By Daisy Spinelli
Haunting a small space near our popular Christmas vinyl section lives our cobwebbed Halloween records. While we don’t have as many folks clamoring for a haunted house sound effects album as we might for a Michael Buble record at Christmas time, there’s value in going beyond the section to find the real spooky gems.
Halloween is a holiday for the witches, weirdos, and what-is-this-song whisperers. If you’re looking for something to get you in the spirit of the spooky season that isn’t an Andrew Gold record or John Carpenter soundtrack, I’ve got you covered with the best Halloween records that aren’t Halloween records.
While my instinct was to choose their no-skips “Violator,” nothing compares to Alan Wilder’s dark synthy magic on “Black Celebration.” The opening title track may as well be performed with a xylophone mallet down your spine. It’s the gothest Depeche Mode album, and whether you’re having a “Black Celebration,” “Dressed In Black,” or having a “Black Day,” this album is perfect for your Halloween party’s vinyl selections.
2. Spirit of the Beehive – “ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH”
The first track, “ENTERTAINMENT,” starts with cacophonous instrumentation you’d hear in Hell’s deepest depths. When the devil’s cackle halts, a gentle and melodic reprieve comes out of nowhere. It lulls you into a false sense of safety before ripping your heart out again and again and again. It ends, like we all will, with “DEATH.” The last lyric of the album “suffer for devotion, nowhere left to run” sums up the shivers from this eerie Spirit Of The Beehive classic.
3. Goblin – “Suspiria Soundtrack (1977)”
I hesitated putting a soundtrack on this list, but can any Halloween-adjacent record list exist without the terrifying Italian prog rock of Goblin? “Suspiria” is my favorite of their horror soundtracks, and will have you dancing like your bizarrely-run German dance academy demands it. (While we’re here, gotta give a shoutout to the Thom Yorke soundtrack of the 2018 remake – I’ll never get over the chilling beauty of “Suspirium.”)
Face it, you all knew goth prince Robert Smith and his thick eyeliner would make the list (and a great Halloween costume). “Pornography” scratches the same part of my brain as a slowburn horror thriller – discomfort, adrenaline, and by the ending notes, you’ve survived something against fearful indications otherwise. And then you crave the depressing dread again.
5. Lingua Ignota – “Sinner Get Ready”
If you’re not familiar with Lingua Ignota, the retired project of Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter, prepare yourself for a sickening, gut-twisting listen. You won’t know if a reckoning or a rapture awaits you, but Hayter’s operatic shrieks and organ will keep you there to find out. Although Lingua Ignota albums strike a specific kind of fear, “Sinner Get Ready” is perfect for a Halloween party where velvet-cloaked attendees dance around flickering candles, summoning sinner spirits.
Keep those trick or treaters on their toes with these not-so-Halloween records. Everyone will have tracks like “Season of the Witch” on their Halloween playlist, but who else will have Lingua Ignota’s “I WHO BEND THE TALL GRASS” or Spirit of the Beehive’s “I SUCK THE DEVIL’S COCK” scaring their neighbors?
I’ll leave you with some honorable mentions:
- Gary Numan – “The Pleasure Principle”
- Phoebe Bridges – “Punisher”
- Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Juju”
- Rob Zombie – “The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy”
- Ethel Cain – “The Preacher’s Daughter”
- Dead Man’s Bones – “(self-titled)”
- Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – “Nell’ Ora Blu”
- Black Box Recorder – “England Made Me”
- Cocteau Twins – “Heaven or Las Vegas”
- Type O Negative – “Dead Again”
And probably lots more that I missed – let me know what they are in the comments.
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