Ten Creepy Cool '80s Songs to Get You Through Halloween

Categories: Synthful

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​Now that you're probably engaged in the almost-last minute Halloween costume cram session, you might be in the need for some tunes to get you through the hours of skirt-hemming and wig-styling. At the same time, though, we figured you might be a little tired of hearing Ministry's "Every Day is Halloween" and half of Oingo Boingo's discography yet again. With that in mind, take some time to enjoy this playlist of disturbingly awesome (mostly) '80s music.

Bauhaus "Party of the First Part"

Just say no to "Bela Lugosi's Dead" this Halloween. Yeah, it's a cool song anytime of year, but it's played out every October and Bauhaus has so many more spooky themes. My favorite is "Party of the First Part," which samples dialogue from the Halloween cartoon The Devil and Daniel Mouse.

Cocteau Twins "Persephone"

It's only appropriate to throw in a song named for the Greek Queen of the Underworld this time of year, but this Cocteau Twins' song appears here for more than its name. The slithery beat sounds like something that could pop up in a David Lynch movie and Liz Fraser's vocals are downright eerie.

Siouxsie and the Banshees "Voodoo Dolly"

If there's one album that was meant for playing start to finish as you prepare your costumes, it's Juju by Siouxsie and the Banshees. It's one big goth freakout and while there is a song called "Halloween" on the tracklisting, we're going with the less obvious choice of "Voodoo Dolly." The song, both in the live version above and on album, seems to go on forever and there's a lot of wailing involved.

The Birthday Party "Release the Bats"

This is vintage Nick Cave complete with teased hair and a romantically disheveled wardrobe emitting tongue-in-cheek shrieks about bats and vampires. You might want to start breaking things when you hear this, and I mean that in the best way possible.

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