Hayley Kiyoko’s “Demons” Is Out Today, The Perfect Excuse To Make A Gay Halloween Playlist

It’s time to get SPOOKY! And GAY! With Hayley Kiyoko and her new song, “Demons!”

Pop music has always been about heavy feelings buoyed by pleasant sonics. When you’re sad, or scared, sometimes exactly what you need is to dance those feelings away!

“Demons” – which seems to use the titular creature as a metaphor for feelings of depression, internalized self-sabotage, and/or generalized mental illness, is a perfect example of this. It’s a bop! But it’s actually really heavy.

It seems like Halloween songs – or, just, spooky, creepy pop songs in general – are having a comeback! Billie Eilish, for example, has built her whole aesthetic around being spooky! Here’s “bury a friend:”

And if you haven’t listen to Kim Petras’ incredible new Halloween-themed ALBUM – which also features a song called “Demons” – stop what you’re doing and get ready for 17 tracks of creepy goodness.

“Wrong Turn” has been stuck in my head for weeks:

All of these examples got me thinking. What are the best Halloween songs? I decided to go to the people!

What are your favorite spooky, creepy, October-y songs? Guess what – I’m going to take your responses in the comments and make a Spooky, Gay, Official Autostraddle Halloween Playlist! We’ll publish it later this month. So let’s hear it! And for the love of goddess, please don’t say “Monster Mash.” I think we’ve all heard that one enough for the rest of our lifetimes.

Here are some of my faves. What’s missing?

“In Love With A Monster” by Fifth Harmony is cute and I don’t care but I really like this song so don’t @ me (ok you can disagree with my choices in the comments)!

“Roslyn” by St. Vincent and Bon Iver is a haunting, creepy, yet heartbreakingly lovely song.

“Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads is reallllly creepy when you realize it’s written from the perspective of the titular killer!

“Heavy In Your Arms” by Florence & The Machine is one of many songs equating love with death. This one gives me chills.

https://youtu.be/iDpYBT0XyvA

“Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon is almost too camp but the little howl is just cute and also is perfect singalong fodder if you wanted to have a Halloween party playlist track, so I had to.

“Somebody’s Watchin’ Me” by Rockwell is the perennial paranoia classic!

Tell me your fave spooky songs in the comments!