Cradle Of Filth’s Dani Filth has made a career out of being scary, so it figures that he’d know how to have a good Halloween. We asked the frontman, who told us he was suffering from a painful-sounding “bludgeoned brain” as a result of playing 13 (oooh) shows in a row, to pick some of the scariest music to listen to this Halloween so you can really ramp up the ghoulishness.
BLACK NO1 by Type O Negative
“The definitive Halloween track, immortalised by the line, ’Every day is Halloween’. Slow, richly melodic and creepy, this was a favourite for the season when I was in my late teens, and it was this track that reinvented the gothic metal movement in one pendulous swing. Type O’s singer Peter Steele was a Frankenstein’s monster of a man I respected hugely who sadly passed away a few years back – I had the very good fortune of touring with him. This song stands tall as his ghoulish epitaph.”
BLACKEST MAGICK IN PRACTICE by Cradle Of Filth
“Bludgeoned by crippling loss, the protagonist of the song resorts to a dark and vicious magic to exact his revenge upon those who raped and murdered his wife. Of course, I would drop a Cradle Of Filth track into the proverbial cauldron and this is my favourite from our latest musical excretion. In fact, it’s the subject of our latest video, which is due to be delivered in time for American Thanksgiving at the end of November. It’s a brooding tragedy that swings swiftly from poetic melancholia to pure horror and back again - but I would say that.”
HALLOWEEN by The Misfits
“A must play! I've blasted this out on every Halloween since time immemorial. There's no real question as to why – everything is apparent about this song. It's a four-minute horror-punk sing-a-long of frenetic, ghastly beauty, played by an iconic band that are as much a part of the Samhain celebration as pumpkins, pranks and poorly-made masks.”
THE OATH by Mercyful Fate
“An amazingly creepy track replete with cobwebbed organ intro, thunder and demonic mutterings. The singer King Diamond resonates between sounding like a tortured soul, shackled witch and optional restless ghost. My friends and I used to listen to this in the dark of an eve, with the window thrown wide to the wind and rain."
Soundtracks (various)
“I love soundtracks, especially epic, dark, tragic ones. So I recommend a bunch for you to choose your preference. There’s Bram Stoker's Dracula, John Carpenter’s Halloween, Hellraiser, Interview With A Vampire, Death And The Maiden, The Mother Of Tears, Sleepy Hollow, Perfume, Children Of The Corn, The Omen trilogy, Candyman, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, The Fly and La Sombra Prohibida... Guaranteed to get you in the cobwebbed spirit of things, which they do for me every day. Having a soundtrack playing makes a movie out of everything!”
RAINING BLOOD by Slayer
“I've got to be absolutely honest here, when I first heard this album as a youngster (my mum pre-ordered it for me from the States for Christmas) I was spellbound by every single second of its 28-minute running time. It is deeply intense, addictive and memorable, with a neck-cracking production by Def Jam legend Rick Rubin. This track is a raving monster of a tune heralding the return of the Dark One from exile. Put this on for the trick-or-treaters and you’ll be guaranteed to save your candy on the night.”
