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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Duke chapter.

Greetings, wizards, witches, ghosts, zombies, and other fantastical creatures! Welcome to the first day of Halloweek! On one hand, it’s hard to believe that we’ve reached this point in the year. But on the other, with all of the midterms, homework, and obligations that have been piling up since classes started, it seems that spooky szn has BEEN going on. You could honestly fill a haunted house with blue books, essays with subpar scores on them, and internship rejection emails, and the effect would be just as terrifying.

School matters aside, let’s get to what I actually came here to talk about (although we can agonize over grades later): Halloween! Specifically, the tunes that you should be blasting at your Halloween rager next week. I am by no means a music connoisseur, but I did DJ a Halloween carnival my senior year, so I do think that I am uniquely qualified to be giving advice on this topic. . . Without further adieu, here are my top ten songs, as well as a few extras to beef up your playlist. I’m doing the first list in descending order to heighten the suspense:

The Non-Negotiables

10. “Roman Holiday” by Nicki Minaj

Not exactly Halloween-themed, but it still gives theatrics.

9. “Sweet But Psycho” by Ava Maxx

I don’t know about you, but this song personally gives me the heebie-jeebies. Two friends and I decided (for some unknown reason) to choreograph a dance to it my junior year and perform it for one of our classes, and I still die inside everytime I hear it. 

8. “Black Widow” by Rita Ora

7. “Maneater” by Nelly Furtado

6. “E.T” by Katy Perry

5. “Take It Off” by Kesha

4. “Disturbia” by Rihanna

3. “Calling All the Monsters” by China Anne McClain

Halloween is pretty much the only occasion in which it would be appropriate to play this song, so take full advantage of it.

2. “Cannibal” by Kesha

To keep the continuity with the whole man-eating theme that we have going on.

1. “Thriller” by Michael Jackson

Say what you want about the other songs on this list, but if you and your friends aren’t doing the Thriller zombie dance next weekend, I will take it as a personal attack.

Additional/Extra Credit Songs:

  1. “Hoedown Throwdown” by Miley Cyrus

       This is probably a hot take, but if I were you, I wouldn’t deprive myself of the rare opportunity to pop it, lock it, and polka-dot it!

  1. “The Monster” by Eminen ft. Rihanna
  2. “Monster” by Kanye West
  3. “S&M” by Rihanna
  4. “Die Young” by Kesha
  5. “Toxic” by Britney Spears
  6. “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell
  7. “Barbie Tingz” by Nicki Minaj
  8. “Bad Blood” by Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar
  9. “Sippy Cup” by Melanie Martinez
  10. “Bury a Friend” by Billie Eilish
  11. “Man Down” by Rihanna
  12. “Dark Horse” by Katy Perry
  13. “Teeth”or “Born This Way”  by Lady Gaga–depending on the vibe
  14. “Beauty and a Beat” by Justin Bieber ft. Nicki Minaj
  15. “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga
  16. “She Wolf” by Shakira
  17. “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder
  18. “Black Magic” by Little Mix
  19. “Pound the Alarm” by Nicki Minaj

I hope that y’all enjoyed these recommendations and that you have the most lively Halloween party yet! I’ve linked my personal Halloween playlist down below in case you’re clamoring for even more inspiration: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4WKbWwPf4IQ4J3l3LKppVN?si=229a3507bc324226. Also, contact/yell at me~if you dare~if I’ve left out a track that you feel should’ve been included in the above lists.

Ciao, my BOO-tiful babies!

Mackenzie, a music lover and reality TV enthusiast, hails from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is a junior at Duke University who, after changing her major 17 times, settled on pursuing degrees in sociology, Spanish, and Portuguese. As a nerd with a huge passion for analyzing social phenomena, Mackenzie primarily aims in her writing to explore the intricate ways in which race, gender, and sexuality shape current events and pop culture.