Top Five Scary Songs for Halloween Night

For some wicked listening pleasure, fill your Halloween night with songs that go past that "Nightmare on My Street" level of Halloween corn and get into a much scarier place.

Here are some disturbing songs for your next Halloween mix tape.

1. Kinks - Wicked Annabella

From their fantastic album Village Green Preservation Society, this track is one of the only songs about witches that isn't ridiculously over the top. Ray Davies builds a fairly rich narrative in Grimm brothers fashion, warning children to stay away from the town witch over overdriven guitars. The weird vocal effect really makes this one stand out as creepy, and it's really got amazing production for a late '60s britpop band.

2. Rob Zombie - Living Dead Girl

Hey, the metalheads were the ones who brought all the Satan and monsters into rock music in the first place, so it's appropriate to include this heavy hitter on the list. Rob Zombie's nonsensical lyrics ("like a hunchback loose on a sentimental noose") are great, but the creepy part is the sampled female voice saying "What are you thinking of?" over Middle Eastern strings. The best song about necrophilia that I know, and certainly a series of disquieting images; Halloween's the best time to let this song really sink in (no pun intended). And by the way, the album this came from is called "Hellbilly Deluxe," so depending on how much you like puns and metal, this could be a good buy.

3. Mason Jennings, "Jackson Square".

This independent alt-country demigod is famous for his deep lyrics and Lennonesque melodies, and he showcases both in this track from his LP "Boneclouds." This is a story of the famed haunted Jackson Square in New Orleans, and Jennings' narrative winds brilliantly around a young couple trying to get by and ending up facing ghosts and suicide. If you like this tune, the whole song is worth listening to, although this is the only song scary enough to be on a Halloween compilation.

4. Randy Newman, "In Germany Before The War"