As the weather gets cooler and the leaves change color, the spooky season is creeping up on us.

Perhaps you’re throwing an all-out Halloween bash or a low-key get-together. Regardless, your function won’t be complete without a wicked smash hit playlist.

Here’s a star-studded list of bone-chilling songs for your upcoming Halloween party.

Disease – Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is back on the pop scene, releasing her new single “Disease” just a few days leading up to Halloween. Its gritty electronic sound makes for a hard-hitting, dark pop song. Gaga takes a punk/rock-influenced approach with vocals on this song. Her riffs at the end leave listeners craving more.

Lyrically, the song is eerie and explicit, drawing similarities to her earlier hits like “Bad Romance.” Gaga describes themes of confronting one’s shadow and healing from pain with love. The song makes for a great addition to a Halloween playlist with its macabre undertones–exploring love in a morbidly passionate way. It’s yet another great dance song to fit into Gaga’s catalog of smash hits.

Black Eye – Allie X

Allie X’s 2024 album, Girl With No Face, was inspired by the zany new wave sound popularized in the 80s. “Black Eye” is a flamboyant track that transports listeners to a campy horror movie. It’s a goth-pop mix complete with compelling vocals, orchestra hits, and dramatic lyrics. 

The song details X’s experiences creating her art. She relishes in the fact that the pain that comes with her artistry can feel good at times; it becomes a natural part of the process. It makes for a wicked song to let your inner art freak shine to.

Frankenstein – Rina Sawayama

The tense and energetic song comes off Rina Sawayama’s 2022 album, Hold The Girl. “Frankenstein” is one of the darkest moments off the record, detailing the struggle that comes with processing trauma and the desire to be normal once again. It’s a confessional track that loudly proclaims, “I don’t wanna be a monster anymore.”

Despite the heavy themes, the track makes for a fist-pumping, adrenaline-filled experience. Lyrically, it celebrates the insecurities we tend to hide away from others. Feeling like you don’t fit in, craving human connection, etc., all relate to the “Frankenstein” Sawayama references in the song. It is a great, high-energy dance song that everyone can get down to this Halloween.

BLOODMONEY – Poppy

I felt that this list couldn’t be complete without a track from Poppy. She began her career with cutesy, bubblegum pop songs but did a complete 180 in sound with the release of her 2020 album, I Disagree. Poppy has cemented herself as a rock/metal powerhouse since then. “BLOODMONEY” was our introduction to her newer, grittier, and (honestly) scarier sound.

Poppy asks, “What do you believe when no one is around?” Before transitioning into a harsh, industrial melody. It’s filthy the way the song breaks down during the post-chorus into fragments of distorted sounds, voices, and screams. It’s a headbanger of a track and will certainly add much-needed creepiness to your Halloween playlist.

Maneater – Nelly Furtado

Nelly Furtado’s 2006 album, Loose, was one of the most acclaimed records of the 2000s, filled with throwbacks like “Say It Right” and “Promiscuous”. “Maneater” is another one of her standout singles, perfect for the season. With a booming drum and synth-pop beat, Furtado toys with the idea of being a seductress while celebrating female sexuality. 

The man-eater cliché Furtado talks about in the song refers to the “femme fatale” archetype: A beautiful woman with multiple partners, often leading them on. Furtado’s spooky delivery and parallel theme of having a taste for human flesh (like an actual man-eater) make it the perfect candidate for a Halloween function. Everyone will be on their feet for this track.

Take It Off – Kesha

Kesha’s raunchy club banger “Take It Off” comes from her 2010 album Animal. Kesha had established herself as one of the original party girls of the 2010s, long before the Brat era. “Take It Off” is another one of her shamelessly sleazy hits. Kesha celebrates the messiness of partying while demanding listeners to lose their inhibitions and let themselves be free.

It’s an electronic dance-pop song filled with heavy thumping and auto-tune–the perfect formula for any 2010s club banger. The edgy sound and distorted vocals can surely channel anyone’s inner freak. No party is complete without one of Ke$ha’s (with a dollar sign) classics.

Disturbia – Rihanna

Another pop classic, “Disturbia,” was released as a single for Rihanna’s 2008 album Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded. The song details Rihanna’s feelings dealing with mental anguish, depression, and anxiety. It’s an upbeat, dance-pop track poisoned with dark and haunting influences in the lyrics and delivery.

Like falling down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland, one can’t help but feel they are succumbing to madness while hearing this song. It embraces the frightening feeling of walking through a haunted house, looking over your shoulder, and keeping your senses keen. “Disturbia” will always be a Halloween time banger that should be included at every spooky bash.

Eusexua  – FKA twigs

“EUSEXUA is a practice / EUSEXUA is a state of being / EUSEXUA is the pinnacle of human experience.” FKA twigs boldly states this at the end of the music video for her lead single and album of the same name, EUSEXUA. The term “Eusexua” was coined by twigs herself. The definition is fluid but loosely defined as the all-encompassing feeling of pure euphoria or clarity.

The song is eerily mysterious, with dreamy angelic vocals layered on a fast-paced club beat. The cybernetic, almost dystopian sound is something straight out of the Blade Runner universe. It’s a track for the enigmas of the world–those who want to stretch the boundaries of what passion can look or feel like.

Perhaps these tracks are new to you, or maybe they’ve hit you with a wave of nostalgia. Regardless, they do an amazing job cultivating the spooky vibe needed at any Halloween function.

Remember to blast the speakers and have a wicked good time this Halloween.