There I was, grooving to “Monster Mash†(as is my duty as Official Commissioner of Halloween), when Becca Gleason – trusted Nerdist music blogger – stepped into my office and asked, “What song is this?â€Â I know. You probably need a moment to let that sink in (and to wipe off the milk you surely just spit all over your monitor). It’s shocking. It’s appalling. Our schools have failed us. Needless to say, Becca’s blogging-license is suspended until she learns a little Halloween Party Music 101:
1. Bobby “Boris†Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers– Monster Mash
Let’s get this one out of the way. Boris Pickett is the godfather of all Halloween dance songs and “Monster Mash” – a spoof of the “Mashed Potato” – is his crowning achievement. He followed up its successful release with an entire Monster Mash album, and inspired whole slew of Halloween-themed parody acts. Identifiable by the obligatory sounds of dragging chains and Boris Karloff impersonations, most of these parodies don’t live up to the original. A couple do stand-out: The Ghoul’s “Be True To Your Ghoul” (an oddly violent Beach Boys parody), and John Zacherle’s “Dinner With Drac, Part 1,” are sure to raise some eyebrows.
2. Stevie Wonder – Superstition
Not into funk? How about some heavy blues-rock from The Black Keys? Their song “Howlin’ For You” gets a free pass on Halloween simply for incorporating the word “Howl.” Other free passes go to “Howlin’ for my Baby,” and “Moanin’ at Midnight”, both, fittingly, by Howlin’ Wolf.
3. Bing Crosby – Headless Horseman (from Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow)
Crosby dominates the Christmas classics scene, so why shouldn’t he have a Halloween song or two… or an entire radio special? His song, “Halloween,” with Victor Moore & Boris Karloff (at 7:00 on this video), is as much a crowd-pleaser as it is a reactionary critique on the modern age (You’ll hear what I mean). For a jazzy version of “Headless Horseman,” check out this classy cover by Kay Starr.
4. The Clovers/The Searchers – Love Potion #9
Love love-songs about witchcraft, but sick of hearing the same thousand versions of “Love Potion #9” over and over again? Then give Johnny Otis & Marci Lee’s fast, twangy “Castin’ My Spell” a spin on the ol’ gramophone. I’ve been hand-jiving to it for three days straight, so the spell must work.
5. Frantics – Werewolf
I don’t know much about this one, outside of it’s from rainy Puget Sound, and it bleeds nicely into Bat For Lashes’ “What’s A Girl To Do?” Listen to both, then listen to Cults’ “Bad Things,” and you got a story about a love-sick werewolf, a moody vampire, and the girl caught in the middle. That’s right, you just listened to Twilight.
6. The Rocky Horror Picture Show – “Time Warpâ€
Easily one of the most danceable songs on the list. But lets face the facts: gender-bending musicals are a bit of an acquired taste and popular dance has changed a lot in the last 35 years. Solution: balance it out with Kanye West’s dark, twisted “Monster.”
7. The citizens of Halloween Town – This Is Halloween (from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Oh, what I wouldn’t give to live in Halloween Town and be best friends with Jack Skellington. Fortunately, Disneyland provides a pretty close experience every fall, when the Haunted Mansion transforms into the Haunted Mansion Holiday, incorporating Nightmare characters and music into the ride. But its tough to compete with the original, particularly the graveyard scene with its playfully frenetic tune “Grim, Grinning Ghostsâ€- a masterful balance of spookiness and harmlessness. (And if you’ve never heard the Marilyn Manson version of “This Is Halloween,” click here.)
8. Harry Belafonte – Jump In The Line
A Halloween favorite, thanks to its enduring use in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. If you’re looking for a calypso song a bit more on topic, get your conga on to Belafonte’s “Zombie Jamboree (Back to Back).” A lot of calypso songs deal with voodoo, so this is just the tip of the iceberg.
9. Warren Zevon – Werewolves of London
The perfect compliment to your Tom Cruise/The Color of Money costume. Not the case if you’re dressing as Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman. Then, might I suggest Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer?” David Byrne said he wrote the song imagining “Alice Cooper doing a Randy Newman-type ballad.” Same could be said for “Werewolves of London,” if you ask me.
10. The B-52’s – Rock Lobster
I can’t say why “Rock Lobster” ranks so high on the Halloween hit list (its throwback surf-rock about towels and fish), but I’m definitely not complaining.  I do have my theories: 1) Kate Pierson’s keyboard and shrill screams are reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann’s screeching violins in Psycho; 2) the song, which trumpets “lots of trouble” in the ocean, hit the airwaves while the average, American beach-goer was still recovering from 1975’s Jaws and ‘78’s Jaws 2; and 3) like the schlocky sci-fi movies of their time, ’60s surf-rockers were early adopters of sound-distorting electronics (fuzz pedals, synthesizers). Before long, the connection between surf-rock and monsters was cemented in our collective consciousness. Two very Halloweenie works similar to “Rock Lobster” include: The Cramps’ “Zombie Dance” and 45 Grave’s “Riboflavin.”
11. Ray Parker, Jr. – Ghostbusters
This theme song was such a hit when released, it claimed Billboard’s #1 spot for three weeks and pulled in about $20 million of the film’s $238,632,124 gross (Thanks, Wikipedia). Meanwhile, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince were writing an unlicensed ode to Freddy Krueger, called “A Nightmare On My Street.” That song was also a huge hit. So much of a hit, New Line Cinema sued the duo, and then offered them the starring roles in the film House Party. Or so the legend goes.
12. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – I Put A Spell On You
Hawkins music drips with so much of the macabre, you could make a killer Halloween playlist featuring absolutely no one else. My personal favorite: “Little Demon.”
13. Michael Jackson – Thriller
Here it is: the one song that guests not only expect, but will mutiny against a DJ who doesn’t give it play. Seriously, if your choice is between “Thriller” on repeat for three hours or playing every other song on this list, play “Thriller” on repeat for three hours! As for comparable alternates, there aren’t. But consider these two comparably pervasive, comparably expensive-to-license hits: The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil” & The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” (you know, thanks to Charles Manson).
SPECIAL MENTIONS:
There are two musical acts that immediately popped in my head when I started this list, yet both went unmentioned. That’s because they so exemplify the spirit of Halloween, that I’d be doing a disservice by singling out one song, or comparing their work against any of the above artists. They are Tom Waits, who is so morbid, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins covered his songs (my Halloween favorites: “Little Drop of Poison” & “Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard“), and Ryan Gosling & Zach Shields’ band, Dead Man’s Bones (“Dead Man’s Bones” & “My Body’s A Zombie For You” being my personal favorites). The Dead Man’s Bones album has become to my October what Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas is to my December.
You can find my full Halloween playlist on Spotify (user: abelcharrow), and let me know what I’m missing by dropping a comment below. For you runners out there, check out my running playlists at www.6n6challenge.com/music
Thanks, Becca, thanks, Chris, for inviting me to make this list. Happy Halloween to all, and to all a ghoulish night!
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Additional reporting by Becca Gleason.
Here is a list that is a bit more modern and alot more scary. http://youtu.be/hXmN4spjO7c?list=PLqVupzMqdF_NUNKq2A34B5nQHphIaoEva
Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon and Eyeball in My Martini both by The Cramps
How about Bela Lugosi’s Dead.It’s a dead man’s party.Bad moon a risingZombie Jamboree
a new one: Halloween Dreams by Know1Else https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEpoPAZGIgQ&feature=youtu.be
a new one: Halloween Dreams by Know1Else https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEpoPAZGIgQ&feature=youtu.be
Thanks a lot for this awesome collection 🙂 I bought this http://www.trend-labs.com/i/B00O2BZ04O Super Simple Songs for Halloween season for my youngsters and they doubled their love for me 😉
oingo boingo – Dead Man’s Party
Happy to see Ray Parker Jr. on this list, pretty easy decision to rock Ghostbusters. Got another awesome Halloween Playlist with 90+ songs that will help kick start your party, check it out – http://www.pickmycostume.com/halloween-playlist.html
What about Halloween by The Misfits?
I think it’s time to do a GhostBusters remake/reboot! It’s been 30 years since the original… Imagine what they could do today with the special effects and 3D effects. They just need a compelling backstory to transcend the 30 year gap.
I would add Lazerhawk’s album Skull And Shark to the list. Awesome retrowave sounds with a horror theme. I mean, just listen to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O457T6U9h7U
Let’s go collect some bones – Luna Lune
Check this Halloween song out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr3h5RFTbbshttps://www.facebook.com/iamlunalune
I know it has already been said, but there should definitely be some Misfits songs on here. Also, TV on the Radio’s “Wolf Like Me” is pretty good for a more modern twist.
While White Zombie’s Dragula fills my head this morning, while taking my daughter to school in her Monster High costume, I have to say for sure that there are some songs that should be on your list here and probably tons more from the metal/thrash/death metal genres that I listen to. The following are far more accessible to the masses:
Loreena McKennitt’s- “All Souls Night” off of her The Visit album, released on her own record label, Quinlan Road, in 1994.
Type O Negative, featuring the late, Peter Steele’s deep and disturbingly fun vocal offerings on “All Hallows Eve”, from World Coming Down album released in 1999. And Probably their biggest known song that played on MTV and Much Music in Canada in 1993 is Black No. 1, off their Bloody Kisses album. Truth is, Type O Negative built a career with the spooky sounds of Halloween blended into Goth/Metal since that Bloody Kisses Album through to Peter’s untimely demise in 2012. Rest in peace, Mr. Steele, you were well loved and will be missed.
Some other bands and artists that made some theme appropriate sounds are Teenage Head – Disgusteen is an old favourite. Nash the Slash – Dead Man’s Curve. Siouxsie and the Banshees with Jeepers Creepers. The Cranberries – Zombie.
I can pull out more just by mentioning Venom, King Diamond, Diamond Head, etc… but where’s the fun in that? And I don’t have hours upon hours to list more!
“The Scales” on Dictators II, by Spirit of the Ecstasy, here: http://smarturl.it/PROMO_RHAPS
‘HALLOWEEN’ BY THE MISFITS. (ALSO GOOD COVERS OF THIS SONG BY AFI AND ALKALINE TRIO)
Can’t believe nobody mentioned Edgar Winter Group – “Frankenstein”
No lyrics, but ominous and creepy as hell!
shakira – she wolf
the keytones – i was a teenage monster
elvis presley – blue moon
fleetwood mac – rihannon
isolated vocal tracks are pretty spooky too and plenty of bands have them up on youtube – the doors, and nirvana
Please Mr Gravedigger – David Bowie
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
Hypnotized – Fleetwood Mac
You need more!
Welcome to my nightmare by Alice Cooper and a few more from him too like Dead Babies.
THE song is” horror movies” by the Bollock Brothers