Welcome to my Halloween Music Playlists

 Because I can't just have one Halloween playlist. 

Though it may not seem like it, there are a lot of really good music that might be considered Halloween music. There are of course the classics like "Monster Mash", the theme to the "Addams Family", and "Grim Grinning Ghosts". 

However, I have a lot of fun finding new songs to listen to every year. 

One of the first playlists I found on YouTube was of nightcore remixes of some pretty spooky songs. If you’re unfamiliar with nightcore music, it’s typically a song that has been sped up and played at a higher pitch so the recorded singer’s voice becomes distorted. The list included "Secret” (the Pretty Little Liars opening theme), “You’re So Creepy”, “Creepy Doll”, “Discord” (which I swear was written by a My Little Pony fan band), and other amazingly creepy songs. There are numerous playlists already set up on YouTube.

Continuing with my exploration of fun Halloween music on YouTube, eventually I found playlists of Halloween music spanning multiple decades. Naturally the 80s list included songs like “Ghostbusters” and “Thriller”.

My personal favorite decades lists are the ones that include music from before the 1940s. Since there are so few surviving recorded songs from that era, the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s are typically lumped together. These songs are spooky and creepy. Part of it is that the recordings haven’t been cleaned or restored to perfection, so there’s some static and background noise. Plus there’s the whole thing that everyone who recorded the songs are dead. 

So, I’m listening to music about ghosts sung by people who are no longer alive. It ups the creepy factor.

Then there’s the femme fatale cabaret  playlist I stumbled upon. It’s all songs about murder, death, and ladies being devious. The song about serial killers is particularly chilling. The picture of a silent film actress staring into my soul that the uploader picked, is equally off putting.

I love it all.

However, sometimes I don't want any lyrics in the music I'm listening to. I have a few go to artists and movie soundtracks that I like. Nox Arcana is a fairly popular music group that you might have heard at theme parks or festivals that want a spooky edge. Adrian von Zieler is another artist that has a lot of Epic Halloween or Dark Fantasy music play lists that will put anyone in the Halloween writing mood - or if you just need something in the background that won't cause too many distractions. 

As for the movie soundtrack play lists, my favorites include the Silent Hill movie, Halloween, the VVitch, Dead Silence, The Fog, and Suspiria (the original Goblin soundtrack is on point). There's something to be said about a fantastic movie score to put you into the Halloween spirit.

And I can't forget the video game soundtracks. Silent Hill 1, 2, and 3 are all fantastic musical compositions to listen to during this holiday season. I'm also quite fond of the ending themes to all of the Fatal Frame games, but especially "Chuo", "Koe", and "Zero no Chouritsu". I also really like official sound track to Corpse Party (both the game and anime). 

But it's not just these songs that make for a great Halloween playlist. Sometimes I want something more contemporary and hard rock.

One of my play lists includes songs like the amazing "Welcome to the Black Parade", "Helena", "Wrong Side of Heaven", almost everything the band Evanescence has released, and a lot of Breaking Benjamin. I started this play list on Pandora under my "Nightmare Before Christmas". It also mixes in some music from the movie Coraline and Corpse Bride. 

And naturally, I listen to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" multiple times during the spookiest season.

Now, these are just the songs and music I like to listen to to get me in the Halloween spirit. You guys might want to check some of them out or recommend some of your own favorite play lists. There's a lot of great music out there and I didn't even cover half the independent artists or all of the Disney villain songs I love to listen to at this time of year.

Let me know in the comments if you have any spooky recommendations.

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Welcome to Expression Without Words

Sometimes words fail me.

Maybe that's weird since I write so much (and occasionally can't stop talking), but it's true. Sometimes it's hard to verbalize what I'm thinking and feeling. It's as though there's a disconnect between my mouth and mind. 

Sometimes it's not words that fail me, just one word. I'll do my best to describe it, but my meaning is nearly always lost in translation. I'm sure it's a problem everyone has experienced. That doesn't stop me from getting frustrated when I can't express what I need or want to. 

Communication is an important part of being human. But when I can't use words, how can I express myself?

When I get hurt, it's easy to tell someone I'm in pain. It's when I'm asked to explain the pain that things get tricky. Is it a burning pain? An ache? Does it feel like I'm being stabbed? Is it emotional pain, but still manifests itself with a sickening physical feeling? 

Maybe I can draw a picture instead of trying to describe something that can't be described? Art is a wonderful means of expression. Things can still get lost in translation and meanings can change over time, but often art is the greatest means of expressing what words fail at. 

The visual medium can express so many different things. I especially love the abstract and expressionism. Paintings like the scream are incredibly stimulating and thought provoking. I can't always verbalize what attracts me to these paintings, but sometimes I think they do a better job expressing my emotions when I put pen to paper. 

Music is another medium I often turn to when I'm having trouble with words. Yes, a lot of music has words in it, but there's a lot more that is just sound. Music is a collection of sound that can exist simply to exist, to tell a story, or to make the listener feel an emotion. 

When was the last time you watched a movie without a soundtrack? Alfred Hitchcock's movie, The Birds,  is incredibly off putting because there's no soundtrack. Music helps convey emotions in movies, especially if the characters on screen aren't speaking. 

There are many days that I wish I were a better artist and musician, but I don't think I was born with the talent and I lack the patience to constantly practice. However there is no denying that art and music are incredibly important mediums for conveying information that I might otherwise struggle to communicate. 

Words aren't always enough. Sometimes I need something else to help me describe what is going on in my head.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.