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Like Christmas, Halloween has its own tunes to get you in the spirit of the season. No matter what you’re into — classic movie soundtracks, family-friendly kids songs, chill lo-fi beats or metal — there’s probably a Halloween-themed playlist for it. While there are dozens of playlists, albums and podcasts available across platforms to get you amped up for spooky season, here are seven Spotify playlists to get you started, no matter what mood you’re in or what kind of Halloween party you want to throw.
Halloween Monster Jams
This playlist has classic rock hit songs like Bad Moon Rising from Creedence Clearwater Revival and Zombie by The Cranberries. AC/DC, Van Halen, Ray Parker, Jr.’s rendition of the Ghostbusters’ theme song, and the Doors also make an appearance. And a Monster Jams playlist wouldn’t be complete with Monster Mash by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, of course.
Halloween Horror — Scary sounds and music
If you’re running a haunted house this Halloween, a good sound effects or ambient music playlist could make or break the experience. Halloween Horror has almost 160 quality tracks like Creaking Floorboards and Rattling Chains. There are also tracks like Here’s Johnny! from The Shining, the iconic theme to Psycho and the haunting opening to The Amityville Horror. Everything’s a little tweaked for copyrights, so it might not sound exactly like you remember it. When played in the right order, it could be pretty frightening, so you can control the level of terror. The Halloween Scary Sounds playlist also has over 30 tracks of scary sound effects.
Read more: Easiest costumes for Halloween 2019
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Young Frankenstein
While it’s not technically a playlist, Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein is one of my favorite Halloween films. The hilarious 1974 film is about the grandson of Dr. Frankenstein, who reluctantly follows in the mad scientist’s footsteps. The movie was adapted into a musical, which follows the film pretty closely, in 2007. The soundtrack is on Spotify.
Trick or Treat
As the title suggests, the Trick or Treat playlist has more kid-friendly songs. If Halloween happens to fall on a weekend and all of your child’s friends are at your house, this playlist might be a winner. Trick or Treat features a number of Kidz Bop songs, cartoon and show theme songs, and Disney villain classics like Cruella De Vil and Poor Unfortunate Souls.
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Like Young Frankenstein, this isn’t actually a playlist. For me, The Rocky Horror Picture Show movie is a staple for the month of October. The 1975 cult classic is about newly engaged couple whose car breaks down during a storm. The pair seek shelter at a castle in the distance, owned (unbeknownst to them) by Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), but they quickly get more than they bargained for. You can listen to a few different variations of the soundtrack, including the one from the original movie or the 2016 reboot with Laverne Cox, or clips from the Broadway show version. It’s definitely not a show for kids.
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Disney Halloween
The Disney Halloween playlist is still family-friendly, but a little more grown up than the Trick or Treat playlist. Instead of Kidz Bop covers, the playlist is mostly made up of celebrity covers of Disney songs like Lana Del Ray’s rendition of Once Upon a Dream from Maleficent. Disney Halloween also has a few tracks from Nightmare Revisited — covers of The Nightmare Before Christmas movie songs. While on the topic of The Nightmare Before Christmas, that’s another great album to add to your Halloween soundtrack.
Classical Halloween
For film purists, Classical Halloween might be the best find. It’s made up of classical songs from horror movies and thrillers, all of which have their merits for the spooky season. The playlist includes the familiar strains of the Jaws theme song, and a few tracks from Edward Scissorhands, Hannibal and Psycho. It goes beyond movies to the darker side of classical music with Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead, Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries and Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor.
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