Nerdist

13 Required Songs For Your Halloween Party Playlist (and Their Refreshingly Spooky Alternatives)

by Becca Gleason on October 21, 2011

This post is not an outcome of laziness, I promise you that. This is merely me taking ownership of some musical ignorance. I know nothing about Halloween music. There. Luckily, I know the self-dubbed “Commissioner of Halloween,” Abel Charrow, a dear friend who diagnosed me with my Halloween-shame-itis.  After verbally assulting my cultural anomaly, I suggested he put together a Nerdist Halloween playlist.  And so he did.

I’m on temporary probation from blogging and friendship because of this infraction. But I couldn’t let October end without giving the gift of spoooookey music. Take it away, Commissioner!

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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?”  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.

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.

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.

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!