Call forth the spirit of the fangirl this spooky season with these 10 songs for your Halloween playlist!
With a shared love for weird sounds, crazy costumes, and making scary things look like a lot of fun, Halloween and K-pop go together like tricks and treats. Whether you’re looking for a campy classic to dance to or a genuinely terrifying tune to send shivers down your spine, this grab bag of Halloween-themed K-pop songs has a little something for everybody. Reach in and see what you’ll find.
Also Read: 7 Thrilling Kpop Tracks to Listen this Halloween
Horror royalty
“Peek-a-Boo” – Red Velvet
No Halloween playlist would be complete without the scream queens of K-pop, Red Velvet. From the cartoonish violence of “Russian Roulette” to their “Cosmic” flower cult, a huge chunk of Red Velvet’s discography was built on turning horror tropes into full-blown aesthetics.
With an intro reminiscent of the knife stabbing sounds from Psycho, “Peek-a-Boo” is an 80s slasher without the gore, a cautionary tale of what happens when you fall for the mysterious girls next door. When they look and sound this good, who could blame you?
“Voodoo Doll” – VIXX
Heralded as the OG concept kings, VIXX knows how to commit to a role, whether they’re robots, space vampires, Greek gods, Jekyll and Hyde, or the objects of a witch’s evil desires. If “Voodoo Doll” was released today, it would definitely come with a trigger warning for graphic gore and body horror.
Every third generation boy group had at least one concept as dark as their eyeliner, but VIXX took it to the next level, their powerful vocals contrasting the graphic visuals. The song is pretty good on its own, especially if you’re a fan of the techno sound of 2010s K-pop, but if you must watch a video for it, stick to the clean version.
Unconventionally macabre
“Given-Taken” – Enhypen
Vampire concepts are a dime a dozen. Enhypen could have just put on some sparkly suits, drizzled ketchup on their shirts, and called it a day. Instead, we have the beautifully creepy “Given-Taken,” which feels like reading an old school vampire novel chock full of rich lore and imagery.
It’s a big swing to come out with such a distinct concept at debut, but “Given-Taken” succeeds in transporting the listener into a world that’s oddly familiar, if slightly off-kilter. The lyrics, atmospheric strings, choreography, and outfits come together in one of the best K-pop debuts in recent history.
“Phantom” – WayV
K-pop loves to make creatures of the night look sexy, and WayV’s contribution to that genre comes in the form of “Phantom.” Inspired by the musical The Phantom of the Opera, the specificity of its source material makes the song unique among its peers, as it captures the menacing allure of the elusive Phantom.
The music video includes some of K-pop’s favorite props – marble statues, tiled floors, chess pieces – for that gothic feel, but like VIXX, the members’ commitment to the concept is what really sells this modern interpretation.
“Apple” – Gfriend
The bubbly and feminine Gfriend might seem like an odd addition to a Halloween playlist. However, their “回” series, which marked the group’s transition to a more mature concept, is full of tales of subversive women who dared break free from the status quo. And as they say, hell indeed hath no fury like a woman.
The predecessor to the glitzy disco track turned swan song “MAGO,” “Apple” tackles themes of desire and temptation. The music video shows the girls coming into power after taking a bite of the titular apple, representing a choice that leads not to ruin but to freedom.
Creepy crawlies
“Spider” – Hoshi
In terms of the sexy to scary spectrum, Hoshi’s solo song “Spider” lands firmly on the sexy side. It’s running on pure vibes and a vague but effective metaphor of willingly being caught in a web. Sometimes, that’s enough. This song earns its place on this playlist by just being so damn smooth.
The music video has zero horror elements and is basically just an elaborate stage for Hoshi to show off his talent. Surprisingly, tigers are not mentioned or seen anywhere at all.
“Zombie” – Everglow
On the flipside, “Zombie” has all the elements of a perfectly executed scary concept, both visually and sonically. The music video shows the Everglow members in matching white wigs and shift dresses, clinging to their phones in a sterile hospital, driven mad by a love that just won’t die.
Both the song and music video have just enough horror imagery to make it eerie but not gruesome, with a central metaphor that’s not cheesy or overwrought. It’s an unfortunately underrated track that, just like the “zombie” in the song, deserves much more than it got.
Ahh! Real monsters
“Oh my god” – i-dle
“Oh my god” has become so deeply entrenched in the rotation of excellent K-pop songs that it’s easy to forget the ruckus that surrounded it when it was released. The way it mixed religious and queer imagery immediately elevated i-dle to icon status for K-pop fans everywhere.
While it has its share of horror imagery, “Oh my god” embraces fear, showing us that the things we perceive to be frightening, like love, are often only as scary as society tells us they are. A hypnotizing, irresistible masterpiece, “Oh my god” is the celebrated cornerstone of an already impressive discography, and Halloween is the perfect season to revel in its glory.
“Goblin” – Sulli
Judging by its pastel color palette, “Goblin” doesn’t seem very Halloween-y outside of its title. That is, until you realize who the “goblins” really are, and its dreamy, disjointed imagery starts to make sense; it becomes the wallpaper of the haunted house in someone’s mind.
There are so many layers to this song and video that it feels reductive to call it a simple horror concept. The things within the wonderland of your mind might be unsettling, but it’s not so scary if you befriend the strangers in your head. Like recalling memories of a dear friend, Sulli concludes tenderly, “Don’t be afraid, they just want to tell you hi.”
“MAMA” – EXO
What could be scarier than witnessing the collapse of an unfeeling society? On the surface, “MAMA” is an over the top, silly song from 2012 that takes itself way too seriously. But beneath all the hair and alien superpowers, there is a genuine call for sympathy and love in a world that’s slowly growing more careless, heartless, motherless.
Though the music video is more about EXO looking cool (by 2012 standards), “MAMA’s” ominous lament about the state of the world still rings true thirteen years later. We are living in terrifying times, and the only way to save ourselves is to start caring more and taking responsibility, before it’s too late.
What’s on your K-pop Halloween playlist?
Read More: Pop Corner: Marvel Zombies Takes Us On A Gutsy And Gory Ride In Time For Halloween
Source: SMTOWN, HYBE Labels, Stone Music Entertainment, i-dle Official YouTube Channel, RealVIXX YouTube Channel
