When the leaves begin to rust and blow-up ghosts greet me from front porches, my subconscious itches for music that it associates with Halloween. While many of these songs are not about Halloween—or if they seem to be, are really about much more—something about them screams playing dress up and inspiring yourself with both fear and awe. Halloween is about the supernatural, but it’s also about the real horrors that haunt us; the two bleed together. Here are the songs: 

1. In “Holy Ghost” by Modern Baseball, the “ghost” in question refers to singer Jake Ewald’s late grandfather, evoking a sense of melancholy and wistfulness that haunts the song. Ewald sings: “He’s been haunting my dreams at night/I’ve been bleeding from tripping in the dark/Trying to turn on the light.” His voice stands out, with the track building toward the end like a premonition of something more. This parallels the lead up to Halloween, as well as the general foreboding of autumn. Midwest emo is also synonymous with fall in my eyes—warm sweaters, angst, the mist of breath on a cold night—and “Holy Ghost” invokes both detached coldness and the heat of emotions. 
2. “There It Goes” by Maisie Peters is the ultimate fall song—a story of seasons of life unfolding amidst the material seasons. She describes the process of healing, with physical marks as signifiers; “A black cat in the streetlights/An open door…I wake up and it’s October/The loss is yours.” As she lets go of a painful past, she picks up both patterns and symbols of growth. A black cat, which generally symbolizes bad luck, is subverted here to represent optimistic beginnings. The season of Halloween may bring fright, but fright can be transformed into hope. 
3. I would be remiss if I did not include “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault),” a song that sounds like fall personified. While both the title and length of the song are long, the real estate is worth it. Swift sings of “Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place,” and in this extended version, she blesses us with new lyrics like, “I’ll get older but your lovers stay my age,” adding to the outrage, sorrow, and sheer power of the song. What’s more horrifying than emotional devastation, after all? When this version first came out, I was flying home for Thanksgiving break, reminiscing on all the people and places from my hometown who had shaped me—both good and bad. I glanced over at the middle aged man seated in the middle seat next to me: he was listening to the song, too. I smiled, thinking about how the specificity of “All Too Well” is somehow universal. 
4. “Pumpkin” by The Regrettes showcases a more playful side of the Halloween season—one of assuming new roles and figuring out how you fit within them. Lydia Night sings of falling in love and finally understanding its little joys: “We can boogie in the sunshine with songbirds, bees/And I know you like to pull the leaves off trees.” The lyrics invoke quaint fall dates, hot pumpkin chais (from the Dav), and growing with the seasons.