Editor's Note: This article was originally published in 2023 but was updated in 2025 with the addition of four songs.
If the holiday of trick or treating, pumpkin carving and decorating the yard with skeletons is your favorite of the year, then you'll no doubt already have a playlist stacked with creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky bangers ready to fire up on Oct. 31. But if you want to add a bit of prestige to your supernatural soundtrack, there's another list of Halloween-friendly songs to check out — one that highlights another celebrated annual occasion.
Along with giving GRAMMY gold to the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, Slayer and Vampire Weekend, the Recording Academy has embraced the odd musical spooktacular in several forms. It granted Halloween obsessive Frank Zappa Best Rock Instrumental Performance for Jazz from Hell in 1988; the year after, it handed Robert Cray Band Best Contemporary Blues Recording for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. In fact, two of the GRAMMYs' most decorated albums are eerily titled: Michael Jackson's Thriller and Santana's Supernatural, which respectively won seven and nine golden gramophones.
The Recording Academy has also dished out goodies (of the statuette, rather than the sweet, variety) to the likes of Mavis Staples' "See That My Grave Is Clean," Chick Corea's "Three Ghouls," Mastodon's "A Sultan's Curse," and TLC's "Creep." And it's given GRAMMY nominations to several more ominously named releases, including Frank Sinatra's "Witchcraft," AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," Jeff Beck and Joss Stone's version of the spooky classic "I Put a Spell On You," and Olivia Rodrigo's "vampire."
In celebration of Halloween, check out 14 other works — whether creepy-sounding or creepily titled — that have left Music's Biggest Night completely bewitched.
Stevie Wonder — "Superstition"
Best Rhythm & Blues Song and Best R&B Vocal Performance Male, 1974 GRAMMYS
It seems unlikely that Stevie Wonder walked under a ladder, crossed a black cat, or "broke the lookin' glass" while recording "Superstition" — the squelchy Moog-funk classic kickstarted his remarkable run of 25 GRAMMY Awards when it won both Best Rhythm & Blues Song and Best R&B Vocal Performance Male in 1974.
Taken from what many consider to be his magnum opus, 1972's Talking Book, "Superstition" also gave Wonder his first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in over a decade. And the soul legend further leaned into its supernatural theme in 2013 when he appeared as a witch doctor in a Bud Light Super Bowl commercial soundtracked by the ominous chart-topper.
Mike Oldfield — "Tubular Bells"
Best Instrumental Composition, 1975 GRAMMYS
Considering how perfectly Mike Oldfield's prog-rock epic Tubular Bells complements all-time classic horror flick The Exorcist, it's remarkable to think that it was recorded before director William Friedkin came calling. Oldfield, then aged only 19, used a variety of obscure instruments across its two mammoth pieces. Yet, it's the brilliantly creepy Steinway piano riffs that open Part One that are still most likely to bring anyone who experienced the movie's hysteria in a cold sweat.
Oldfield was rewarded for helping to scar a generation of moviegoers for life when a condensed version of his eerie masterpiece picked up the Best Instrumental Composition GRAMMY in 1975.
The Charlie Daniels Band — "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"
Best Country Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group, 1980 GRAMMYS
The Charlie Daniels Band certainly proved their storytelling credentials in 1979 when they put their own Southern country-fied spin on the old "deal with the devil" fable. Backed by some fast and furious fiddles, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" tells the tale of a young musician named Johnny who bumps into Beelzebub himself during a jam session in the Peach State. Experiencing a downturn in soul-stealing, the latter then bets he can win a fiddle-off, offering an instrument in gold form against Johnny's spiritual essence.
Luckily, the less demonic party proves he's the "best that's ever been" in a compelling tale that GRAMMY voters declared worthy of a prize, Best Country Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group, in 1980.
Michael Jackson — "Thriller"
Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, 1984 GRAMMYS
The 1984 GRAMMYs undeniably belonged to Michael Jackson. The King of Pop picked up a whopping 11 nominations for his first blockbuster album, Thriller, and then converted seven of them into wins, including Album Of The Year. (He also took home Best Recording for Children for his narration on audiobook E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.)
Remarkably, the title track's iconic John Landis-directed (and thrillingly horrific) video didn't feature at all; its making of, however, did win Best Music Film the following year. But the song itself did pip fellow superstars Prince, Billy Joel and Lionel Richie to the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance crown. Jackson would also win a GRAMMY 12 years later for another Halloween-esque anthem, his Janet Jackson duet "Scream."
Duran Duran — "Hungry Like the Wolf"
Best Music Video, Short Form, 1984 GRAMMYS
Produced by Colin Thurston, the man behind another early '80s Halloween-friendly classic, (Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy"), "Hungry Like the Wolf" cemented Duran Duran's status as MTV icons. Alongside their much raunchier earlier clip for "Girls on Film," its jungle-themed promo was also responsible for giving the Second British Invasion pin-ups the inaugural GRAMMY Award for Best Music Video, Short Form; it featured on the Duran Duran compilation that was crowned Best Video Album, too. Frontman Simon Le Bon had been inspired to write their U.S. breakthrough hit by Little Red Riding Hood, giving the new wave classic its sinister, and appropriately predatory, edge.
Ray Parker Jr. — "Ghostbusters"
Best Pop Instrumental Performance, 1985 GRAMMYS
Ray Parker Jr. not only topped the Hot 100 for four weeks with his ode to New York's finest parapsychologists, he also picked up a GRAMMY. Just don't expect to hear "who you gonna call?" in the winning version — it was in the Best Pop Instrumental Performance where "Ghostbusters" reigned supreme.
The fact that Parker Jr. wrote, performed, and produced the entire thing meant he still took home the trophy. However, Huey Lewis no doubt felt he should have been the one making the acceptance speech. The blue-eyed soul man settled out of court after claiming the spooky movie theme had borrowed its bassline from "I Want a New Drug," a track Ghostbusters' director Ivan Reitman admitted had been played in film footage intended to inspire Parker Jr.
TLC — "Creep"
Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, 1996 GRAMMYS
Although nothing to do with the 2004 London underground slasher or 2014's same-named found-footage horror, TLC's "Creep" still has a strong connection to the scariest date on the calendar: it was released on Halloween in 1994. Furthermore, its themes of infidelity left Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes so spooked that she initially planned to gag herself for its iconic satin pajama video in protest.
Redefining its titular term, the four-week chart-topper finds the husky-voiced T-Boz freely admitting to straying from an unaffectionate relationship, proving that the playa anthem wasn't solely the reserve of their male counterparts. It's a bold feminist act that helped power parent album CrazySexyCool to diamond status and was deservedly rewarded with Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal at the 1996 GRAMMYS (where CrazySexyCool was also crowned Best R&B Album).
Ralph Stanley — "O Death"
Best Male Country Vocal Performance, 2002 GRAMMYS
Traditional Appalachian folk song "O Death" had previously been recorded by the likes of gospel vocalist Bessie Jones, folklorist Mike Seeger and Californian rockers Camper Van Beethoven, just to name a few. Yet it was Ralph Stanley's 2002 version where GRAMMY voters first acknowledged its eerie a cappella charms.
Invited to record the morbid number for the Coen brothers' period satire O Brother, Where Art Thou, the bluegrass veteran won Best Male Country Vocal Performance at the 2002 ceremony, also picking up a second GRAMMY alongside the likes of Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, and Emmylou Harris when the soundtrack was crowned Album Of The Year.
Skrillex — "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites"
Best Dance Recording, 2012 GRAMMYS
David Bowie fans may well feel aggrieved that his post-punk classic "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" was entirely ignored by GRAMMY voters, while the bro-step banger it inspired was showered with awards. The title track from EP Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites added Best Dance Recording to Skrillex's 2012 haul: the asymmetrically haired producer also walked away with Best Dance/Electronica Album and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for his work on Benny Benassi's "Cinema." Packed with speaker-blasting beats, distorted basslines, and aggressive synths, Skrillex's wall of noise is enough to scare anyone off their pumpkin pie.
Eminem feat. Rihanna — "The Monster"
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, 2015 GRAMMYS
Who says lightning can't strike twice? Just four years after picking up five GRAMMY nominations for their transatlantic chart-topper "Love the Way You Lie," unlikely dream team Eminem and Rihanna once again joined forces for another hip-pop masterclass. Unlike their previous collab, however, "The Monster" didn't go home empty-handed, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2015 ceremony. The boogeyman hiding under the bed here, of course, isn't a Frankenstein-esque creation, but the mix of paranoia, self-doubt and OCD that leads the Real Slim Shady into thinking he needs a straitjacket.
Jason Isbell — "If We Were Vampires"
Best Americana Roots Song, 2018 GRAMMYS
While the Twilight franchise may have failed to add a GRAMMY to its trophy cabinet, it did pick up several nominations. But four years after the Team Edward vs Team Jacob saga wrapped up, folk hero Jason Isbell proved mythical bloodsuckers weren't a barrier to awards success.
Emerging victorious in the Best Americana Roots Song Category, "If We Were Vampires" is a little less emo than the various Twilight soundtracks. Still, as a love song dedicated to wife Amanda Shires — and the quiet acceptance that the Grim Reaper will inevitably end their story — it's certainly no less emotional.
Esperanza Spalding — "12 Little Spells"
Best Jazz Vocal Album (12 Little Spells), 2020 GRAMMYS
Gleefully playing the witch doctor, prolific singer/bassist Esperanza Spalding individually released every song (and an accompanying video) from her seventh album across 11 days before serving up its cauldron of genre-hopping sounds in full. Designed to celebrate the healing powers of art, each referred to a specific part of the body ranging from the abdominal portal to the thoracic spine. The title track's typically esoteric ode to the latter ("Casual ribs house an expanded mind/ Left and right hemispheres in balance") is arguably the most spellbinding part of an alternative human biology lesson that enchanted GRAMMY voters enough to win Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2020.
SZA feat. Phoebe Bridgers — "Ghost in the Machine"
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, 2024 GRAMMYS
Despite its ghoulish title, artificial intelligence appears to be the object of terror in what many, including the GRAMMY voters who awarded it Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in 2024, regard as the highlight of SZA's sophomore. But while the progressive R&B star expresses a world-weary disillusionment with how machines are taking over her livelihood ("Robot got future, I don't/ Robot get sleep but I don't power down"), her musical partner-in-crime Phoebe Bridgers seems more haunted by the breakup — one that's left her standing alone in an airport bar. The result is a tale of two halves that lives up to SZA's "super alternative and strange" claims.
Laufey — "Haunted"
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album (Bewitched), 2024 GRAMMYS
Sadly not a tribute to the classic '60s sitcom starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Bewitched is instead a self-described "love album" that helped Laufey surpass Björk and Sigur Ros as Iceland's most streamed artist. The singer/songwriter also picked up a Best Traditional Pop GRAMMY in 2024 for her second LP, an immaculate collection of jazz, pop and classical that bridged the gap between Gen-Z and the Great American Songbook. And "Haunted," a poetic lament to unrequited love ("Rose perfume, low-lit room/ I'll pretend you'll stay forever") soundtracked by shuffling bossa nova beats and sultry strings, casts its most potent musical spell.