As Halloween is descending upon us, there are dozens of shows, music releases and celebrations that come in its wake. While it’s just a season for most of us — some artists consider it more of a lifestyle. From relentless amounts of facepaint, devil-worship, and yearly Halloween mixes, these are the artists and playlists that are the most dedicated to the cause.

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Playlists:

hALLOWEEN is on a mONDAY by lauren leb

The 2022 all-encompassing Halloween playlist “hALLOWEEN is on a mONDAY” has gained over 15K likes on Spotify and is over 11 hours long. The playlist was created by Spotify patron Lauren Leb, who has more than a few gothic playlists. This one in particular deserves your time (which is so much better than giving it the playlists curated by “Big Spotify,” because it’s more original and feels like supporting a small business). The playlist includes new favorites like the edgy rock n’ roll from Måneskin to expected classics like “Evil Woman” by Electric Light Orchestra.

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punk goes halloween by shayrayval

Making a punk Halloween playlist can’t be too difficult — half of all known punk songs already have death, blood, or misery somewhere in the title and interspersed throughout the lyrics. Shayla did it anyways — and it’s very good. Get ready for seven hours of punk Halloween.

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A TikTok Halloween by Payton Savanah

In another obvious yet necessary move, Spotify patron Payton Savanah also made a TikTok Halloween playlist. Revisit the lucky songs the entire internet-accessible world recognizes at least ten seconds of with this niche, 1 hour and 18 minute composite.

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A Southern Gothic Halloween by Lonesome Cowboy

Tyler Childers, Johnny Cash, and Colter Wall pepper the tracks of this raspy, nasally and drawling playlist. Listening to this six hour bluegrass, twang and folk on this playlist feels like taking one last drive through a barren countryside.

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Salem Witch Trials Playlist by Heather Hardison

For a female-dominant playlist (rare!), check out Salem Witch Trials Playlist by Heather Hardison, one of the writers for The Divining Sisters Series.  

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The Haunted Playlist by Taylor Overstreet

Looking for a Halloween playlist that doesn’t sound like goofy Scooby Doo chase music? Check out The Haunted, a melancholy, tortured and almost monotonous Frankenstein of a curation. Pulling from vintage and freshly released music, this playlist will take you to your worst self, reveling in shame, disgust, defeat, isolation, and depression. Stand-out artists include Don Lifted, who is a master of the melancholy, Montell Fish, who’s the brightest star of sad indie-pop, and 070 Shake, who’s gothic and slurring sound is palpable. Folksy, ancient, and longing, this playlist is dying on the vine.

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Artists:

Ghost

Oh, you do like goofy Scooby Doo chase music? Join the massive and active fanbase of Ghost and become a ghoul (that’s what his fans are called). Although Ghost is not new to metal, hard-rock or music in general, the band has seen a massive rise in music and merch sales in recent months due to a trend on TikTok. Ghost fans are collectors, and all of their merch is spooky and metal-a perfect Halloween band. The music is both theatrical and choral, pulling from chimes, organs, and other church-like instruments mixed in with classic rock drums and guitars. Join the Ghost subreddit for the ride of your life (these fans are so wild that the admins of the page had to bar explicit fan content as it was becoming a problem).

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Kim Petras' Turn Off The Light

The 2018 themed album is the perfect mix of spooky and slay that was so well-received that Kim Petras followed it up with a second, full-length album including the original songs in 2020. The album is punchy and celebratory pop, a rhythmic and clever display of lyricism and a victorious example of “committing to the bit”. Of course, Halloween is the perfect holiday to queer because it generally has no positive religious affiliations, and in fact is often seen and outlawed as a Holiday in the same way queerness often is. Kim’s album was recently top-rated as one of Halloween’s all time best albums here and the song "Party Till I Die" was included on Billboard's list of the best LGBTQ songs of 2020.

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RL GRIME

RL Grime is perhaps one of the biggest celebrators of Halloween in the music industry. Every Year, the electronic producer and DJ gifts us with a new Halloween Mix. They are all accounted for and rated here. The master-mixer also puts on a yearly fall show, and this year’s show, titled RL Grim Presents Halloween: Dead Space, is on October 27th at the Kia Forum.

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Twin Temple

Twin Temple is possibly the most spooky and thematic duo making music right now. Branded as “satanic doo-wop”, the striking couple Alexandra James and guitarist Zachary James bring the occult to 50’s and 60’s Rock music. The pair gained traction earlier this year touring with Ghost (mentioned above) and spreading their “satanic feminism”, inclusive spells, and their gothic get-ups. Although the Ghost tour is over, you can catch Twin Temple on a U.S. tour of their own, rounding out in L.A. at the end of October.

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Halloweekend Halloween Ball

Looking for camp? The Boulet Brothers are hosting a 2-night drag ball and costume party featuring costume drag performances and the brillant aforementioned band, Twin Temple. The Boulet Brothers are on the cusp of premiering their own spooky series, titled “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans”, which will feature drag monsters competing for a hundred thousand dollars and a headlining spot on the Boulet Brothers’ world tour. Drag royalty such as Trixie Mattel and Dahli will be performing as well as Ballroom DJ Mateo Segade. General Admission tickets are only $40, grab them before they run out.