1. Twice’s TT
Photo credits: JYP Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePpPVE-GGJw
We’re starting off this list with a cheery song. It’s hard to mention K-pop without mentioning Twice because they typically do make comebacks around Halloween and have multiple music videos where each member dresses up as a different character. While the song has nothing to do with Halloween, the music video shows two children trick or treating and each member dressed up as something different: Jungyeon is Pinocchio, Jihyo is the Snow Queen, Sana is a superhero, Mina is a Pirate, Momo is Tinkerbell, Tzuyu is a vampire, Nayeon is a devil, Chaeyeon is a mermaid, and Dahyun is dressed like a bunny. And in case the Halloween references weren’t obvious enough, the girls are seen dancing inside a smiling jack-o-lantern.
2. Dreamcatcher’s Piri
Photo Credit: Happyface Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq_mbTSR-a0
Dreamcatcher is known for their dark anime like sound and horror concepts/music videos. Therefore, a lot of their songs are perfect for Halloween, but I chose Piri because it references the Pied Piper. In the song, they’re asking the person to save them. The silences inserted into the song emphasize the haunting melody, and the soft voices in the pre-chorus that juxtapose the louder instruments and high notes in the chorus play into the horror theme Dreamcatcher brings to their music.
3. Red Velvet’s Peek A Boo
Photo credit: SM Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uJf2IT2Zh8
With a name like Peek-A-Boo, I knew the song had to be cute, but in the song, Red Velvet manage to be sultry and cute, while maintaining an underlying creepy vibe. The girls sing about the thrill of short lived flings and seducing men in their music video where they lure the pizza delivery boy into their mansion and play games with him. All seems innocent, but as the video goes on, the delivery boy sees the shirts of other pizza establishments and tries to make an escape. But the girls see this as part of the fun: the dial tone at the end implies what happened to him.
4. VIXX’s Voodoo Doll
Photo credit: : Jellyfish Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOG7BexjPjM
Another group that made it hard to choose just one song. VIXX are known for their dark and interesting concepts. They’ve explored Jekyll and Hyde, vampires, androids, etc. Voodoo Doll is one of their creepiest releases. In the song, VIXX sing that they’re willing to do whatever their lover needs, even if it means that they’ll be hurt. In the music video, VIXX play actual voodoo dolls at the control of a woman who hurts them for pleasure. This music video isn’t for the faint of heart; there are clips of blood, skin being cut, and needles. The dance also makes use of a skull cane that the members use to (strategically) stab one another.
5. Sunmi’s Full Moon
Photo Credit: JYP Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BBF3vRY85M
Seductive and soft, “Full Moon” is one of my favorite Halloween songs even though the song itself has nothing to do with Halloween. Sunmi sings about how she wants her lover to meet and give her their love under the full moon, but the full moon is often associated with the holiday and Sunmi plays with that association in her music video where she plays a vampire. She needs her lover to come see her “before the sun rises,” so she bites and waits for her lover to turn into a vampire.
6. Sunny Hill’s Midnight Circus
Photo Credit: KakaoM Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBHPvYW3Gk
I’ve always found circuses a little creepy and halloween like and “Midnight Circus” does nothing to change my opinion. The song itself is about their complicated relationship to the stage/circus. They’re drawn to it because of the light, but it doesn’t end up quite like their expectations, however, they sing “show must go on, never stop.” They’re tied to the stage that “laugh[s] when [they] cry,” but they can’t leave because they want to be loved. The music video also shows them as members of the circus, playthings and controlled by the ringmaster. They’re not happy to be at the circus, but they don’t have anywhere else to go. The accordian player featured at the beginning and the end of the music video also adds to the creepy vibe because we don’t quite know what his role is, other than he’s tied to the circus somehow.
7. Ladies Code’s Hate You
Image Credits: Polaris Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLjUBC4HpVQ
“Hate You” is another song that doesn’t start off creepy, but thanks to impressive vocals and production, is another staple in my kpop halloween playlist. Sojeong sings that she “hates you” but “loves you” in an emotionless tone, a quality highlighted in the music video where she sings expressionlessly. In the first verse and pre-chorus, the vocals are layered so that there’s two voices singing at once, one voice much softer than the other, almost paying homage to the “alone, but not really alone” trope in horror. The music video also screams horror with dolls and gothic backgrounds. Not only do the girls play and hold the dolls, but they also become the dolls, helpless and broken by their relationship.
8. Exo’s Monster
Image Credits: SM Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSH-FVVtTf0
With a title like “Monster”, it’s hard not to see why this is on my halloween playlist. The music video is gritty, with all the boys looking beat up and dressed in dark clothing. The video constantly shows that they’re dangerous, featuring them fighting or chained up. The song is about how the girl they love makes them crazy, they apologize for not being gentle but she can’t avoid them because they’re meant to be. It’s not necessarily horror, but it is creepy. And while I don’t support the lyrics, it definitely fits the Halloween vibe and is undeniably catchy.
9. Primary’s Don’t Be Shy
Image Credits: 1theK, Amoeba Culture Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9zL-A78oRg
At first listen, it’s hard to imagine this song as anything but flirty and coy. After all, in the song, Choa seductively sings about wanting the boy she’s next to make a move because “there’s no tomorrow.” But the music video shows her playing with a ouija board and broken dolls. To add to the creepiness, some of the video is filmed with an old camera and Choa is almost expressionless throughout, as though she’s a doll herself. The apathy the girls display as they break dolls and lie around is something I can’t dissociate from the song. After watching the music video, I hear Choa singing about seduction in a coquettish but detached manner. And perhaps impassive heartbreakers are one of the biggest things to fear.
10. John Park’s U
Photo Credit: 1theK, Music Farm Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55aX_Wu9pjU
If “Don’t Be Shy” was about apathy, “U” is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. John Park puts himself in the shoes of a stalker who is obsessed with a woman. The song begins with an eerie set of piano chords and ends with John Park singing “you” over complete silence. The music video is just as haunting as the song. Most of the music video is shot in greyscale and seems to be pieced together in a random fashion though there is a mild plotline involving a man stalking a woman who ultimately ends up killing her to have her stay with him. And if that doesn’t scream horror, I don’t know what does.