Saving Country Music’s 2018 Halloween Playlist
On the dark side of country and roots lurks some the most creative and disturbing expressions and stories ever written into song. From murder ballads to ghost stories, to tales of struggle and lunacy, Gothic country and dark roots never get their full due, nor do the denizens of these art forms who help keep these traditions alive all year.
But come October, it’s the perfect time to focus in on the many bands, artists, and songs that specialize in the dark side of country, as well as some of the most iconic songs from country music’s haunted past. This year Saving Country Music has dramatically expanded the playlist to include 50 songs that will be perfect for October listening, or your Halloween party.
The Saving Country Music 2018 Halloween Playlist can be heard on Spotify (or below in the embedded player), as well as on Google Play, and on Apple Music thanks to Country Exclusive. You can also Follow Saving Country Music on Spotify.
For those who don’t stream music, you can find the entire playlist notated below.
- Rattleshack – “Dead Man’s Creek (feat. Bob Wayne)”
- Corb Lund – “Dig Gravedigger Dig”
- Captain Clegg (Jesse Dayton) – Transylvania Terror Train
- Johnny Cash – “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky”
- Koffin Kats – “Witch in the Woods”
- Hellbound Glory – “The Black Mass”
- The Bloody Jug Band – “The Undertaker”
- Steve Earle – “The Tennessee Kid”
- Daryle Singletary – “Long Black Veil”
- Eric Strickland – “Skeleton”
- Chris LeDoux – “The Passenger”
- Buck Owens – “(It’s A) Monster’s Holiday”
- Little Lisa Dixie – “Devil’s Gate”
- Johnny Paycheck – “(Pardon Me) I’ve Got Someone To Kill”
- The .357 String Band – “Raise The Moon”
- Rachel Brooke, Lonesome Wyatt – “Someday I’ll Fall”
- Ralph Stanley – “O Death”
- Black Eyed Vermillion – “Box of Pine”
- The Blood Jug Band – “Roadkill Boys”
- Lincoln Durham – “Grave”
- Lindi Ortega – “Afraid of the Dark”
- Colter Wall – “Kate McCannon”
- Whitey Morgan and the 78’s – “Honky Tonk Hell”
- The Pine Box Boys – “Mr. Skeleton”
- Eddie Noack – “Psycho”
- Sons of Perdition – “The Shadow of the Undertaker”
- Ray Wylie Hubbard – “Lucifer and the Fallen Angels”
- Robert Earl Keen – “The Armadillo Jackal”
- Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks – “S-K-E-L-E-T-O-N”
- Tom Waits – “Misery is the Rive of the World”
- The Goddamn Gallows (& Jayke Orvis) – “Dreadful Sinner”
- The Slow Poisoner – “Hypno – Hog’s Moonshine Monster Jamboree”
- Captain Clegg (Jesse Dayton) – Honky Tonk Halloween
- Danny Stitches – “Hell of a Ride”
- Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks – “Halloween Is Here”
- Ugly Valley Boys – “Hellmaker”
- Izzy Cox – “Demons in My Head”
- The Reverend Horton Heat – “Zombie Dumb”
- Red Sovine – “Phantom 309”
- Tom Waits – “What’s He Building?”
- 16 Horsepower – “Black Soul Choir”
- Munly and the Lupercalians – “Scarewulf”
- Joe Buck Yourself – “When Evil Comes To Town”
- Bob Wayne – “Reptile”
- Heathen Apostles – “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive”
- Legendary Shack Shakers – “Frankenstein’s Monster”
- David Allan Coe – “The Ride”
- Brown Bird – “Sickle and Hood”
- Tom Petty – “Zombie Zoo”
- The Louvin Brothers – “Satan Is Real”
October 10, 2018 @ 8:30 am
Zephaniah O’Hora’s “I Can’t Let Go” is told from the perspective of a killer who just shot his lover and is talking over her dead body. The music is chipper, a perfect country shuffle.
October 10, 2018 @ 9:11 am
My favorite song from his album
October 10, 2018 @ 2:00 pm
That was my favorite album of 2017.
October 10, 2018 @ 8:59 am
Just wanted to say how much I look forward to this feature every year. And thanks for posting it early. Work and baby responsibilities have kept me away from the site lately, it’s nice to have a few weeks before Halloween to dig in.
October 10, 2018 @ 9:01 am
Lots of good ones there. Chris Knight’s “Down The River” always give me chills.
October 10, 2018 @ 9:02 am
Always thought Sarah Shook No Name was kinda spooky and freaky:
I leave a wake of death behind me a thousand miles wide
A thousand rivers of blood and tears the dying cried
I remember every plea for mercy begged in vain
I am the Great Separator and the instrument of pain
…….
You’ll never find my name though you may look
For my name is only found in the Devil’s book
October 10, 2018 @ 9:03 am
Chris Knight’s “Down The River” always give me chills.
October 10, 2018 @ 9:09 am
Good stuff! I might also suggest a bluegrass song, the Country Gentlemen’s “Bringing Mary Home”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v9COkjEYV8
October 10, 2018 @ 8:25 pm
Yes! Was hoping to see this.
October 10, 2018 @ 9:31 am
Spooky.
The Billboard “country” charts are like a Halloween list too (& not in a good way).
The other playlist: no halloween…just my all-time favourites. The (majority of) songs are on Spotify, Amazon Prime, Google Play & YouTube.
#1 – Deep Creek Road – “If You Only Knew Me When”
#2 – Kaylens Rain – “Outta Here”
#3 – Matraca Berg (or Suzy Bogguss) – “Diamonds & Tears”
#4 – Judy Rodman – “Girls Ride Horses Too”
#5 – Deborah Allen – “Break These Chains”
#6 – S-K-O (Schuyler, Knobloch & Overstreet) – “Baby’s Got A New Baby”
#7 – Matraca Berg – “The Things You Left Undone”
#8 – Rebecca Lynn Howard (or Trisha Yearwood) – “I Don’t Paint Myself Into Corners”
#9 – Tania Kernaghan – “Leave Like A Man”
#10 – Baillie & The Boys – “Oh Heart”
On the way to become an all-time favourite:
Gretta Ziller – “Queen Of Boomtown”
Lee Ann Womack – “All The Trouble”
Aleyce Simmonds feat. Lachlan Bryan – “Heart You Saved”
Best Song Of 2018 (so far): Liam Kennedy-Clark – “Tails You Say The Same”
Most Played Song Of October (so far): Darin Jones & The Last Men Standing – “Feels Like Coming Home”
Most Played Song Of 2018 (so far): Kirsty Lee Akers – “Chasing Ghosts”
October 10, 2018 @ 9:33 am
I’ll also nominate Wade Bowen’s “Calling All Demons,” from his brilliant, newest album “Solid Ground.”
October 10, 2018 @ 10:26 am
Gillian Welch’s “Caleb Meyer” belongs on the list as a dark song. Character is haunted by a man she killed when he tried to rape her.
October 10, 2018 @ 10:28 am
Awesome list, Trigger! Halloween is our favorite holiday, we always do a big front yard display for the trick-or-treaters, and this will be a perfect soundtrack while we spend the day setting up for the best night of the year. 🙂
October 10, 2018 @ 10:33 am
Awesome playlist! I would add Devil in the Bayou by Harry Choates. A creepy Google tune from the 1940s https://youtu.be/6Tf_QXTIAVM
October 10, 2018 @ 10:58 am
“Bonedigger” – Cris Jacobs
October 10, 2018 @ 11:03 am
I would add Whiskey Lullaby. Doesn’t get much darker than that.
October 10, 2018 @ 12:21 pm
I’d nominate “It Ain’t All Flowers” as well. The production and particularly the guitar tone in the first half are as spooky as it gets – not to mention lyrics about the devil and “darkest corners of [his] mind”.
October 10, 2018 @ 12:29 pm
Graveyard in Montgomery Billy Don Burns would be a good addition
October 10, 2018 @ 12:57 pm
When I was a small boy Charlie Daniels “Legend of Wooley Swamp” used to make me avoid the dark woods for a while..
October 10, 2018 @ 2:54 pm
Long black veil it’s a great inclusion, however, I would use the version by the bastard sons of Johnny Cash
October 10, 2018 @ 3:31 pm
Not to make you feel awkward, but the reason I included the Daryle Singletary version is because he passed away abruptly earlier this year, and I couldn’t resist including him here and a small tribute. There are a lot of great versions of “Long Black Veil” out there.
October 10, 2018 @ 5:10 pm
I can’t argue with the Man In Black’s version of “Ghost Riders In The Sky”, not just as a song for Halloween, but for anything to do with the mythos of the West. The same holds true for Lindi’s “Afraid Of The Dark”.
But another track from Lindi, and from the same album (LIBERTY), that fits here in the mix too, in my opinion, is “The Comeback Kid”.
October 10, 2018 @ 5:59 pm
After looking at the playlist, I’m curious at what the “Saving Country Music” motto actually is?? What type of country music should we be saving? Outlaw/Johnny Cash, or BlueGrass, or 90s?
I consider “traditional country music” to be King George Strait, Jones, Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Reba – any mainstream 80s/90s stuff really.
I don’t care for Outlaw crap.
I’m curious at what Trig fancies the most.
90s country vs Johnny Cash Outlaw are 2 very different types of country music. … Just like today’s Pop Country vs today’s somewhat Traditional Country
October 11, 2018 @ 5:53 am
You could try clicking on the About link at the top of the page and reading the first paragraph.
October 12, 2018 @ 2:22 pm
What you consider traditional country is not really in line with the main vibe here. Compared to pop country today, the 80s-90s folks look good, but folks here tend to favor a more genuinely traditional sound, including the outlaw movement.
October 10, 2018 @ 6:00 pm
Waylon- Cedartown, GA
October 11, 2018 @ 1:40 am
Great set!
October 11, 2018 @ 5:10 am
Christ Knight – North Dakota
Koe Wetzel – Gravedigger
Those were the first two songs that came to mind after reading the list.
October 11, 2018 @ 6:18 am
I know I’m probably repeating myself from previous Halloween lists, but I think Dream Girl by the late Nick Curran is a great one for Halloween.
A few others:
Red Right Hand – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Psycho Street – Richard Thompson
No One Can Forgive Me But My Baby – John Hammond
Coyote – Jimbo Mathus
Hades Please – Parker Millsap
The John Hammond entry was written by Tom Waits specifically for John Hammond as Hammond was in the studio working on his Got Love If You Want It album. Waits was to later produce Hammond’s Wicked Grin album, which was an album of all Tom Waits songs. How’s that for a seal of approval?
October 11, 2018 @ 6:53 am
You need some Unknown Hinson on there….
October 11, 2018 @ 12:35 pm
Get Unknown Hinson to put his music on streaming services, and I’ll put him #1.
October 11, 2018 @ 9:52 am
How do I find this on Google Play?
October 11, 2018 @ 10:11 am
Here’s the link:
https://play.google.com/music/playlist/AMaBXymmeecVGEZUqKpBxfZaQ0G76DIs-EuIazT1ihg13brKfYIMZPJPrBI2xw7GYVfIuwZukHM7AWpWkR7o9D72ZiiC-nBa7g%3D%3D
October 11, 2018 @ 10:06 am
I feel like a William Elliott Whitmore song belongs on this list.
October 12, 2018 @ 9:09 pm
Diggin’ My Grave would be my recommendation
October 11, 2018 @ 5:12 pm
Nice! Love that HG song, and was just thinking of Waits’ “Murder in the Red Barn” with the lyric “Is that blood on the leaves, or is it Autumn’s red blaze?”
October 12, 2018 @ 5:45 pm
Benton Leachman – The Zombie Song
October 13, 2018 @ 2:30 am
Wow!! This is a list I didn’t see coming!! Some of these I haven’t heard in decades!! I know Charlie Daniels is considered southern rock and not country but ‘Legend of Woolley Swamp’ would by one of my honorable mentions. Overall, a fine Halloween-themed list. Thanks Trig!!!
October 13, 2018 @ 7:48 am
Bobby Bare — “Marie Laveau”
Porter Wagoner — “Committed to Parkview”; “Rubber Room”
Hank Williams — “Angel of Death”
October 14, 2018 @ 2:02 am
“haunted house” by Ryan Adams
“hanuted house” by John Fogerty
October 14, 2018 @ 7:31 am
…if you go down by the water, you’ll see her footprints in the sand. ‘Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne…
October 14, 2018 @ 10:44 am
Awesome playlist..made it through whole thing last nite.. nice job trigger
October 15, 2018 @ 12:33 am
Great list! How about this one from The Cornell Hurd Band?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPBl5AiuZr0
October 15, 2018 @ 6:44 am
I think Morgan Wallen’s ‘Up Down’ is absolutely horrifying…
October 15, 2018 @ 5:06 pm
Another one to be considered: “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”, an epic six-and-a-half minute song by the great Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightgoot, about the unfortunately true sinking of an iron ore ship on Lake Superior during a severe ice storm in November 1975, in which twenty-nine men lost their lives. It got to #2 on the Hot 100 (#60 C&W) in the fall of 1976):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH0K6ojmGZA
October 15, 2018 @ 5:27 pm
This is a fun feature, and neat comments on here 🙂 Not sure if this is along the same lines as above……..I saw Tom Petty and thought of these ‘Rock’ songs that might fit :
Springsteen—“The Ghost of Tom Joad”, also “Devils and Dust”
Stevie Nicks—(of course) “Rhiannon”, also “Sisters of the Moon”
I thought ‘The Outlaws’ had a decent version of “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky”
It seems more adults than ever are having fun at Halloween. I know these people who have a big party each year–this is the ‘holiday’ they like to celebrate most. Every inch downstairs of their (large) home is covered with decoration. Outside, too, and music and ‘haunted’ sounds heard as you walk up to it. Each year they add to it. But gone are the times you could get dressed as any fun or scary thing, or anything you had around your place, and give it a name. Now there are involved ‘themes’ assigned to each one, much preparing is needed to get a costume that fits to it. I think that’s the trend today.