With Halloween a couple of days away I just thought it might be fun reminiscing about the music of Halloween.
People of a certain age can surely remember “Chiller Theater” and that eerie six fingered hand coming out of that bat infested cemetary around the corner. No? It must be a New York thing. I know Los Angeles had Elvira and several cities in the Northeast and Midwest had some version of Svengoolie. What about Zacherle? A disc jockey who also doubles for some ghoulish character.
Yes, there were a lot of them and they all had their place in our childhood memories but this is a column mostly about music and music it shall be as I look at some of the best Halloween music from the past 30 or 40 years.
You really can’t start a conversation about Halloween music without starting with Bobby Picketts’ “Monster Mash”. It was a graveyard smash. Funny song with a very catchy beat and one of the few songs on this list that is played year round for no other reason than its actually a good song.
“Frankenstein” by The Edgar Winter Group has really nothing to do with Halloween or Frankenstein because it’s an instrumental and it has one of the most recognizable riffs in music history. They could have called it Melonhead and it still would be a classic.
For years, I never got Donovan. I just said “Whats the fuss?” but after listening to his catalog of music a little more intently, I realized that he had a wide range of influences and wrote very unique and interesting music and “Season of The Witch” is one of those songs. This song has been covered multiple times and each version is excellent so what does that tell you? It’s a very cool song with a track that can be interpreted multiple ways.
“Pet Sematary” by the Ramones. Weird and funny and fast. Thats the Ramones and this was written specifically for the movie of the same name. The movie sucked, the song didn’t.
There are probably ten songs by AC/DC that could be included here but without a doubt, their strongest entry is “Highway to Hell”. This song starts out with one of the most recognizable guitar riffs and again, just takes off from there. This song has been used in so many different horror movies it’s almost an anthem of sorts.
Now a more unique aspect of Halloween type songs and no critique here just a list and you can judge. The videos for these songs are mini productions in and of themselves and should be included. First, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. Pink’s “Funhouse”. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, “Nightmare on my Street”. Rockwell,”Someones watching me”. From The Nightmare Before Christmas,”This is Halloween”. Yeah Yeah Yeahs,”Heads Will Roll”. Finally, the whole Rocky Horror Picture Show. You can never go wrong with a Time Warp.
Back to my list. Ministry’s “Everyday is Halloween” is an incredible song and I can listen to it any time of year but if you listen to the lyrics you know what the story is about and that, to some people, will be the creepiest thing of all.
Bobby Picket has another song for the list and it was a follow up to “Monster Mash”. Didn’t sell as much but it’s a fun song as well. “Transylvania Twist”, trying to capture the mood of the country along with a celebration. It should only be played at the end of your Halloween party.
It’s not really a Halloween themed song but it does conjure up darkness and what not. Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” always makes these type of lists and if I hadn’t heard this song 4,000 times while growing up, I would probably love it even more.
Lastly, I will throw out a song very few have heard and this could become a new Halloween anthem if people would lighten up just a little. “Monster” by Fred Schneider of the B 52’s. The song is hysterical and has a great beat and once you have heard it, you will want to listen to it again. You can thank me later.
I think Thriller deserves more credit than to be lumped in with those others. Just sayin’