Welcome to 2026's 31 Days of Heistoween, a daily dose of spooky icons, spine-tingling oddities, and — most harrowing of all — memes. Check back every day from now through October 31 for each daily entry!
Considering how integral a role music plays during the Christmas season, it is kinda wild that the other big two American holidays — Halloween and Thanksgiving — don't have thick songbooks to go along with them. That being said, it's way easier to identify a Halloween jam than it is to name a Thanksgiving banger. I mean, at the very least, Halloween has "Monster Mash," which is actually a fucking great pop single. Fight me. I'd also argue that, thanks to Halloween's inextricable, foundational, essential ties to the horror genre writ large allows Halloween music as a genre to encompass plenty of tunes that aren't explicitly about monsters indulging in a dance craze.
Enter: Franz Ferdinand's "Evil Eye," a song that screams Halloween without ever once saying the word "Halloween."
This song has been a staple of my spooky seasons since it dropped in 2013 as part of the band's fourth studio album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. It is, first and foremost, soaked in vibes with the band's signature rhythm section pushing the whole thing forward. Like the best Franz Ferdinand songs, it's got a beat and you can dance to it (or shuffle around in the corner, considering the song's mood).
The song's inspiration and intent is clear from the get go, though; it starts with a disco beat punctuated with a blood-curdling scream. And then, y'know, the song is about the whole concept of the evil eye. But what really makes the song not just piece of horror pop but specifically a Halloween jam are all of the spooky flourishes that hover around the edges of the song. It sounds like the band took a stroll down a Halloween decorations aisle circa 1994 and sampled every single shaking ghost, cackling witch, and lumbering mummy doll.
And then there's the video, a straight-up pastiche of vintage video nasty horror movies of the '70s and '80s, featuring dismembered corpses, cannibals, and only the sleaziest fake facial hair. It's so gruesome that I can't embed it here.
Fun fact: This video was directed by Diane Martel, who also directed Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You." I mean, they both have a fake VHS feel to them! I guess it makes sense!
Anyway — if you're looking for another addition to your Halloween playlists, here's a funky jam for you.
Come knock on our door tomorrow for even more 31 Days of Heistoween treats.
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