Introduction by Anna Trevathan, Managing Editor
October: the month where the porch lights look a little more orange and even your favorite old songs feel a little haunted. Imaginary Gardens is sending off this month with our playlist “Boo Bangers” and leaning into our eerie Appalachian retro roots.
Our staff pulled tracks from every edge of the music realm: from vintage witchy pop anthems, to Appalachian-folk bangers, to retro horror-punk hits. This playlist sounds like the backroads after dark: an unsettling eerie path.
Enter if you dare, a creation of calamity:
Amelia Williams, Staff Writer
Butcher Vanity – Flavor Foley
This song quite literally screams Halloween to me. Its dark lyrics use cannibalism as a metaphor for love and the instrumentals really sell this song as one for the spooky season. While credited on Spotify as the individual members of Flavor Foley (Vane Lily, Jamie Paige, and ricedeity), the other songs by the circle use the collective name, so I’ve decided to credit them collectively. While a different vibe than most on the playlist, the electric sound design and lyrics that combine both English and Chinese fit it perfectly into the overall feel.
James Cochran, Photo Editor
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
This song is the musical representation of the artwork on their first album named Black Sabbath. Staring at the cover while listening to this tune is a really unsettling experience! The intro with the thunderstorm and church bells, Tony Iommi’s distorted guitar that brings you a sense of impending doom, and Ozzy Osbourne’s wails of helplessness at the end of each verse really makes this a no-brainer to put on a Halloween playlist. And for fun, try saying “Black Sabbath” by Black Sabbath on Black Sabbath five times fast.
Bean Gast, Staff Writer
A Quick One Before the Eternal Worm Devours Appalachia – Lizard in the Spring
This song is the epitome of Appalachian Horror: eerie, unsettling, impending doom, and folk. It reminds me of all the times I’ve been cozy in my sleeping bag and the fear creeps in, the fear that a cryptid forest creature will snatch me from my tent. The lack of lyrics in the song is a reflection of the beauty you can find in the instruments of nature. If you listen closely you can hear all the differing elements within the song: piano, guitar, banjo, and the powerful synth that gradually drones louder and louder. The synth plays a big role in the horror of the impending doom and the power that mother nature holds over us.
David Lavrinovich, Staff Writer
Frankenstein – Rina Sawayama
Mary Shelley’s famous Gothic novel, Frankenstein, is foundational to modern Science Fiction and Horror. The monster of the story has become a staple in the Halloween season, even decades after its publication. Sawayama’s song of the same name takes the same literary motifs to form her lyrics, while setting them to a catchy alternative pop-rock track. Sawayama’s genre-bending music perfectly encapsulates the difficulty of recovery in the face of heartbreak and trauma through its classical allusions. It’s the perfect song to emotionally belt out during the chilling autumnal season.
Addison Chrivia, Editor
Baby You’re a Haunted House – Gerard Way
From the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, this song is a classic addition to any Halloween playlist you make this year. The haunted house is a metaphor for being in love while having to deal with your own demons and ghosts who make you doubt yourself. His spooky imagery evokes romance and hints that the unknown lover in the song might have a darker secret. Lines in the song also refer to one of my favorite historical fun facts, that poet Percy Bysshe Shelly’s heart was calcified and given to his wife Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, who kept it with her wrapped in a poem he wrote her.
Emma Harrison, Editor
Red Right Hand – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
This classic 90s gothic rock track is a favorite for me throughout the year, but especially during the Halloween season. The spooky backtrack leaves you with a chilling feeling as Nick Cave takes you through this lyrical masterpiece. Inspired by John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost, Cave unfolds an eerie story about a man with a red right hand. I have to be totally honest, I first heard this song while watching one of my favorite shows ever, Peaky Blinders (Cillian Murphy is a superior actor), and it quickly became a favorite song; it was only recently that I first watched the Scream movie that I realized it was incorporated in that franchise as well! “Red Right Hand” is a perfect song to add to your spooky playlist to get the ghostly vibes rolling.
Caleb Harrison, Contributing Writer
Committed to Parkview – Jonny Cash
I love this song because of its very real approach to mental health and what it was actually like to be committed to Parkview Behavioral Health Institute. The song might be based on truth since Johnny Cash did struggle with addiction and mental illness; however, there was no record of him being admitted to Parkview. Whenever I listen to this song, it makes me feel like Halloween is just around the corner; from the eerie background singers to the almost spectral guitar, it’s the perfect spooky season song.
Heather Schroeder, Faculty Mentor
The Lost Words Blessing – Spell Songs, et al
“The Lost Words Blessing” is drawn from the books The Lost Words and The Lost Spells by author Robert Macfarlane and illustrator Jackie Morris. Although we may expect to hear only dangerous-sounding songs and howling wolves, this tender blessing, written in the style of a Gaelic folkloric form, offers a reminder of how humans, no matter their place in society, rely on the turning of the Earth and the passing of seasons. The song asserts our connection to all living things, reminding us that we’re made of stardust and beauty while we also “sing [our] heart[s] to all dark matter.” As the singers lift their voices in perfect harmony, they urge us to remain hopeful “even as the hour grows bleaker…And when every hope is gone, let the raven call you home.” This seems a perfect sentiment as we slip from autumn to winter.
Draven Copeland, Editor-in-Chief
Freak On a Leash – Korn
I had to channel my inner emo for the IG playlist at some point, and what better time for it than the Halloween edition! While I actually am not really a fan of Korn outside of their incredible first album and a few singles afterwards, this song has always carried the essence of Halloween with it, in my opinion. It’s dark and heavy, but also fun and a little silly with Johnathan Davis’ famous scatting on full display… exactly the same vibes as the time of the year we’re blessed with right now! Give yourself a chance to rock out this fall season, there’s never a bad time for it.
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