suzy Exposito)

Clipping, B次元官网网址淏lood of the FangB次元官网网址�

Couched in horror-film language, the new left-field hip-hop track B次元官网网址淏lood of the FangB次元官网网址� concerns AmericaB次元官网网址檚 most curdling story B次元官网网址� that of slavery, centuries-long oppression and the countryB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渁ddiction to blood.B次元官网网址� Name-checking Black activists and outlining the gnarled consequences of racism, ClippingB次元官网网址檚 Daveed Diggs promises to B次元官网网址渄igest the flesh of every wicked human / B次元官网网址楾il the best and blackest blood is back to ruling.B次元官网网址� (Randall Roberts)

The Cramps, B次元官网网址淚 Was a Teenage WerewolfB次元官网网址�

All good Halloween music should be a bit camp, and no one did spooky-cartoon-skeleton-dancing music better than the Cramps. B次元官网网址淚 Was a Teenage WerewolfB次元官网网址� borrowed its title from a schlocky monster flick, but truth be told, we all feel like hairy hormonal monsters locked inside these days. (August Brown)

Miley Cyrus, B次元官网网址淶ombieB次元官网网址� (2020)

The CranberriesB次元官网网址� early-B次元官网网址�90s pop-grunge classic is revived with scary precision by the onetime kiddie star whose career keeps refusing to die. (Mikael Wood)

Eagles, B次元官网网址淲itchy WomanB次元官网网址� (1972)

Inspired in part by various women heB次元官网网址檇 met at the Troubadour and the Whisky a Go Go, Don HenleyB次元官网网址檚 first writing credit with the Eagles deploys a slinky-spooky soft-rock groove to summon the image of a lady with B次元官网网址渞aven hair and ruby lipsB次元官网网址� who can B次元官网网址渞ock you in the nighttime till your skin turns red.B次元官网网址� (MW)

Gravediggaz, B次元官网网址淒efective Trip (TrippinB次元官网网址�)B次元官网网址�

RZAB次元官网网址檚 horrorcore supergroup with Prince Paul, Frukwan and Poetic had one of the best album covers of B次元官网网址�90s rap for B次元官网网址�6 feet Deep,B次元官网网址� and this bleak descent into glue-sniffing insanity is one of its masterstrokes. Seething rats, crackheads, all-consuming flames: Horror movie or real-life for the poor in Giuliani-era NYC? (AB)

Halsey, B次元官网网址淣ightmareB次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 wonB次元官网网址檛 smile, but IB次元官网网址檒l show you my teeth,B次元官网网址� spits Halsey in her 2019 one-off track, B次元官网网址淣ightmare.B次元官网网址� A Top 40 chameleon-gone-torrid alt-rock bombshell, Halsey fires off scorching barbs about a particular kind of horror show: the patriarchy. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been polite, but I wonB次元官网网址檛 be caught dead / Letting a man tell me what I should do in my bed.B次元官网网址� (SE)

Handsome Family, B次元官网网址淧oor, Poor LenoreB次元官网网址�

Crooner Brett Sparks presents the opening couplet of this mournful 2000 country song as if he were a minister delivering a graveside eulogy: B次元官网网址淧oor, poor Lenore carried off by crows / As she wandered alone where the red oaks grow.B次元官网网址� With lyrics written by wife Rennie Sparks, B次元官网网址淧oor, Poor LenoreB次元官网网址� travels with the birds and our hero, B次元官网网址渢heir beaks twisted in her hair,B次元官网网址� as they fly Lenore B次元官网网址渢o the top of a dead tree where the heartbroken go.B次元官网网址� Who stomped her heart? A gravedigger, of course, who B次元官网网址渒issed so hard her mouth filled with blood / Then he left her to cry where the red oaks die.B次元官网网址� (RR)

Ella Henderson, B次元官网网址淕host (Oliver Nelson Remix)B次元官网网址�

Haunted by the memory of her ex, this big-voiced B次元官网网址淴 FactorB次元官网网址� flameout goes to the river to pray, only to come home and find the dudeB次元官网网址檚 evil eyes still B次元官网网址渟itting on the wall B次元官网网址� watch(ing) every move I make.B次元官网网址� (MW)

Lingua Ignota, B次元官网网址淲icked GameB次元官网网址�

The SoCal-reared singer, composer and noise artist has an unlikely gift for a great cover. Her gutting of Chris IsaakB次元官网网址檚 misty pop hit has plenty of love for the original. But now itB次元官网网址檚 a barely recognizable goth-opera nightmare that samples B次元官网网址淭hrenody for the Victims of HiroshimaB次元官网网址� by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. Beautiful, gruesome B次元官网网址� and both funny and unnerving once the chorus hits. (AB)

Post Malone feat. Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott, B次元官网网址淭ake What You WantB次元官网网址� (2019)

Gloomy, power-ballad perfection from hip-hopB次元官网网址檚 streaming king and metalB次元官网网址檚 prince of darkness B次元官网网址� oh, and Travis Scott, who turns up to bemoan the fact he canB次元官网网址檛 fit all his women in his tiny sports car. (MW)

Ministry, B次元官网网址�(Every Day Is) HalloweenB次元官网网址�

Long before Al Jourgensen became the dreadlocked soldier of conservativesB次元官网网址� nightmares, he was a new-wave pretty boy who made a jailbreak from his contract with Arista Records in pursuit of gloomier pastures. In his 1984 single B次元官网网址�(Every Day) Is Halloween,B次元官网网址� Jourgensen rallies for those who remain spooky year-round: B次元官网网址淚 let their teeny minds think / That theyB次元官网网址檙e dealing with someone who is over the brink / And I dress this way just to keep them at bay / Cause Halloween is everyday.B次元官网网址� (SE)

Misfits, B次元官网网址淢ommy, Can I Go Out & Kill Tonight?B次元官网网址�

If you have to ask, you know the answer. Of course you canB次元官网网址檛, Glenn, but thatB次元官网网址檚 never stopped you before. A 1982 song about getting bullied and muscling up both brains and body to seek vengeance, the MisfitsB次元官网网址� classic Jersey punk song features this bit of creepy poeticism: B次元官网网址淜illed a girl on LoversB次元官网网址� Lane / I kept her toes and teeth / Every night I stalk around until I find my keep / IB次元官网网址檒l bring back a souvenir / For itB次元官网网址檚 my mommyB次元官网网址檚 dream.B次元官网网址� (RR)

Molchat Doma, B次元官网网址淪udno (Boris Ryzhy)B次元官网网址�

Belarus post-punks Molchat Doma were virtually unheard of beyond Europe until their doom-laden 2017 track B次元官网网址淪udno (Boris Ryzhy)B次元官网网址� took on a second life on TikTok. Hallmarked by eerie synths and late Soviet-era malaise, the song has soundtracked viral videos capturing Russian club kids and American hypebeasts alike B次元官网网址� as well as a colony of hanging bats. The bandB次元官网网址檚 upcoming album, B次元官网网址淢onument,B次元官网网址� is due out Nov. 13. (SE)

Rihanna, B次元官网网址淒isturbiaB次元官网网址� (2008)

The wordless vocal hook is as anodyne as Eiffel 65B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淏lue (Da Ba Dee).B次元官网网址� But listen closely to the pre-chorus in this thumping, electro-pop song, in which Rihanna describes an experience with fear B次元官网网址� itself B次元官网网址渁 thief in the night to come and grab youB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� in language thatB次元官网网址檚 downright chilling. (MW)

Salem, B次元官网网址淪tarfallB次元官网网址�

Salem never got enough credit for how its depressed, drugged-up trap B次元官网网址� which craved death and sub-bass alike B次元官网网址� became a template for SoundCloud rap a decade later. Ten years after its LP B次元官网网址淜ing Night,B次元官网网址� the duo is back with B次元官网网址淔ires in HeavenB次元官网网址� and driving right into a tornado in the video for the single B次元官网网址淪tarfall.B次元官网网址� (AB)

Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, B次元官网网址淭he AlienB次元官网网址�

Go ahead, turn off all the lights in your apartment. Put on this soundtrackB次元官网网址檚 suite of slippery synth noises and unbearably tense drones from Alex GarlandB次元官网网址檚 2018 sci-fi horror flick about aliens, deformation and natureB次元官网网址檚 unknowable cruelty (hereB次元官网网址檚 an excerpt of B次元官网网址淭he Alien,B次元官网网址� its creepiest part). Wait for that four-note theme to hit. Then open the closet door and just imagine whatB次元官网网址檚 waiting on the other side. (AB)

Scratch Acid, B次元官网网址淐annibalB次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淗ey! YouB次元官网网址檙e eating my heart!B次元官网网址� barks Texas post-punk band Scratch AcidB次元官网网址檚 David Yow to open this song about being devoured alive. Yow, who went on to form the Jesus Lizard, possesses a yowl to die for and uses it to full effect as sharpened guitar tones stab in time. B次元官网网址淪top eating my brain!B次元官网网址� (RR)

Siouxsie and the Banshees, B次元官网网址淪pellboundB次元官网网址�

Siouxsie Sioux, the English godmother of Goth, let her inner sorceress run wild on the BansheesB次元官网网址� 1981 LP B次元官网网址淛uju.B次元官网网址� In opening track B次元官网网址淪pellbound,B次元官网网址� the prowling bass line gives way to a dizzying pursuit between the guitar and drums, and to a greater degree, the witch and her bewitched. B次元官网网址淵ou hear laughter / Cracking through the walls,B次元官网网址� hisses Siouxsie, B次元官网网址淚t sends you spinning / You have no choice.B次元官网网址� (SE)

Slipknot, B次元官网网址淢y PlagueB次元官网网址�

A typically vivid threat of violence from IowaB次元官网网址檚 masked metalheads B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檒l reach in and take a bite out of that s B次元官网网址� you call a heartB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� that unexpectedly gets a jolt of pained post-emo melody. Figures that the plague is B次元官网网址測ou.B次元官网网址� (MW)

The Specials, B次元官网网址淕host TownB次元官网网址�

Released during a devastating economic downturn that shuttered shops and clubs and saw the rise of white nationalism, the British ska bandB次元官网网址檚 1981 single is driven by a pit-in-the-stomach sense of dread. Organ chords straight out of a Lon Cheney-era monster flick creep along. A stuttering beat suggests a zombie limping down a desolate highway. B次元官网网址淐anB次元官网网址檛 go on no more,B次元官网网址� cries Terry Hall, as if fading to dust. (RR)

Three 6 Mafia, B次元官网网址淟ive by Yo RepB次元官网网址�

There are diss tracks meant to end careers, and then thereB次元官网网址檚 Three 6B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淟ive by Yo Rep,B次元官网网址� a B次元官网网址淢alleus MaleficarumB次元官网网址� for Memphis rap. HereB次元官网网址檚 a sampling of the fates awaiting their nemeses in Bone Thugs NB次元官网网址� Harmony: B次元官网网址淚 want to slowly peel off all your skin / Get grease and boil it hot, pour it on you and your dead friends,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淏odies sit in box chopped up in pieces / His soul done rose, I placed them tubes up under my mattress,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淏roke out the blender and I made some Krayzie gravy.B次元官网网址� Later, Three 6 Mafia would go on to win a well deserved Academy Award for original song. (AB)

Tino Corp, B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 Halloween DubB次元官网网址�

One of 16 spooky dub tracks on an album by San Francisco producer Ben Stokes under his early B次元官网网址�00s Tino moniker, this deep, breakbeat-driven instrumental features lots of wretched old samples. ItB次元官网网址檚 taken from B次元官网网址淭inoB次元官网网址檚 Breaks Vol. 6: HalloweB次元官网网址檈n Dub,B次元官网网址� a collection dense with howling, wailing, grunting noises that, combined with the mid-tempo rhythms, make it a seasonal dance-floor go-to. (RR)

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