4 Dark Country Songs You Need for a Halloween Playlist

Country music can often get quite dark and spooky, and what better time to enjoy the more haunting side of the genre than Halloween? Let’s take a look at four dark country songs that would be perfect for a Halloween playlist!

1. “It’s A Monster’s Holiday” by Buck Owens

This Buck Owens classic is a go-to for Halloween! This delightfully spooky song has all the elements you’d want in a spook-tastic track: Dracula, Frankenstein, screams, wails, maniacal laughter, the works. 

It’s a pretty lighthearted “dark” country song that doesn’t really get under your skin, but it would be perfect for a country-themed Halloween bash with kids in tow.

2. “Women’s Prison” by Loretta Lynn

“It’s A Monster’s Holiday” is on the camp side of dark country songs, and “Women’s Prison” by Loretta Lynn is definitely not camp. Well, maybe a little bit. This song tells the dark tale of a woman who murdered her cheatin’ no-good husband and gets sent to the electric chair. 

The sound of the main character’s mother weeping upon her death and the flurry of guitars and drums as she’s electrocuted are well-produced, but very unsettling.

3. “Psycho” by Eddie Noack

This cover of a Leon Payne serial killer tune was Eddie Noack’s claim to fame. He did quite a good job with it, too. It’s not the kind of dark country song you’ll forget, either. 

“Psycho” opens with the narrator’s rage at hearing a crying baby, which leads him on a murderous rampage. That rampage claims the lives of an ex, her boyfriend, a dog, a random child, and the narrator’s own mother. It really is a “psycho” tune.

4. “Delia’s Gone” by Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash wrote and covered quite a few dark country songs in his heyday, but nothing tops “Delia’s Gone”. This is a stone-cold country song about a man who murders his “low down and trifling” fiancee before they are to be wed. In a very Edgar Allen Poe manner, the narrator is haunted by the spirit of his mean-girl ex-lover while trapped in his jail cell. 

Cash didn’t write this tune; it’s an old traditional song with origins in the early 20th century. However, the Man in Black was a big fan of the song. He recorded it four different times throughout his career.

Photo by Alan Messer

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