Have a Heartbreak Halloween With Nonbinary Artist Black Polish’s New Song “Graves”

‘Tis the season for ghosts and goblins, witches and vampires, new relationships… and hauntings from an ex. Nothing says Halloween gay like feeling angsty in a graveyard and in their new music video Black Polish makes the queer community proud.

With references ranging from Mitski to Paramore to Fleetwood Mac, Black Polish has an alt rock sound that will have you screaming all your gay feelings.

This video has everything you could want from October: dripping blood, dragging dead bodies, peak mummy fashion, and even a black and red striped shirt I’m choosing to take as a nod to A Nightmare On Elm Street. Black Polish understands there’s a fine line between horror and the horror of heartbreak.

There have been more Halloween-appropriate songs in recent years — largely thanks to the gays — but personally I won’t be satisfied until there’s as much music for Gay Christmas as there is for straight Christmas.

“Graves” is so catchy and I relish the opportunity to have “But I’m pulling teeth/To pick your brain/And when you bleed/soak up the pain” stuck in my head when I’m in between horror movie viewing. The age of slowing down upbeat songs to make them creepy on-screen is over — this one is ready to go.

(And, hey, if you like your sad queer autumn with fewer graveyards, you can always check out their other song “Sad Lesbians.”)

Black Polish’s debut album Forest (Monsters Live In Trees) comes out this January and I’ll leave you with their own thoughts on the album (and, I’m assuming, failed queer love):

Forest is not a place, it’s a state of mind. A state of mind where I am constantly looping back with no knowledge of escape. One thing about the woods is if you don’t remember how you got in, the chances of getting out are slim.


Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

Drew Burnett Gregory

Drew is a Brooklyn-based writer, filmmaker, and theatremaker. She is a Senior Editor at Autostraddle with a focus in film and television, sex and dating, and politics. Her writing can also be found at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Cosmopolitan UK, Refinery29, Into, them, and Knock LA. She was a 2022 Outfest Screenwriting Lab Notable Writer and a 2023 Lambda Literary Screenwriting Fellow. She is currently working on a million film and TV projects mostly about queer trans women. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Drew Burnett has written 627 articles for us.

1 Comment

Contribute to the conversation...

Yay! You've decided to leave a comment. That's fantastic. Please keep in mind that comments are moderated by the guidelines laid out in our comment policy. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation and thanks for stopping by!