With closing in on two decades of songs, Team StarKid has a discography that any would jealous of and a song for every occasion. With their more recent turn toward horror comedy with their Hatchetfield horrors and dark fairytales retellings, including their most recent release Cinderella’s Castle, Team StarKid has released a song for every spooky season playlist. If you’re still looking for inspiration for your own, here’s my list of the top ten songs you should have playing on repeat in your run-up to Halloween and beyond.

10. “Watch” – Cinderella’s Castle

Though I love Angela’s acting and pretty much every appearance she’s ever had on Smosh, I wasn’t the biggest fan of her vocals in her first Team StarKid appearance, but with each new one, she’s won me over. Her voice has such character to it. While she can’t necessarily carry the power in the same way as the other members, she absolutely steals the spotlight, so obviously, she needed some weakness to make it fair to everyone else.

And then Cinderella’s Castle came out. Angela was perfect as the Wicked Stepmother, and the retelling had such a magical fairy tale glow that hearing a troll disguised in human skin sing instructions to Cinderella to pay close attention to her own torture did something to my brain and earned this one the first slow on my StarKid Spooky Season Playlist.

9. “Nightmare Time” – Nightmare Time

If you’ve seen the three main musicals in the Hatchetfield interconnected horror trilogy, you need to watch this episodes covering terrifying short stories that further flush out the Lords in Black and all the horrors which led to the different apocalypses. This theme song is a siren’s call that horror lovers won’t be able to ignore.

8. “Facade” – Cinderella’s Castle

Why is this one higher than “Watch”? The chorus is just that much more of an earworm. If you haven’t heard it yet, it’s one of the closer songs to the typical StarKid flare. If you’re uncertain about watching Cinderella’s Castle (though I can’t think why), take the time to listen, and you’ll be queuing it up.

7. “Literal Monster” – Nerdy Prudes Must Die

Team StarKid have explored all sorts of villains and horrors, but the mounting dread in the introduction to the unapologetic ownership in Will Branner’s magnificent performance as Max Jägerman makes this an incredible villain introduction. It also serves as a great contrast to Max’s interactions with Chastity and the the entire rising action after Max’s accidental demise. As Team StarKid has portrayed a mix of antagonists from the redeemable to the unforgivable psychopaths, “Literal Monster” offers an antagonist who builds a reputation of terror with a clear understanding of the shaky ground he stands on, making the almost friendship that turned to deadly vengeance all the more haunting.

6. “Join Us (And Die)” – The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals

If you don’t have a hive mind threatening your life on your spooky season playlist, then what are you doing with your life? Don’t you want Jeff Blim and Jaime Lyn Beatty racing across genres as they harmonize to threaten your life and consciousness while her guts are half-hanging out? I mean, that’s incredible breath control when her diaphragm would be a wreck.

All kidding aside, this is a modern pod people anthem, and it’s much more overt than some of our previous songs. A perfect up-tempo add to any playlist frankly.

5. “Inevitable” – The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals

If you’re listening to the stage version, you get the added bonus of Emma’s screams as she realizes that she hasn’t escaped and that the hive mind has crossed and will continue to spread, guaranteeing the death of the human race as she races out, begging anyone in the audience to do something, but as the song says, this end is inevitable.

4. “Twisted” – Twisted

Everybody loves a good corruption arc, and to see the rise of Jafar in Twisted was an absolute treat as I could listen to Dylan Saunders sing about pretty much anything happily. However, the reason this makes the spooky season playlist comes not just from the villain’s monologue feel. With an intro that includes numerous memorable Disney villains and offers that titular plot twist to each (save Cruella, but didn’t have one truly bad apple in the bunch make the twists all the more believable?).

3. “Rogues Are We (Reprise)” – Holy Musical B@man!

I was tempted to put both versions on this list, but the reprise won out. That extra edge with the larger than life runs from Jeff Blim’s addition as Sweet Tooth really kicked it up a notch. While more campy than “Twisted” or most of the other songs on this list, “Rogues Are We (Reprise)” hits every time when Jaime Lyn Beatty sings, “Rise up, like a natural disaster” as the call to arms for the rogues.

Additionally, if you want to veer away from the body horror that many of the songs on this playlist touch upon, this is a great fun romp through comic book super villains. Anyone in need of a group costume should probably rewatch the musical. The costumes worn by many of the rogues are great generally simple builds.

2. “Nerdy Prudes Must Die” – Nerdy Prudes Must Die

The inspiration for countless aspiring animators, this song and the scene pitting Will Branner as Max versus Jon Matteson as Richie. It’s a clash of titans. Will’s angelic falsetto absolutely intensifies how hard the lyrics as Jon’s emotional performance makes Richie’s death hurt all the more.

There are some fantastic videos analyzing the outcome of this duet, discussing how horrible Richie’s death was and the implications of each line. For all the comedy of the first first half, the song ties in a number of melodies from across the series, putting an a rather terrifying question as Max questions who will miss Richie. Despite Richie’s protests, we later learn that his body wasn’t found for two days, and that he was severely tortured prior to his death, but even without the musical’s story to back it up, “Nerdy Prudes Must Die” is a wonderful, dark rock confrontation perfect for any upbeat spooky playlist.

1. “The Summoning” – Nerdy Prudes Must Die

I kept on switching these last two songs back and forth, but what ultimately gave “The Summoning” the edge comes down to how it handled eldritch horrors. By the time this came out, we had a number of short stories and two musicals already tied into the Hatchett-verse. Nightmare Time introduced more of their background, but we first met them in The Witch in the Web series. Wiggog Y’wrath took center stage in Black Friday, but we’ve met the rest in the shorts or at least saw their powers; however, in this single scene, we get the full introduction and see how these ancient beings of the Black & White view their interactions with mortals.

The icing on the cake is how irreverent they are. The actual summoning scene is intense, hearing their full names and feeling the pressure of their coming presence, but the five sons of chaos show no empathy and make it extremely clear how detached they are from the trio of humans who have come begging for their aid. Imagine you go to summon Cthulu, and instead of the serious and ominous being you expect with all the unknowable grandeur, you get a taunting song, making it somehow clearer than a towering presence could that you are insignificant in comparison.

It’s also an incredibly catchy song, so I had no choice but to give it the top slot.

Do you agree with our list? Disagree? Let us know which Team Starkid song you’re still listening to on repeat, and as always, join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord and Facebook.

Featured Image: Team StarKid

The Boss Rush Podcast: The Flagship Podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network

The Boss Rush Podcast – The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, Stephanie, LeRon, and their friends from around the internet come together with other creators, developers, and industry veterans to talk about games they’ve been playing, discuss video game and entertainment based topics, and answer questions solicited on social media and the community Discord. 

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