MUSIC FOR HALLOWEEN

I've compiled a list of thirteen songs to celebrate one of the most American of holidays: Halloween, which one could argue is the kitschier and more commercialized version of Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead).

1. "Pet Sematary" / Ramones

I learned about this song from Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis. In that novel there was a Halloween party, and this 1989 classic punk rock gem with a pop sensibility was part of the playlist. It's very catchy and in the key of D Minor or F Major, both of which might be Pisces keys.

2. "Bela Lugosi's Dead (Official Version)" / Bauhaus

"Bela Lugosi's Dead" has a contagiously dark atmosphere or ambience, but I don't find it depressing. It's more exhilarating than enervating. The lyrics, at times poetic yet unpretentious, match the music perfectly (e.g. "The virginal brides file past his tomb / Strewn with time's dead flowers / Bereft in deathly bloom / Alone in a darkened room"). It might be in B Minor which may also be a Gemini key.

3. "Mrs. Jones" / Hole

I fear a Halloween playlist would be incomplete without the iconic and polarizing Courtney Love. Hole's album Pretty On the Inside, which happened to be produced by Kim Gordon and Don Fleming, is an underrated masterpiece. "Mrs. Jones" might be in the key of E Minor which may also be a Taurus key.

4. "All Bitches Die" / Lingua Ignota

This song is disturbingly beautiful and psychopathically empty at the same time. The reflection of one monster or another is buried deep within the melodies and lyrics of this unparalleled tour de force. This song's ineffability is reinforced by the fact that I have no idea what key (or keys) it's in.

5. "Bruise Violet" / Babes in Toyland

Visceral alternative rock track from 1992. It's probably about some polarizingly narcissistic fraud or imitator. Definitely worth a listen on Spotify, as well as the album it opens: Fontanelle (produced by Lee Ranaldo and Kat Bjelland). I think "Bruise Violet" might be in the key of E Minor which may also be a Taurus key.

6. "Nightmare Girl" / Aimee Mann

This song fits perfectly with our modern world. Lyrics like "Things are getting weirder at the speed of light" and puns and world play like "Once she wanted me to exorcise her self-possession..." also make it perfect for Halloween. It's probably in the key of G Minor which might also be an Aquarius key.

7. "Coma Black" / Marilyn Manson

"Coma Black" is a tragic and beautiful gothic rock song from the world's most infamous antihero, the troubled and troubling, Marilyn Manson (along with his band). It's definitely not your average, trashy love song: "I would have told her then she was the only thing that I could love in this dying world..." It's probably in the key of E Minor which might also be a Taurus key.

8. "Father Lucifer" / Tori Amos

"Father Lucifer" is definitely one of my favorite songs of all time. The opening line is, "Father Lucifer, you never looked so sane..." and those lyrics in tandem with the brilliant melody got me hooked. It's definitely in the key of C# Minor which might be a Leo key.

9. "Piggy" / Nine Inch Nails

This song is epic. It might be in the key of B Minor which may be a Gemini key.

10. "I Miss You" / Blink-182

Mark sings, "we'll have Halloween on Christmas." It's in the key of B Major which might be a Virgo key.

11. "Going Under" / Evanescence

It’s in Gemini key B Minor.

12. "Mr. Self Destruct" / Nine Inch Nails

Finish the party with a bang. Pisces key D Minor.