21 Songs Where the Monsters Are Out | Playlist

Perfect for Halloween and beyond, “21 Songs Where the Monsters Are Out” features music courtesy of Banks, Cradle of Filth, Ghost, Kesha & Warren Zevon.

Some people fan-girl and obsess over all things associated with Halloween, horror, the mythological, and the supernatural.  Others are either totally creeped out or consider such to be a wee bit devilish.  Where do you fall, now “That is the question!” Personally, monsters and various creatures associated with folklore and such are captivating.

Not only am I personally captivated, but a number of musicians have used such monstrous creatures to fuel the fire of various songs. That’s what this bold, colorful playlist – 21 Songs Where the Monsters Are Out – centers around.  Artists gracing this list perfect for Halloween and beyond includes Banks, Cradle of Filth, Ghost, Kesha, and Warren Zevon among many others.

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31 Fearsome Monsters from Around the World (Oxford Dictionary)

13 Fiendish Etymologies for Halloween Monsters (Mental Floss)

Monsters of Halloween (Media News)

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1. KILLY, “Chupacabra”

KILLSTREAK • Secret Sound Club • 2018

Monster/Creature: Chupacabra

“So damn rare like Chupacabra, my come-up so catastrophic / Broski got the arm and hammer, shell it out, collect the profit.” On “Chupacabra,” Canadian hip-hop artist KILLY delivers a melodic, pop-rap joint with a malicious, minor-key-fueled backdrop. “Chupacabra” is definitely a memorable, spirited opener on KILLY’s five-song, 12-minute, 2018 EP, KILLSTREAK.

Honestly, the most notable connection that KILLY makes to the frightening, vampire-like creature is their ‘rarity,’ as aforementioned on the opening lyrics excerpted from the chorus.  Essentially, the rapper flexes hard, focused on money, material, and of course – wait for it – ‘bitches’ (“My bitch bad like Caribana, shake that ass, so astronomic”).

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2. Iamjakehill, ‘Revenant’

Wither • DistroKid • 2018

Monster/Creature: Revenant

“Okay this is how I feel / I don’t need to pop no pills / Motherfucker wanna talk real / Let me speak…” Backed by dark, malicious backdrop and featuring blunt, unapologetic rhymes by Iamjakehill, the brief “Revenant” packs a sizable punch. Iamjakehill doesn’t merely name the rap record revenant without making a connection to “one that returns after death or a long absence.”

On the first verse he asserts, “All these hands are wrapped around my throat / Feeling like a goddamned ghost,” later spitting, “Lost in the weather / I’m back, but not better.” He also references his revenant status on the second verse:

“My mind is a threat
My time is a set
But I’m climbing again
I can’t pretend that I find why I’m alive
Lost until I die.”

Of course, a revenant can’t be mentioned without the 2015 film that finally earned Leonardo DiCaprio (who played American frontiersman Hugh Glass) a much-deserved Academy Award.

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3. Mike Shinoda, “Ghosts”

Post Traumatic • Warner • 2018

Monster/Creature: Ghosts

“Ghosts” serves as one of many highlights from Post Traumatic, the incredibly personal debut solo album by Mike Shinoda. Shinoda seems to see things – memories that he once experienced.  Sometimes, when ghosts are referenced, they are people or things ‘missing in action’ as opposed to being truly scaring.  That’s the context with Shinoda.

Even with its ‘supernatural’ elements, “Ghosts” is brighter, happier, and quicker than many other songs on Post Traumatic.  Sure, he’s still in an odd place given the tragic suicide of his band mate and friend, Chester Bennington, but even the listener doesn’t feel as downtrodden or sad listening to it.

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4. Kesha, “Godzilla”

Rainbow • Kemosabe • 2017

Monster/Creature: Godzilla / Gojira

“What do you get when you take Godzilla to the mall? / He scares all the children and shreds all the pillows / And knocks over walls.” True, very true. On the ‘beastly’ “Godzilla,” Grammy-nominated pop artist Kesha opts for singer/songwriter fare.  From her perspective, speaking metaphorically, Godzilla isn’t a monster.  “He rings the bell and she looks out the window, and calls the cops / I try to explain that he’s mostly tame…” The record benefits from retro sensibilities, hearkening back to the 60s.  For her eclecticism, Kesha shows range for an artist initially pigeonholed in electro-pop.

As for Godzilla as a monster, well, ‘Gojira’ has been kind of a big deal for years, and the fascination doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.  Case(s) in point: Numerous Godzilla films, past and present.

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5. Fleet Foxes, “Mearcstapa”

Crack-Up • Nonesuch • 2017

Monster/Creature: Grendel 

“Two lines in the air / Two eyes on the pair / Mearcstapa, on an open sea.” Huh? “Mearcstapa” – what a title. So, what exactly is a mearcstapa?  It’s an old English word that literally translates to ‘march stalker,’ but perhaps more accurately, it’s ‘marsh stalker’.  According to Amanda Petrusich of Pitchfork, “Mearcstapa,” the Fleet Foxes song from their 2017 album, Crack-Up, is named after a Grendel from Beowulf.

Also, interesting, though not directly related to the song, Mearcstapa is Monsters: the experimental association for the research of cryptozoology through scholarly theory and practical application.  Just FYI. In the context of the song, Robin Pecknold focuses on the marsh stalker in the context of the sea, highlighting the words ‘eyes’ (both verses) and ‘lines’ (first verse) in particular.

“The eyes of the sea
So easy to meet
Mearcstapa, deaf and blind like me
But the foam doesn’t sing
The phone doesn’t ring
So, what will you find
Mearcstapa of mine?”

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6. Craig Xen, “Succubus”

Voltage • Cruel World • 2017

Monster/Creature: Succubus

“These bitches burnt, they’ll turn you cold if you ain’t know game / People lust, put their trust in someone that don’t feel the same.” Well, in some respects, rapper Craig Xen has a point on his song, “Succubus,” from his 2017 LP, Voltage.  On the chorus, he continues, rapping, “Got no love for not bitch put that on me ‘cause I know / I done stuck my dick in nigga’s bitches throats across the globe, aye.” Okay, simmer down there Xen.  Still, he plays into the description of what a succubus is. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a succubus is a “demon in [female] form that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men.” Basically, it is the female version of an incubus.  Clearly, in the context of “Succubus,” Craig Xen seems a bit pissed off – understatement.  At the end of his verse, he’s not only profane, but sounds a bit insane himself.

“When we split I was hunting with the pistol trying to kill her
I’m a murderous obsessive psychopathic motherfucker
I’ll ride, I’ll kill, I’ll die if I love her
So, I keep my fucking distance ‘cause a bitch I can’t trust
That’s my word ‘til embalming fluid replace all my blood.”

*Mic drops*.

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7. Marilyn Manson, “SAY10”

Heaven Upside Down • Loma Vista • 2017

Monster/Creature: Devil

“Devil’s got a cut, like a slit in a cattle’s calf /Dollar-sign snakes, I’m all in the damn God-less, fearless of the flood / Or the blood of the coming Spring.” Marilyn Manson definitely references an empowered ‘left-hand path’ on “SAY10” from his 2017 album, Heaven Upside Down.  Clearly, “SAY10” is a play on Satan. Making “SAY10” even more enigmatic and frightening is the music itself.  Initially, on the first verse, “SAY10” sounds completely foreboding, with Manson singing in a whisper.

On the chorus, the deck of cards is completely revealed with a catchy, yet incredibly blasphemous chorus. Chocked full of religious references, “SAY10” transcends its beastly title.

“So, you say ‘GOD’ and I say ‘SAY10’
You say ‘GOD’ and I say ‘SAY10’
SAY, SAY, SAY10.”

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8. Banks, “Poltergeist”

The Altar • Harvest • 2016

Monster/Creature: Poltergeist

“Oh my God, I think I saw a ghost / He follow me everywhere I go / He don’t even try to get creative / I smell a clown looking goofy dressed up as a native.” Alternative artist Banks is one of a kind, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

On “Poltergeist,” she is clearly being haunted and simply can’t escape.  She cleverly addresses the ghost by the pronoun he, which further expands interpretations of the meaning of this electro-alternative-R&B amalgam.  The lyrics are unique, the overall sound left-of-center, making for a truly distinct auditory experience.

“I’d be a resentful caretaker
Blame me for your false indicators
You mistaken all my mistakes for my crooked nature.”

While a poltergeist can be described as “a ghost responsible for physical disturbances,” it’s difficult not to associate it with the 1982 horror film Poltergeist, which is steeped in off-screen tragedy.

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9. Childish Gambino, “Zombies”

“Awaken, My Love!” • Glassnote • 2016

Monster/Creature: Zombies 

“All I see is zombies / Hear them screaming at her / They can smell your money / And they want your soul / Here they come behind you / Try to stay alive.” Grammy-winning, multi-talented artist Childish Gambino (Donald Glover), dabbles in the monstrous on “Zombies,” which appears on his 2016 LP, “Awaken, My Love!”

“All I see is zombies feeding all around us
All they eat are people (and you won’t survive)
They don’t know what happened, they just stay alive.”

Yes, zombies – “a corpse without a soul which people believe has been brought back to life by witchcraft or other supernatural mean” – are Glover’s choice of monster and predator.  That said, he’s clearly being metaphorical as opposed to literal. The zombies which he speaks of are people – very bad people.

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10. Radiohead, “Burn the Witch”

A Moon Shaped Pool • XL • 2016

Monster/Creature: Witch

“This is a low flying panic attack / Sing the song on the jukebox that goes / Burn the witch / Burn the witch / We know where you live.” What happens when you combine alternative band Radiohead and witches? Awesomeness, of course! “Burn the Witch” served as a promo single from the band’s 2016 effort, A Moon Shaped Pool.  Furthermore, it’s the opening record from the album.  An intriguing, mysterious affair, “Burn the Witch” makes for a clever, dramatic, and dynamic listening experience.

“Stay in the shadows
Cheer at the gallows
This is a round-up.”

Thom Yorke’s vocals are splendid, never forced, yet pack a punch.  Instrumentally, the strings are the crowning achievement.

“Red crosses on wooden doors
If you float you burn.”

Interestingly, according to Mental Floss (who references Oxford English Dictionary), a witch referred to “a male practitioner of sorcery and magic… over the centuries, witch’s masculine application melted away, thanks in no small part to the historical persecution of many women believed to be witches.”

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11. Sia, “Reaper”

This is Acting • RCA • 2016

Monster/Creature: Grim Reaper 

“Don’t come for me today / I’m feeling good / I’mma savor it / Don’t come for me today / I’m feeling good / I remember when.” Sia sings about ‘death’, specifically the Grim Reaper on “Reaper,” a highlight from her 2016 album, This is Acting.  For all of her success in pop music as an artist and songwriter, things haven’t been all ‘rosy’ for Sia.  According to a Rolling Stone feature, “she’s overcome more than her share of hurdles,” including “a suicide attempt…by washing down 22 Valium with a bottle of vodka.”

Following the aforementioned pre-chorus, Sia sings in spirited, empowered fashion on the chorus:

“You came to take me away
So close I was to heaven’s gates
But no baby, no baby, not today
Oh, you tried to track me down
You followed me like the darkest cloud
But no baby, no baby, not today
Oh reaper.”

Also, worth mentioning is the infamous Grim Reaper himself, a key symbolic character of death.  According to Media News (Australia), “Of all the Halloween legends, the Grim Reaper is the oldest and most widespread in folklore.”  The site goes on to say, “In the Middle Ages, when death was an ever-present possibility for even the healthiest of people, the Grim Reaper came to be represented as a skeletal figure, cloaked in black and carrying a large scythe.

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12. Ghost, “Mummy Dust”

Meliora • Loma Vista • 2015

Monster/Creature: Mummy

“In God you trust / My mummy dust / Dust… / My mummy dust.” Simple lyrics, yet deep at the same time. Grammy-winning, Swedish metal band Ghost delivers a gem with “Mummy Dust,” which appears on their 2015 album, Meliora. Brainchild Tobias Forge shines on this record which is less focused on ‘mummy’ and mostly focused on greed.

“I was carried on a wolf’s back
Here to corrupt humanity
I will pummel it with opulence
With corpulence and greed.”

Poetically throughout the record’s course, he focuses on issues and sins that bring down human kind.  Playing his role as Papa Emeritus III, on the third verse, Forge sings, “You’re the possessee of avarice / I’m the ruler of the earth / I will smother you in riches / Till you choke on sordid mirth… / Purulence and lust / I’m the magnet for stupidity / Divine you feel my thrust.” Of course, mummies have been a pop cultural fixture for years.  Not only merely the Ancient Egyptian embalming practice, but the horror aspect where the said dead body is resurrected.

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13. Bilal, “Sirens II”

In Another Life • Entertainment One • 2015

Monster/Creature: Sirens

“Can you hear them calling from the seas? / Amenity, so beautiful / Sirens / Sirens have come to take you away.” Bilal commences his 2015 album, In Another Life, soulfully and enigmatically with “Sirens II.” Poetic, “Sirens II” finds Bilal referencing the Greek mythological creatures, which Encyclopædia Britannica describes as “a creature half bird and half woman who lured sailors to destruction by the sweetness of her song.” How utterly cruel and deceptive is that?

As aforementioned, the power of sirens is captured lyrically. Further evidence of such comes by way of lyrics such as, “Oh, those golden eyes, the big disaster / Destruction / The gentle touch has pulled me under / (I can’t breathe) Sirens / Sirens have come to take you away.”

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14. Danny Brown, “Gremlins”

Old • Fool’s Gold • 2013

Monster/Creature: Gremlins

“Guess he’s just a psycho in the city of the Chrysler / Everybody living spiteful, nigga, looking just to ice you.” How does one describe the 2013 album Old from idiosyncratic, raw rapper Danny Brown? Intriguing to say the least. The Detroit oddball rapper definitely directs his own pathway on Old, infused with personal narrative, drugs, and, sex.

“Shooting up cribs turning porches to smokescreens
Momma smoking nightmares chasing her pipe dream.”

On “Gremlins,” Brown drops references to clothing (Aeropostale, Hollister, True Religion), drugs, 2 Chainz, and, sex. Interestingly, Brown only mentions gremlins explicitly twice – “Cause they gremlins / Gremlins!”

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15. Lenny Kravitz, “Frankenstein”

Strut • Roxie • 2013

Monster/Creature: Frankenstein

“Cause I need love / Yeah, I need love / You say that I’m your baby / But I feel like Frankenstein / I need love.” Lenny Kravitz yearns for love on “Frankenstein,” the groovy, soulful highlight from his 2013 album, Strut.  The lyrics and the emotions conveyed by the rock star are pretty straightforward.

“A lie he broke in pieces
He better have a life
My heart is slowly beating
Don’t leave me here to die.”

The same can be said of why Kravitz chose Frankenstein in relation to the desire of love. Ultimately, that’s what the famed Mary Shelley character Frankenstein desired as well.

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16. Cradle of Filth, “Manticore”

The Manticore and Other Horrors • Nuclear Blast • 2012

Monster/Creature: Manticore

“Tantric, necromantic / A wank fantasy of faith / She religiously feeds / A feverous all man-eater.” Hmm… Metal bands, particularly ‘extreme’ metal bands have a penchant for the dramatic. That’s definitely the case with English extreme metal collective Cradle of Filth. “Screaming from the pulpit / Damnation’s oratory.” Say what?

Back in 2012, Cradle of Filth dropped the album The Manticore and Other Horrors, which expectedly featured the record at hand, “Manticore.” For those unfamiliar with the manticore, Oxford Dictionary describes the monster as “reputed to have the body of a lion, the head of a man, porcupine quills, and the tail of a scorpion.” That pretty terrifying if you ask me.  Even more terrifying, however, is this record about the manticore, will all its damning, infernal sounds, including the gritty, coarse vocals.  The lyrics are both poetic and twisted at the same time, not to mention clever to the nth degree.  Case in point:

“In darkness
Her fastness threshed with fleshing teeth
She comes to masticate you whole
She is the bane of mothers
Grand Leveler of Maa Kali’s Mardi Gras
What man would damn the world to summon her?”

Notably, Ninja Sex Party also has a song about the manticore (“Manticore”).

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17. Tyler, the Creator, “Goblin”

Goblin • XL • 2011

Monster/Creature: Goblin

“I’m not a fucking role model / I’m a 19-year old fucking emotional coaster with pipe dreams… / I’m still jacking off and proceeding my life careless / But getting more pussy cause I tell bitches I’m Wood Harris.” Oh boy. Tyler, the Creator has always been rough around the edges – understatement.  His Grammy-nominated, 2017 album Flower Boy marked a new level of maturity for the rapper/producer.  But, back during his Goblin days, he was absolutely filthy, foul, and chocked-full of shock value.  The lengthy, tone-setting “Goblin” commences his 2011 album, finding the filter-less rapper conversing with his therapist. Naturally, there are plenty of twisted, sexual one-liners.  Also, worth noting is the production work, which matches the intensity and twisted nature of the rhymes.

“Nigga, fuck a mindset, my brain is an obscenity
I’m fucked in the head, I lost my mind with my virginity
Oh, that’s a triple three six, isn’t he a devil worshipper
‘Cause I’m too fucking ignorant to do some research?”

Given the horrible portrait that Tyler, the Creator paints of himself, he definitely captures the sentiment of a goblin.  Mental Floss asserts the etymology of the word goblin, a “mischievous, ugly folk creature might come from the Greek kobalos, a kind of scoundrel.”

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18. The Acacia Strain, “Kraken”

Continent • Prosthetic • 2008

Monster/Creature: Kraken

“This is my wasteland, this is my ruin / This is the best thing that ever happened to me / You’ve read about me in the papers and seen me on TV / now we are meeting face to face.”  The Acacia Strain have always been an intense band – understatement.  Once more, on their 2008 album, Continent, the intensity – the hellishness – continues.

On “Kraken,” the band maintains the angular, jagged nature of the guitars, whose driving rhythms are truly frightening and unsettling in their own right.  The vocals are coarse, gritty, and chocked-full of rawness, fitting to capture such a sea monster as the Kraken.

“I cut the hands and feet off of living things…
I am terror, I am famine
I am the worst that will ever happen to you
I am horror, I am exile
I am the worst thing that will ever happen to you.”

Is Vincent Bennett and company being literal, truly embodying the Kraken? Hard to tell with metal bands, but probably not.  Sensationalism and being dramatic is part of script after all.

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19. Macabre, “Acid Bath Vampire”

Murder Metal • Decomposed • 2003

Monster/Creature: Vampire

“You will die by surprise / When I take your life I will smile.” Macabre ‘kills it’ when it comes to writing and performing songs about serial killers and mass murderers.  Definitely their thing as these deviants are fuel for their creative fire.  On “Acid Bath Vampire,” the doom metal band tackles English serial killer John George Haigh, an evil, greedy ‘son-of-a-gun’ who killed so he could collect money from the victims. Furthermore, Haigh dissolved the corpses in acid.

“John George Haigh was a vampire
Who drank old ladies blood
Then put them in a non-corrosive drum
And with acid he'd dissolve them
... Now that you're dead
In a metal drum you'll stay
I pump the acid in
To melt your corpse away.”

Vampires themselves have been a fixture in pop culture and folklore for a very long time. Encyclopædia Britannica states a vampire, “in popular legend, [is] a creature, often fanged, who preys upon humans, generally by consuming their blood.” There have been plenty of songs, books (Twilight), and films (Dracula, Twilight, etc.) that center around the blood-suckers.  Of course, there was also the real-life Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, who was not a good man.

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20. Warren Zevon, “Werewolves of London”

Excitable Boy • Rhino • 1978

Monster/Creature: Werewolf

“Ah-hooo! Werewolves of London! / Aa-hooo! / Ah-hooo! Werewolves of London! / Aa-hooo!” Come on peeps – was there any other artist than Warren Zevon, and his incredibly famous and fun record “Werewolves of London” that could represent the werewolf itself? No, period.  The lyrics are nothing short of blast, accompanied by that bluesy, soulful piano accompaniment.  “I hear him howling around your kitchen door / You better not let him in,” the late Zevon sings at one point, continuing, “Little old lady got mutilated late last night / Werewolves of London again.”

Zevon specifically characterizes the traits of werewolves later on the record: “He’s the hairy-handed gent who ran amuck in Kent.” According to Encyclopædia Britannica, “in European folklore,” a werewolf is “a man who turns into a wolf at night and devours animals, people, or corpses but returns to human form by day.”

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21. Henry Cowell, “The Banshee”

New Music: Piano Compositions by Henry Cowell • New Albion • 1999

Monster/Creature: Banshee

The value of lyrics can never be overstated.  However, sometimes an instrumental piece of music can yield similar and sometimes, even more alluring results.  Unless you’re a classical music enthusiast or buff, the name Henry Cowell may not be familiar.  What you should know about Cowell is that he composed some truly left-of-center, progressive music during the twentieth century, particularly his piano pieces.  Among his most famous pieces of music is “The Banshee” (1925), a perfect example of integrating ‘extended techniques’ on the piano, which includes playing the strings on the inside of the instrument.

The results of this composition are truly eerie, much like the banshee itself, “a fairy in Irish legend [whose] scream is believed to be  an omen of death.”

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Photo Credits: Cruel World, Decomposed, DistroKid, Entertainment One, Fool’s Gold, Glassnote, Harvest, Kemosabe, Loma Vista, New Albion, Nonesuch, Nuclear Blast, Odd Future, Pixabay, Prosthetic, RCA, Rhino, Roxie, Secret Sound Club, Warner Bros., XL

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