My friend Sara Beth’s birthday falls on Halloween, and perhaps as a result SB is one of the biggest Halloween people I know. She’s fabulously extroverted anyway, and sharing her birthday with this holiday means her party should always be a special celebration.

During the party planning process, I volunteered to create a few playlists for the evening. I know we’ll end up unplugging my iPod and switching to someone else’s before the night’s through. I favor dark, folky music (as you may have noticed), and Sara Beth will surely want to dance. But until we reach that moment, I’ve divided songs into autumnal, danceable, singable and mood-setting categories.

The last playlist is perhaps my favorite. I largely avoided the obvious Halloween tracks; “Monster Mash” doesn’t make an appearance here. But I searched my iTunes (and took a few recommendations from my friends on Twitter) for a few favorites to create an eerie mood.

Now if I could just settle on a costume, I’d be set. Happy Halloween, y’all.

I See Monsters

1. Secret - The Pierces (Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge)
2. My Bones are Gonna Rise Again - The Pine Hill Haints (To Win or Lose)
3. Killing Him - Amy LaVere (Anchors and Anvils)
4. Ten Dead Dogs - Wild Sweet Orange (We Have Cause to Be Uneasy)
5. Paper Gown - Caroline Herring (Lantana)
6. The Medium is the Message - The Spots (The Spots)
7. 24 - Jem (Finally Woken)
8. The Rake’s Song - Decemberists (The Hazards of Love)
9. Halloween - Dave Matthews Band (Before These Crowded Streets)
10. I See Monsters - Ryan Adams (Love is Hell, Part Two)
11. Skin Is, My - Andrew Bird (The Mysterious Production of Eggs)
12. Heart in a Cage - The Strokes (First Impressions of Earth)
13. Spies - Coldplay (Parachutes)
14. Vampire Song - Through the Sparks (The Birmingham Tapes–check out our November issue for more on this compilation!)
15. I’m Only Sleeping - The Beatles (Revolver)
16. Bullet with Butterfly Wings - Smashing Pumpkins (Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness)
17. Ramalama (Bang Bang) - Roison Murphy (Ruby Blue)
18. Heat Miser - Massive Attack (Protection)
19. Thriller - Michael Jackson (Thriller)