Feel like listening to something eerie tonight? We round up some of our favorite spooky songs, including ghost tales, murder ballads, and cheerful tunes about facing down death.
If you are about ready to throw your smartphone through the window the next time “Monster Mash” pops up on your Halloween playlist, we’ve got just the thing for you: a playlist of songs by some C&I favorites that are sure to set the mood as you light the jack-o’-lanterns and prepare for an influx of trick-or-treaters.
Some of the songs are old classics and some are new discoveries or lesser-known album cuts from some of our favorite artists. And there are quite a few chilling old folk songs, such as “Henry Lee” (performed here by Crooked Still), “Fatal Flower Garden” (Peggy Seeger), and “Knoxville Girl” (the Louvin Brothers, of course). Others include Porter Wagoner’s beautiful rendition of Willie Nelson’s dark obsessive love song “I Just Can’t Let You Say Goodbye,” Corb Lund’s “Dig Gravedigger Dig,” and Deer Tick’s slightly countrified take on the Pogues’ classic “If I Should Fall From Grace With God.”
Give it a spin and let us know what you think.
Photography: Calavera Con Guitara by José Guadalupe Posada. Type-metal engraving, Restrike. Date of Plate: ca. 1900