This seems a little on the nose, but go with me here—it’s got to be “This Is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s not because I watched that movie as a kid or anything, because weirdly, I did not. Instead, it’s because of how prevalent it is at Halloween events out where I live in L.A. Since moving here almost four years ago, I’ve heard it hundreds of times at haunted hayrides, kids’ parties, and different events. I’ve actually grown to kind of love it, which is good, because now my kids are into it, so I anticipate hearing it year-round. [Marah Eakin]
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This is an easy one. Bauhaus: “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”. Video from The Hunger with Catherine Deneuve, Bowie and Sarandon. Full of vampires and hot AF.
Can’t star this enough.
He can have my star.
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Beat me to it
Don’t forget the cutaways to caged monkeys going crazy!
That’s one of those rare times where a song’s performance in a video is far, far better than any official “music video” could’ve been, though I don’t think Bauhaus ever made an official video for BLD. The big example I can think of is the use of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax” in “Body Double.”
yes that is very good but mine is Nightmare before Christmas, THIS IS HALLOWEEN, love catchie tune
Agree. All of the NBC songs are amazing The fact that the film got made is amazing. I don’t think we allow labors of love like that anymore.
“Undead, undead, undead….”
Let’s not overthink this and get cute. If you’re putting The Misfits on the playlist, just put god damn Halloween on there.
What about Hybrid Moments though?
I mean how could you not go with Kefka’s theme
Me: Look at this fuckin’ nerd, lmaoooooooAlso me: Wait, you know what they’re referencing….
It’s not Halloween unless I’m driving around, pumping my fist to the Ghostbusters theme
🙂
The Monster Fuck by Leo Carpazzi
A true classic.
Date With A Vampyre – The Screaming Tribesmen (the EP is spelled Vampyre, the song might actually be Vampire now I think of it)Talk About Run – Clint Eastwood and General Saint
Anything by the Cramps. And “Every Day Is Halloween” by Ministry.
Most of The Cramps. “Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?” is clearly more of a Christmas song.
And “Every Day Is Halloween” by Ministry.This. So much this. That is my number one Halloween song.
Yes “every day is Halloween” by ministry is my top halloween even when it’s not the holiday!
I particularly enjoy the “Evil Version” Al put out on the Every Day Is Halloween – Greatest Tricks compilation. While the song was already a certified classic, the “Evil Version ” has a sound that fits the holiday better.
Hot take: This Is Halloween’s lyrics read like a first draft. And not a good one.
It’s sung by a living skeleton. When you die, and your flesh has rotted away, feel free to treat us with a better song.
Yeah. I remember when Nightmare came out, I was in high school, and I really wanted it to be meaningful — at a minimum as thoughtful and with as much to say as frickin Edward Scissorhands and its critique of suburbia.The fantastic stop motion aesthetic convinced me there would really be some “there” there. But there wasn’t. The visuals were cool and that was it. The songs and story were terrible.
Terribly infectious but also oddly unsettling.
“Nightmare”, once the theme song of Artie Shaw. No words to muck up the feeling.
This was first released in 1932. Shaw did not release Nightmare until 1938.
“Heaven Tonight” by Cheap Trick, “No Quarter” by Led Zeppelin, “D.O.A.” by Blood Rock, and “Black Sabbath” by Black Sabbath. Really, anything by Black Sabbath….
I have so much to add to this list, and my original iPhone is many months dead. (I switched to a work phone a long time ago.)So, the ones I remember off the top of my head: My Chateau by the Brute Chorus
Where Did You Sleep Last Night by Nirvana (and countless other artists)I Ain’t Done by the Crane Wives (some of their other stuff)Sorry, I can’t insert links because I’m on a burner and Kinja is messed up…
I should add:Under My Thumb by the Rolling Stones (maybe also Paint It Black?)But about 4 of these songs were the ones I originally thought of…
For the Stones, there is always Sympathy for the Devil.
Pretty sure that was on the playlist I can’t access….:(
OK, someone mentioned the Toadies which is a good reminder “Country Death Song” by the Violent Femmes was definitely on the list as well.
Of course it still won’t work for me. There’s a really great Country Death Song animated fan video if anyone wants to search for themselves.
a bit on the nose but halloween by aqua.also haunted rhapsody from ddr
C’mon, practically any song by Rob Zombie!
Well…any song but Dragula. As anyone who played Twisted Metal 4 will tell you.
That’s spectacular.
Yep. And I think I first heard “Living Dead Girl” over the opening credits of Bride of Chucky, and in the cinema, let me tell you that was a hell of a needle drop
Walk Like A Zombie by The Horror Pops should be on every Halloween Playlist.
First off, get rid off that Donovan mess, that song is absolutely terrible.Secondly, add Kate Bush “Hounds of Love”.
Yeah, I’ve seen “Witch” pop up on several Halloween playlists recently: “Ooh, scary…it’s got the word ‘witch’ in its title!” If they must insist on Donovan, why not “Hurdy Gurdy Man”? It was used to good, creepy effect in David Fincher’s Zodiac, for example. That (comb filter?) vocal effect and the distorted guitar—coupled with the vaguely sinister lyrics—are a little unnerving.
If it has to be Donovan, yeah… although if we could leave him out entirely, that’d be ideal for me. I’ve never heard a song of his that I liked. He’s a hack in my eyes.
Yeah, he’s so coy and cutesy he makes my skin crawl a bit, I must admit.
Also his lyrics are straight up garbage!
“Hurdy Gurdy Man” was never the same for me after I saw Zodiac… creepy as hell.
Horror movie scores are the way to go. Start with anything by John Carpenter.
Thriller is the GOAT Halloween song obviously, but I’ve also been listening to a lot of Werewolves of London this month. Ahooooooo!
Thiller is the only answer. Vincent Price is involved. Enough said.
Alice Cooper’s “Black Widow” features Vincent Price.Here’s a clip from the tv movie Alice put out in the 70’s.
I always thought it was interesting that, because it’s the title track of the best selling album of all time, no one really thinks of Thriller as a Halloween novelty song, which by basically any definition, it definitely is.
Huh? Everyone thinks of Thriller as a Halloween song.
Thanks for linking the Echo “Strange,” it is not available on my Spotify and I hadn’t thought of just checking YouTube. Lost Boys was the first R rated movie I saw in the theater (snuck in) and I was totally blown away by the intro with this (what was the graffiti “murder capital of the world”?). They say the word “Michael” something like 200 times in that movie :)Amnesiac technically came out in May of 2001, but that fall I was playing it on repeat and I remember driving around Wicker Park playing Pyramid Song, so I always associate Radiohead with Halloween
When I was younger, I made the mistake of spending several successive Halloween seasons working for Spirit Halloween. Beyond summoning within me a lifelong aversion to the song “Werewolves of London”, it also damn near ruined Halloween for me forever. You know how if you work at Arby’s, you’ll never want Arby’s again as long as you live? Kinda like that. I overdosed on festive spookiness. The only thing about the job that I truly enjoyed was creating my own music mixes with which to subvert Warren Zevon. Wound up digging through an inordinate amount of spooky punk rock and found many gems. This remains my favorite:
Hopefully this starts at 0:27
Nice! Never heard them before. I like the singer’s voice.
That sounds like the story of how I ended up with 100+, non-religious Alt Rock style Christmas-themed songs on my first iPod. It got us out of listening to the truly awful Delilah Rene-narrated Christmas themed radio stations…
That’s a shame, because Zevon is great and Werewolves is a fun, if overdone, song.
I agree. Every time I hear that song, I can’t help but laugh at: “I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s/His hair was perfect.”
BIP!
“subvert Warren Zevon” is a strange phrase to read, but I sympathize with your experience.
Dead Man’s Party by Oingo Boingo always puts me in the Halloween mood.
Look Fred, I think you got me all wrong, I ain’t partners with nobody with nails that long.
Throwing this out there too. Not a Halloween specific song, but creepy as hell.
Thank you. This is always a go to Halloween song for me.
1000 percent Halloween song
Type O Negative – Black No. 1 – It’s silly, and it also very much still slaps. Spooky organs
I’m going with “Creepy Green Light” and “All Hallows Eve” for more explicit Halloweenery
Little Fang is such a great pick Cameron. What a little gem in the Animal Collective discog.To throw out another, how about Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz.
It’s been stuck in my head ever since they posted this playlist.
This deep cut from The Kinks always makes my Halloween playlist:
Nothing by Alice Cooper? Welcome to My Nightmare, Black Widow, I love the Dead, etc.And, Elvira’s Monster Rap
Don’t forget The Ballad of Dwight Frye.
Nemesis by Shriekback – best Halloween song to use the word parthenogenesis.
Some fantastic recommendations in this thread. We do both Halloween specific, and horror/dark/scary themed songs on our playlist. A few I haven’t seen mentioned yet:The Toadies – TylerThe Toadies – Possum KingdomScissor Sisters – I Can’t DecideConcrete Blonde – Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)Rob Zombie – Pussy Liquor (didn’t see this one specifically mentioned)
Jigsaw Girl is another very appropriate Toadies song.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize the narrator in Possum Kingdom wasn’t just generally creepy but quite possibly about to kill the girl in question given how many times I heard it on the radio.
Bob Dylan is a surprisingly good Halloween artist. My Own Version of You, The Man in the Long Black Coat, Ain’t Talkin’. The whole Basement Tapes/John Wesley Harding era has a good haunted-New-England-Ichabod-Crane feel.
It’s a graveyard smash
So, one year around Halloween I renamed an MP3 and changed the meta data of The Monster Mash to “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and let people download it on Napster.
That…is…hilarious.
Monster Mash always makes me think of Valentine’s Day.
Not one “Thriller” on the list? Ridiculous.
Too obvious. Where’s the fun in that?
They literally went with “This is Halloween” for the first pick. Thriller is a downright subtle choice compared to that.
The Murder City Devils – Midnight Service at the Mütter Museum (side note: visit the Mütter Museum if you’re in Philly. That place is amazing.)The Evangelicals – BellawoodThe Misfits – Hybrid MomentsNick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Curse of Millhaven
Oooh, “Red Right Hand” by Nice Cave and the Bad Seeds! One of the coolest and creepiest songs he ever recorded. And very much a Halloween song.
*slaps forehead* oh man, yeah, Red Right Hand is a much better choice!
Now that I think of it, I first heard Red Right Hand on the surprisingly excellent “The X-Files: Songs in the Key of X” compilation. A bunch of those tracks make for an awesome Halloween mix: Frank Black – “Man of Steel”, Soul Coughing – “Unmarked Helicopters”, Foo Fighters cover of “Down in the Park”, etc.
My favourite Halloween song of all time, and perennially on my top five hip-hop songs of all time. That Halloween really does fall on a weekend this year only helps:
Everyday Is Halloween.
https://ifunny.co/picture/you-think-this-is-a-fuckin-costume-this-19-a-PP8aQ7V18?s=cl
Geto Boys—Mind Playing’ Tricks On Me: My favourite Halloween song of all time, and perennially on my top five hip-hop songs of all time. That Halloween really does fall on a weekend this year only helps:
Ariel Pink’s “Fright Night” always sets the mood.
“Psycho”/Elvis Costello and the Attractions“Creature from the Black Lagoon”/Dave Edmunds Rockpile“Eaten by the Monster of Love”/Sparks
I’d say Christmas carols make me think of Halloween because it’s around now that stores start playing Christmas music to get us in the buying mood.
‘Halloween’ by the Dead Kennedys.‘Mind Playing Tricks On Me’ by Geto Boys.
I dunno about Halloween, but I do know which song makes me think of both Valentines and Presidents day. . .
Jingle Bells. “Santa’s on the way…”? For what? To rape and kill me and my family? Scares the fuck out of me.
I don’t mean in any way to be gate keeping here but it seems strange to pick Saturday Night and entirely ignore the Misfits songs literally named after the holiday.
Also no Monster Mash? Snark a you want, it’s a classic.
Dance with the Dead – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
In Hell I’ll Be In Good Company – The Dead South
Dancing at the Zombie Zoo – Tom Petty
Pretty much the entirety of The Aquabats vs. The Floating Eye of Death
Come on. Any such list without Monster Mash is just trolling.
What do you mean? Monster Mash is clearly a Valentine’s Day song.
Both of mine are very tangential to Halloween, but still bring out very spooky feelings – Michael Jackson’s The Girl is Mine, and the Ren and Stimpy credits theme by Quincy Jones. They both have a sense of… minor dread? Foreboding? Some kind of vaguely spooky because they both preceed spooky things – Thriller, and Are You Afraid of the Dark, from the Snick days. Just the association of leading into spooky things (especially in the day where you basically HAD to catch the end of the song/show to be ready to hear/watch the main event) gives them both just the vaguest sense of doom for me, which I love. (also, the best part of the Night Books or whatever witch movie with Jessica Jones was realizing they were playing Cry Little Sister in the hype up scene)
I have a very big playlist, so I won’t list them all but here are some of my staples:
Walk Like A Zombie by The Horrorpops
All The Good Girls Go To Hell by Billie Eilish
Is This Thing Cursed by Alkaline Trio
Somebody’s Watching Me by Rockwell
Change (In The House of Flies) by Deftones
Demons by Hayley Kiyoko
Dead Man’s Party by Oingo Boingo
Skeleton Song by Kate Nash
100% this one: Also this one: And this one!
What songs make you think of Halloween?
none. No song. Next question.
Simon and Garfunkel “Scarborough Fair”
Ghost town, The Specials. Although I get strong Scooby Doo vibes, which has strong Halloween vibes itself actuallyhttps://youtu.be/RZ2oXzrnti4
What the – ? Where the hell is “Dead Man’s Party” by Oingo Boingo? It’s just not a Halloween party until you play “Dead Man’s Party”.
Jack Name “Under the Weird Moon”Roky Erikson “Dont Shake me Lucifer” “Walk with a Zombie”
Eddy Detroit “Beezlebub”Blue Oyster Cult “Extra Terrestrial Intelligence”
Black Sabbath “Black Sabbath”John Cale “Fear is a man’s Best Friend”
“Ghostbusters,” “Monster Mash,” and “Thriller.”
One more: “Down to Rest” by O’Death