Halloween Music
...Broken Down into 5 Categories. You're Welcome.
“But the human urge to create such lists is fascinating. Why do we do it? It of course predates doing it for web clicks, and I’ve read convincing arguments that list-making is fueled by a vestigial hunter/gatherer instinct, feeding mankind’s need to tame chaos into order. We have a primal need to file things in their proper place, and lists scratch an itch in our DNA to impose some sense on things. Like manifest destiny, or maybe something closer to urban sprawl. Who knew that Letterboxd listicles were tied to something so deeply woven into our psyches?” - Phil Noble Jr. / Fangoria
I've been so busy this October that I haven't even been to a Spirit Halloween store yet, and that's just truly sad. I chalk it up to homework, actual work, gigs, general busyness of life and of course, the Dodgers, (you know, World Champs!) for my lack of Halloween preparation this year. So, since I haven’t done a listicle (see above quote about listicles) on Substack yet, I figured that considering all of the above, it may be an easy way to share my thoughts for this week's post, which is something that means a lot to me…Halloween Music. Yea, I know putting this out ON Halloween Day is a bit counterproductive, but hey, you can still use this next year!
Halloween music has many shapes, styles and colors, but I have distilled this into five boxes; Below is a playlist with five songs from 5 sub genres that fall under the umbrella “Halloween music” and if you put on any playlist, CD compilation or walk into any Party City or Spirit Halloween, you’ll hear a smattering of any of these five categories, guaranteed.
Please comment or message with your own picks! I’d love to add more to the list
Soundtrack Songs
Soundtrack songs might be the most obvious choice here as Halloween the holiday would not be the same without the theme from Halloween the film. For younger people, the music from Nightmare Before Christmas would fall into this as well. Because Halloween is such a visual holiday, it only makes sense that soundtrack songs would be as ubiquitous as they are. Without music from these films, they wouldn't be what they are and the fact that they stand the test of time as standalone songs, albeit seasonally, shows how important this music is to the holiday and the films they represent.
2. Songs That Aren’t About Halloween, But Get A Pass
Songs that aren't directly related to Halloween but somehow are October classics. This one's fun because you get to stretch your brain a little bit. Pop songs that are Halloween forward are few and far between, Thriller being the most overt, with Vincent Price's voice over, the iconic music video, the dance and even the name, it's a very Halloween song from its DNA. However, there are a lot of songs that have been co-opted by Halloween, or that people just decided over time that they belong during Halloween. It's a strange category and I would love to see if you have any other picks for this category. The criteria is it doesn't say Halloween or anything monster related, but it's rather conjures a mood which is likely why these songs become Halloween Classics every year.
3. Silly Songs
I don't know really what else to say except that these songs are silly, but how else can you celebrate Halloween without hearing about Purple People Eaters or doing the Monster Mash? Sure these are Dr Demento esque, Pre-Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band trifles, but the fact that they still exist and you still hear them has to mean something, right? Like mentioned above, Halloween is a visual medium and these songs tell a very visual story. I can visualize with the Purple People Eaters look like and I can definitely visualize what's going down at the Monster Mash. It sounds like a good time to me, I don't know about you.
Spoof Songs or Spoof Covers
This next category might fall under the silly songs category if you were to be a little more picky but there are a lot of songs that are parodies of classic songs but with Halloween lyrics or conversely genre swapping a classic song, for example, the Cumbia Drive cover of the Stranger Things theme. These add a new and fun and texture to Halloween playlists, which can be same-y. Yes, a lot of them are stuck in 1960s schtick, but hey, it's really funny to hear Dracula seeing a Beatles song about biting necks instead of holding hands so I will take creative liberty on this one
Spooky Surf
The last category might be more of a super niche thing but I've noticed as a fan of this particular music, that surf rock music and Halloween seem to go hand in hand. Since the 1990’s, bands like The Bomboras and The Ghastly Ones turned that beach-y laid back reverb drench into reverb dread. This isn’t particularly groundbreaking, as The Ventures had recorded spooky songs- included here- but there is definitely a spooky surf genre that in its own little niche world is very popular. I selfishly wanted to include a super obscure niche classic It’s Monster Surfing Time which arguably for me is one of my favorite album covers.
Yes, I'm using Spotify to use this playlist but like the Dead Kennedys said, “Give me convenience or give me death.” I would love to make subscribers a mixtape and mail them out and if I had the means and the time to do it I would, but I digress.
Enjoy this playlist in the next 12 to 24 hours or whenever you get this before Halloween is over and pin it until next year because guarantee these are songs that you will hear or want to hear come next October 1st.
Have a happy and safe Halloween talk to you next month.