{"id":184,"date":"2025-10-27T21:37:37","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T21:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/?p=184"},"modified":"2025-11-05T01:11:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T01:11:47","slug":"2025-staff-halloween-playlist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/2025\/10\/27\/2025-staff-halloween-playlist\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Staff Halloween Playlist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: 2025 Staff Halloween\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/5ZgXMMFomfM9q9eu0xkBP3?si=I4Zfe0AIRr6aUtIFH1VUgg&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-annotation is-style-text-annotation--1 wp-block-paragraph\">Anna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLow Red Moon\u201d by Belly<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou made me cry when I was young\u2026now I got strong arms\u2026he belongs to me\u2026a human bed of roses.\u201d Translation: you hurt me when I was helpless, so I killed you when I was strong enough. All accompanied by haunting guitar and organ-like chimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou Want It Darker\u201d by Leonard Cohen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Leonard Cohen could read a children\u2019s book into a microphone, and it would be haunting. When he\u2019s talking about the sins of humanity and torrid relationships with heavenly bodies accompanied by deep choral singing, the scare factor is quite enhanced.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cStrangers\u201d by Portishead<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The combination of this song\u2019s unnerving instrumentals and discussion of renunciation of reality put it on the more jarring side of trip-hop. \u201cDone it now, This ain\u2019t real, On this side.\u201d Many interpretations \u2014 suicide, dissociation, isolation \u2014 none of them joyful, all of them unnerving.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-annotation is-style-text-annotation--2 wp-block-paragraph\">Avery<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDancing in the Moonlight\u201d by King Harvest<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">To some, this song is summer. To me, it is very much Halloween, or fall at least. The instrumentals have a hollow quality, but are simultaneously warm. When I listen to this song, I think of a group of skeleton friends dancing in a circle and enjoying the moon\u2013a celebration of the bizarre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-annotation is-style-text-annotation--3 wp-block-paragraph\">Daniela<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLesions in the Brain\u201d by Llashwari (Katie Jane Garside)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe bitter old lady who watch from the sunrise\/ And, oh, God, I&#8217;m already scared\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Feels like I\u2019m being possessed while listening. Disturbing and uneasy in the best way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBlood Bitch\u201d by Cocteau Twins<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Nobody knows what Elisabeth Fraser is saying, but it\u2019s definitely spooky.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)\u201d by David Lynch, Alan R. Splet<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not Halloween until something makes you question if you\u2019re real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-annotation is-style-text-annotation--4 wp-block-paragraph\">Kate<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Purple People Eater\u201d by Sheb Wooley<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Quite possibly the greatest Halloween song ever written. I tremble at the thought of The Purple People Eater, because what if it eats me? Its final word of the song, \u201cTequila,\u201d echoes through my nightmares, and I jolt awake, screaming, as its deranged, chipmunk-esque voice haunts me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBlack Eye\u201d by Allie X<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Though not technically a Halloween song, I think \u201cBlack Eye\u201d sounds kind of spooky. It opens with scream-like synths followed by a pulsing bass line. The use of organ adds to the dark tonal palette. It\u2019s given an eerie and haunting vibe by its lyrics, which center pain and resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis Is Halloween\u201d from The Nightmare Before Christmas<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Although the movie can be considered a Halloween or Christmas movie (I usually watch it in the middle, around Thanksgiving), \u201cThis Is Halloween\u201d is undeniably a Halloween song. Between the constant repetition of \u201cHalloween\u201d and Danny Elfman\u2019s haunting, energetic score, the song perfectly captures the holiday\u2019s playfully spooky spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-annotation is-style-text-annotation--5 wp-block-paragraph\">Quimby<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHalloween\u201d by Phoebe Bridgers<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBaby, it\u2019s Halloween, we can be anything\u201d,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">This is a song about loving someone so much that you\u2019re willing to be whatever they want. I listened to this a lot when my freshman fall situationship ended mid-October last year. We had planned matching costumes. Terrifying!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cClaw Machine\u201d by Sloppy Jane:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen my best friend started driving we never went to class, the worst part of the car crash was talking to her dad\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">This song was written for <em>I Saw the TV Glow<\/em>. It\u2019s fundamentally about reaching for something you\u2019re not able to hold on to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cJohn Wayne Gacy Jr.\u201d by Sufjan Stevens:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;\u201cOh the dead, 27 people, even more, they were boys, with their cars, summer jobs, Oh My God. Are you one of them?\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">A haunting narrative about clown serial killer John Wayne Gacy, and about the boys he preyed on. It\u2019s hard for me to listen to this song.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-annotation is-style-text-annotation--6 wp-block-paragraph\">Neria<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLet Us Go Into The House of The Lord\/Butterfly Sunday\u201d by Harold Budd<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">I feel that this song is a perfect listen for getting into the spooky mood. I would love to go trick-or-treating with Harold Budd.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf Only Tonight We Could Sleep?\u201d by The Cure<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Another great song to get you ready to scare some people! The Cure is a great group Halloween costume, too.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-annotation is-style-text-annotation--7 wp-block-paragraph\">Oona<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cChild I Will Hurt You\u201d by Crystal Castles<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">This song is a bit spooky. Happy Halloween!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-annotation is-style-text-annotation--8 wp-block-paragraph\">Hope<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGoo Goo Muck\u201d by the Cramps<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">A cover by the Cramps, originally written by Ronny Cook and the Gaylads. Is this a song about zombies? Cannibalism? It is unclear, but undoubtedly spooky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Killing Moon\u201d by Echo and the Bunnymen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Although there is a popular cover by Pavement, I am still partial to the original Bunnymen version (chalk it up to primacy bias). To me, nothing seems scarier than a killing moon, whatever that is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-annotation is-style-text-annotation--9 wp-block-paragraph\">Isaac<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPsycho\u201d by Jack Kittel<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Written in the 1960\u2019s, \u201cPsycho\u201d is a country ballad narrated in the first person that tells the story of a serial killer. I would encourage reading about the writing and recording of the song\u2013about Leon Payne and Eddie Noack. Their stories seem to mirror the unsettling tone of the song.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGyroscope\u201d by Boards of Canada<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">This song sure is creepy. Marcus Eoin supposedly dreamt of the sound of this song in a nightmare, and that is what inspired him to write it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-annotation is-style-text-annotation--10 wp-block-paragraph\">Melissa<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGoodbye Horses\u201d by Q Lazzarus<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Anyone who has seen the horror classic The Silence of the Lambs can confirm: this song is freaky. Even if you haven\u2019t seen the movie, it is undeniable that the ominous synth melody playing throughout \u201cGoodbye Horses\u201d is totally spooky. And I highly encourage you to read up on Q Lazzarus &#8211; especially the way her song was featured in that movie to begin with.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn The Cold, Cold Night\u201d by The White Stripes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Nothing says Halloween like a Hammond organ, and this song has a lot of it. The constant, low hum of the organ matched with the haunting soprano voice of Meg White gives \u201cIn The Cold, Cold Night\u201d an unsettling, eerie quality that makes it the perfect Halloween listen.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRun With the Hunted\u201d by Edinburgh School for the Deaf<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Unintelligible vocals? Freaky title? New wave-y guitars distorted beyond belief? Check, check, check. If I was listening to this while walking home in the middle of the night, I would be sufficiently unsettled. And that\u2019s what Halloween is all about. (Also &#8211; their song \u201cOrpheus Ascending\u201d deserves an honorable mention here as well because, obviously.)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-text-annotation is-style-text-annotation--11 wp-block-paragraph\">Zephyr<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSkeletons\u201d by Stevie Wonder&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Nothing says \u2018Halloween\u2019 like skeletons, and nothing says \u2018Skeletons\u2019 like the title of this 1987 R&amp;B hit. Full disclosure \u2014 compared to classics like \u201cMonster Mash\u201d and \u201cThriller,\u201d the song isn\u2019t especially spooky. What it lacks in fear factor, though, it more than makes up for in funk factor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSkeletons Coupling\u201d by mark william lewis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Other than the aptly Halloween-y skeleton reference, this DIY dream-pop track has virtually nothing in common with my first pick. Consider this proof that Halloween is for everyone, from 80\u2019s soul icons to the rising stars of the London experimental scene.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSeismal\u201d by Shelf Life<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSeismal\u201d is my favorite song from an album called Hello, It\u2019s Halloween, which is arguably the best work of former Alex G drummer Scotty Leitch. Leitch\u2019s years of collaboration with the indie-pop star are definitely apparent in the album\u2019s sound, but a hefty dose of shoegaze and just a hint of goth make the tracks unique (and perfect for any Halloween playlist).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Voice-Over Intro\/Voice-Over Session&#8221; from Thriller&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">If Halloween were a person, that person would be Vincent Price. Listen to the secret second verse of his famous \u201cThriller\u201d rap in this behind-the-scenes recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Check out this year&#8217;s staff Halloween playlist!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[29,30],"class_list":["post-184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-playlist","tag-halloween","tag-staff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184\/revisions\/213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sccs.swarthmore.edu\/orpheusreview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}