Be in to win an iPod! – read the list for our competition details. In just a few days it will be Halloween! The night of trick or treating, costumes, candy, and all things spooky. In celebration I have put together a list of the 10 songs that absolutely must feature at your halloween party – or, failing that, songs you must load onto your iPod to help you get in the mood. I have tried very hard to provide you with the most diverse and interesting set of songs possible – so while you may not see all of your favorites, you should see at least one or two new ones to add to your collection. Be sure to tell us your own favorites in the comments.
A list like this would not be complete without the awesomeness which is Ozzy Osbourne! This track is from the Bark at the Moon Album recorded in 1983. Ozzy is, of course, most famous for being the lead singer of Black Sabbath and it would be seriously wrong not to include him on this list.
We have two firsts on this list – things I never thought I would see! One is Marilyn Manson, and the other is country music! It isn’t my personal favorite, but this song definitely rates as a classic Halloween party song perfect to get people moving about and dancing. It contains brilliant violin playing by Charlie Daniels and even the most anti-country music people should enjoy it.
Granted it isn’t the most horrifying song, but it is a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe and provides a nice alternative to some of the heavier music on this list. This is probably the best song to play as your party is nearing an end – when people are either too drunk to care what you play, or sober enough to appreciate the lyrics which are taken directly from the Poe poem of the same title.
I have to be honest and admit that I had never heard this song before I started researching this list – but it is definitely going to rank high for those of our readers planning a more hardcore party than the others. Also, for those of you who are planning to spread humbug this Halloween, you can play this at a very loud volume and you will frighten all the kids and parents who are trick or treating – save on candy costs!
This is a great hit from the ’60s which went to number one in the UK. While it is not a particularly scary track, it is, for many people listening, likely to bring back many memories of Halloween parties of the past. This is one of my favorite songs on the list.
This song is a lighthearted song – most appropriate for the early stages of your Halloween party. This (and item 3 on the list) is perfect for playing as your guests are arriving and having their first drinks. It is also perfect for a kids Halloween party. And if you want some entertainment for the night, why not watch the film – you can buy it here.
The Addams Family was a 1964 hit series based on cartoons by Charles Addams. The theme will be familiar to most people either through the original series of the much more recently made movie. This is a great quirky hit for your party – a definite must-play.
This song is from the album of the same name by Alice Cooper. It is a concept album in which each track progressively details the passage of a nightmare. This is the opening track and what could be more perfect for a loud Halloween Party.
Rather than use the original soundtrack version of the song, I have chosen to use the Marilyn Manson version because I like it much more and think it has a better Halloween “feel” about it. I also love the Panic at the Disco version, but there is no doubt that the Manson version is the spookiest. The song is, of course, the title track of the brilliant Tim Burton film “The Nightmare before Christmas” which you can buy here.
Everyone knows this song – it has been used in hundreds of horror movies. While the song sounds very eerie, the translation of the Latin original is not quite so spooky – it actually means “O Fortune, you wax and wane like the moon”. Hardly frightening stuff, but most people don’t know what it means and it will chill everyone that hears it to the bone! A definite must-have for Halloween. Oh – and it is from the cantata called Carmina Burana. I have picked an excellent version of it for you to buy:
Anyone who has seen the Exorcist will appreciate the eeriness of this soundtrack. It plays at the start of the film as the main actress walks home from a day filming. The scene is full of moody shots of Washington in fall with children trick or treating. It lulls you in to a false sense of security before all hell breaks loose (literally) in the form of possessed girl Regan. This song will always be my favorite Halloween theme. Oh – and if you don’t already have a copy of the movie, you can get it here.
This excellent track by Warren Zevon features drumming by Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac. It will be familiar to most people through its constant (over-)use in movies. Everyone will expect to hear this song at a party – don’t disappoint them.
If there is any one song on this list that people will be expecting to see – it is this. Monster Mash is a hilarious and fun song from 1962 sung by Bobby “Boris” Pickett. In a bizarre and rather lame attempt at a comeback, Picket released a spin-off of the song in 2005 called “Climate Mash”, a version with re-written lyrics about global warming and new vocals which was released on the Internet by the organization Clear the Air. Forget clearing the air for now – fill it with spooky mist and party!
Of this most famous piece of classical music, Wikipedia says: The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music commonly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach, composed sometime between 1703 and 1707. It is one of the most famous works in the organ repertoire, and has been used in a variety of popular media ranging from film, to video games, to rock music, to cellphone ringtones and used for the autumn holiday Halloween. I doubt a single person here will not know it. Props to Bach for writing music so cool that even non-classical lovers still listen to it – 300 years later!
Michael Jackson had to be number one. This track was damned scary when it came out, and it is still damned scary (though perhaps for different reasons now). I am sure that no one will dispute this item’s placement as number one greatest halloween party song. Allow me to finish with a little inappropriate humor: do you know why Michael Jackson loves Halloween? Free delivery right to his door.
At Midnight (Pacific time) on Halloween (31st October), one commenter on this list will be selected at random to win a mug, shirt, or cap from the List Universe Store. In addition, the winner will receive an 8 GB iPod Nano (latest version) in any color of their choosing (most, but not all, colors are shown above)! The winner must be a registered user (registration is free and easy). As usual, comments must be related to the list and not designed just to increase the count or your chances of winning. Every comment is counted – so you can comment more than once. For those who can’t wait to get some merchandise, the store prices have now all been discounted! So be sure to check it out. All products sold at the List Universe Store are of a high quality. Shipping takes 7 – 11 days.
Notable Extras: Black Magic Woman (Santana), Psycho Killer (Talking Heads), The Stranger (Billy Joel), Legend of Wooley Swamp (Charles Daniels Band), Devil Woman (Cliff Richard), Frankenstein (Edgar Winter Group), Hells Bells (ACDC), Spooky (Steely Dan), Don’t Fear The Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult), Purple People Eater (Sheb Wooley)
Had a playlist with just about all of these at my last halloween party.
Am I first to comment? pays to stay up all night writing essays
Swebby: you are indeed! And are now in to win (presuming you have registered as a user!)
Yeah! Addams Family made the list! Thank-You!
jfrater: I am indeed a registered user, albeit quite a new one. Love the site by the way, many a hour has been whiled away on it.
Also, im shocked that Screamin Jay Hawkins – I Put a Spell on You didn’t even make the notable mentions.
Love the inclusion of O Fortuna. Beautiful song, and the use of Latin makes all the more eerier.
love #2 and #12
Oooh! I love a good 90% plus of the songs on this list! Really interesting, and nice, that you used the Marilyn Manson version of ‘This Is Halloween’. I’m partial to that version as well. And the Addams Family… Just watched Addams Family Values the other day. It rekindled my love of Wednesday’s character.
Gotta agree with Swebby though… Figured I’d see ‘I Put a Spell on You’ here. And I would have loved to see ‘Time Warp’ from Rocky Horror Picture Show make it. But I guess that might not be considered Halloween music.
I always thought that song that the children sings in Nightmare on St Elim Street was a chiller.
Wow!! this marks my first year as a ListVerser!! I think the 1st list i ever read here was Top 10 Geek Halloween Costumes!!
Speaking of Classics, Many a times I’ve heard people say that they find The Moonlight Sonata very creepy, but i don’t really think so, i find it very peaceful. i don’t know if anyone shares my view on it!! Also Bad Moon rising always makes me feel happy, not the lyrics part, just the music. And I’m glad to see that Hells Bells at least made it to notable mentions if not the actual list!!
Also, I think the MJ picture as the list title, is scarier than the songs on this list!!
I love thriller because Dave Chappelle loves it. Also every time I play charades I always do Ghostbusters
Thriller shouldnt be #1.Toccata and fugue in D minor should, But thats just my opinion.
I immediately thought “Monster Mash”!
13 – The Raven contains some words in addition to Poe, but it’s hard to tell. I set the whole poem to music about 5 years ago. I was reading about the APP album recently. I have another album of theirs and would like to explore more.
6 – Being a classical muso, I don’t think of O Fortuna as a Halloween song. If anything, I associate it with the movie “Excalibur”.
5 – I saw The Exorcist and didn’t understand any of it. I have the album, and know it too well in its own right. (“two slightly distorted guitars”) (There’s a story behind that voiceover, but I’ve forgotten what it is.)
3 – Bobby “Boris” Pickett died a year or two ago.
2- I know the organist!
PS The Raven happens “in the deep December”.
Ohhh, never heard the Marilyn Manson version of This is Halloween before, very cool.
sweet home alabama + werewolves of london = all summer long by kid rock.
The man has no creativity
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xpvdAJYvofI
Need that, This is Halloween
after all
Yay!An ipod!
Sadly,here in Singapore,we don’t celebrate halloween.We only celebrate big occasions like new year day…what a pity isn’t it?
Yeah,so it’s pretty much boring all year round:(
Ok,GREAT list anyway! =D
P.S I’ve never heard of all of the songs here(except for the ghostbuster one maybe)
Where’s The Cure???
Great list, thanks! I don’t think I would have been able to come up with even a quarter of these on my own.
Good list. This is Halloween is one of my favorite songs right now. I just made a halloween playlist a few days ago and here are a few songs I put on it: This is Halloween, Dragula by Rob Zombie, Dig up her Bones by the Misfits, Monster Mash (the original and by the Misfits), Monsters by Matchbox Romance, One by Metallica, I’m your boogie man by White Zombie, Halloween by the Misfits, What’s this? Original from the Nightmare Before Christmas and the remake by Fall Out Boy, and themes from movies like Ghostbusters, Halloween and Jaws.
Yay! I love the Monster Mash, didn’t know Marilyn MAnson did a version of This Is Halloween (though I’m not at all surprised) but then I did stop listening to them about 6 years ago. They lose their appeal very quickly. Glad to see White Zombie made it in, those guys are cool.
Sorry, but you just can’t have a halloween part without this one:
i’m so glad you made this list, my roommates and i are throwing a party, and didn’t even think of what music to play. this is great, and i’m sure to look at the suggestions the other commenters are making.
Needs more metal
Laaz Rocket — Leatherface
Motorhead —- Nightmare/The Dreamtime
Judas Priest —- Nightcrawler
Helloween —- Halloween
Wrathchild America —- Smothered Life
Armored Saint —- Human Vulture
Voivod — Astronomy Domine
Excellent, if cliche’d, list. For my $.02, Slipknot has some scary stuff too.
I loved the Adams family cartoons when I was a kid. I loved the little hand or what ever it was.
Can’t argue with thriller, best song on the list, all though ghostbusters is a personal favorite.
Oh yeah, the soundtrack to Suspiria by Goblin, that scared me more than the actual film.
I’m really suprised to see Alan Parson’s Project on here thats a good album. I think Oingo Boingo’s Dead Mans Party should be listed.
on the note of Michael Jackson, guess who doesn’t need to buy a costume ever?
I always thought the opening theme to Robot Chicken was kinda haunting, although with a lighter atmosphere.
I would suggest Super Freak by Rick James . . . if you want to have a rockin Halloween party, you have to include the original Freakman himself!!! Also, I totally agree that Thriller is #1 and agree with FilipinoKnight that Oingo Boingo’s Dead Man’s Party is a great choice!!! Their video of the song is great!!!
Would love an IPod . . . hopefully in PINK (please?)
“This Is Halloween” still gives me the creeps. You could proably include anything by Rammstein as well.
The Simpsons did a wicked “Raven” as part of a treehouse of horror special. I haven’t been able to find a clip, though. I think Fox’s lawyers got there first.
How about John Carpenter’s Halloween Theme? That music still freaks me out! Talk about haunting!
I gotta ask . . . the picture icon for this category–do it remind anyone of Michael Jackson?!!!! That pic is scary in and of itself!!!
I absolutely came into this thinking the monster mash would be the number one. Man, good times…Even thought we don’t celebrate halloween here, this list makes me wish we did.
Michael Jackson at number one!!!! WTF! come on…i think that “Hells Bells” should have made it on the list, not just honorable mention. And what about DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince – “Nightmare On My Street” or from the Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack – “The Time Warp” …both really good to liven up the party…and Rob Zombie – “Living Dead Girl” is really good for loud parties too.
I think some of the Prodigy songs from Fat of the Land Album would fit in nice too….i guess it all depends on your tastes in music.
I **KNEW** Monster Mash just had to be on here. But I’m truly surprised that more songs from Nightmare Before Christmas weren’t on here.
I def thought you would have some Nightmare before christmas songs on there, for a bonus you should’ve put that new Sobe commercial on there where the lizards are doing the thriller dance
ANother one that makes me think of Halloween is the Graceful Ghost Rag by William Bolcom.
Agree with the picture being the scariest thing!
Getting an Alan Parsons Project song on a Halloween list is pure genius.
If it weren’t for the Exorcist I bet you could pass off Tubular Bells as a Christmas song.
Its hard to believe the Thriller is only the second creepiest Micheal Jackson has ever been.
Fun list! I like seeing the Marilyn Manson cover on the Halloween song. That version is on another CD called Nightmare Revisited:
http://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Revisited/dp/B001AUKV08
Mein Gott! Someone actually thought it through and included a decent number of honorable mentions. The only way that it could’ve possibly been better is if “Halloween” by Stephen Lynch or “Fire” or “I Put A Spell On You” by Arthur Brown had made honorable mention. Other than my exceedingly high expectations, great job.
Can’t believe Bark Of The Moon didn’t make it further than 15
Nice to see Don’t Fear The Reaper got an honourable mention though
I am so glad to finally know the actual name of O Fortunata! Prior to this, I had no clue, though I loved the song.
And when I started reading the list there was another song that I was hoping would be on there, but now I have totally forgotten, I am such a scatter brain this week.
had to be thriller at number one but i have now got monster mash stuck in my head
I love Halloween!!!!
The best is the dance that goes with the Monster Mash, the Frankie (short for our favorite monster dude, of course).
This is how you do it:
-Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms straight out in front of you.
-Lift your right leg straight out in front of you and lift your right arm up.
-Put them down.
-Do the same with your left leg and arm.
-Put them down.
-Repeat.
(Yes, this was actually a dance.)
It’s not the song that I was originally thinking, but it is one that at least the beginning should be included.
It’s not the song that I was originally thinking, but it is one that at least the beginning should be included.
Beethoven’s Symphony #5 (movement 1)
one of my favourite lists
but why is mitternacht not in the list?
The fact that Thriller and the Manson version of This is Halloween made it onto the list makes me incredibly pleased. I love the Manson version of This is Halloween. And I distinctly remember my sister teaching me the dance moves to Thriller when I was a lot younger.
I have to agree with some previous commenters. I Put A Spell on You should be on this list somewhere.
AVE SATANI!
This is a great list. I like most of the songs on here. I saw Alice Cooper in concert on halloween one year, devils night another year and once on a friday the 13th. He always used to play the cool dates in Detroit.
I definitely agree with Thriller at number 1. The video totally puts you into Halloween spirit.
Another thing I remember is that Carmina Burana is a very popular tune for other artists to sample. I vaguely recall hearing parts of it in an Old Spice commercial as well as a bunch of songs through the years.
Well, I can say that some of these ( The Raven) are a little odd and unusual, but nice. I would add the following songs to my list:
“Shadow of the Moon” by Blackmoore’s Night
“Tooth & Claw” from the Killer Instinct soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HwsKxPq2xs)
“Night on Bald Mountain” by Modest Mussorsky.
“Love Potion No. 9″ by The Clovers
I will think of some other later. Great list, Jamie!
I do believe there would have been riots in the streets if Thriller wasn’t #1.
Oh, I also second anything by Danny Elfman- Oingo Boingo’s Dead Man Party is a song I recently got excited about. I kept hearing it at Six Flags and wanted to know who did that.