The Only Halloween Playlist You'll Ever Need

There’s a lot to love about Halloween: scary movies, elaborate costumes, an excuse to binge-eat the candy of your choice. But for my money, the best thing about Halloween is the music. This is the time of year that classics like “The Monster Mash,” “Thriller” and the theme from Ghostbusters all go on heavy rotation (and rightfully so), but whether they were written specifically about the holiday or just happen to fit the vibe, there are tons of songs about ghosts, monsters, demons, werewolves and witches. Some are kitschy novelty tracks, some are downright creepy tales of murder or violence, and some are Halloween-adjacent in name only. But all of them make a welcome addition to any party soundtrack this time of year.

So to help you celebrate Halloween this year, whether you’re out at a costume party or laying low at home, we’ve put together a monster (pun intended) playlist featuring 115 of our favorite ghoulish tracks. That’s over seven hours of music; give it a spin and use it to celebrate spooky season — if you dare.

Meet your guide

Bonnie Stiernberg

Bonnie Stiernberg is InsideHook’s Managing Editor. She was Music Editor at Paste Magazine for seven years, and she has written about music and pop culture for Rolling Stone, Glamour, Billboard, Vice and more.