Who doesn’t love music? It’s a sure-fire way of bringing life to any Halloween party, but you can’t just play any kind. It’s gotta be the right kind. It needs to be about something Halloween or horror-related, and it’s gotta be awesome. It can even be right from horror films, which gives this whole concept bonus points.

No matter where it’s from, it’s just gotta be about something that fits with the spirit of the holiday. There are a lot of popular go-to choices, and then there’s lesser-known stuff that probably isn’t played as much at parties. The popular songs are great and all, but it’s fun to look at other ones out there.

No need to hesitate, let’s jump right in!

David Bowie – Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

Oh yeah! Can’t go wrong with David Bowie. His music lives on for good reason, it’s simply awesome and you can’t resist bopping your head to it. This one’s great for any time of the year, but is perfect at Halloween parties for obvious reasons. I love how the “Ohhhhhs” at the end sound like ghoul sounds. It’s a nice little touch in an already good song.

It’s rockin’, it’s catchy, has a killer beat, and is overall good fun. Get your dance on!

Warren Zevon – Werewolves in London

One of Warren Zevon’s best-known songs! This is a perfect one to help unleash your inner animal as you get your dance on. The lyrics make it impossible to resist singing along, and I love that he references the wolfman himself, Lon Chaney Jr. It’s only fitting and that must make any fan of werewolves proud. Warren was a very talented musician and singer, and it’s not hard to see why.

If feel that if you really wanna get into it, you have to howl as it plays. How many do that while listening to this? Let’s hope a lot of you howl. I’ll get ya started… AWROOOO!

Alice Cooper – He’s Back (“The Man Behind the Mask”)

You know how much I love Friday the 13th, so I had to include this one. It’s easily one of my all-time favourite songs from the franchise. Some of the other films have songs too (Part IV: The Final Chapter has good ones), but this one is, in my opinion, the best one. It even appeared in the recent video game, so it’s nice seeing that it’s still getting some love.

Random Trivia: Because of the way that Alice Cooper sings this and utilizes the famous “Ki-ki-ki Ma-ma-ma” sound from the films, a lot of people hear it as “Cha-cha-cha,” and then they say it like that, and it makes me wanna show them what Jason does to people in sleeping bags.

Kidding of course, I’d just toss a box of plastic utensils at their forehead.

Lion – Love is a Lie

Eh what the hell… here’s another song from the Friday the 13th franchise. This is the song that plays when Crispin Glover does his crazy little dance. He originally danced to AC/DC’s song “Back in Black” on the set, but they ended up going with Lion’s song. I really like it, and of course it makes me wanna do the Crispin Glover dance.

Then if someone turns off the music, I’ll say, “Hey you, get your damn hands off of her!” just to confuse them.

Dokken – Dream Warriors

Aw yeah! More music from movies. If you want more heavy metal, this one’s for you. Dokken is one of my favourite heavy metal bands, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is easily one of my favourite installments in the franchise, so it only makes sense that this song makes the list. A couple of the other films have good music too, but this is the one that takes the cake.

It has everything I love about 80’s metal, and the fact it was made for the movie is extra icing on an already delicious… dang it now I want cake. Do ya suppose Freddy will have some for me in the dream world?

Rocky Horror Picture Show Music!

It’s not cheating to say that every song from The Rocky Horror Picture Show counts. It’s not lazy for me to just throw in a playlist of it and say, “All of ’em are great, so play all of ’em.” And it’s especially not a quick way of bringing in likes and other social media interactions from fans of the cult-favourite sensation.

…maybe it is, but anyway the whole soundtrack is amazing. It’s really hard to choose just one song, as they’re all insanely catchy and wildly fun to sing. If I were to name some of my favourites, they’d definitely be Sword of Damocles, Eddie, The Time Warp, and Dammit Janet. I haven’t gone to one of those showings where everyone acts out the movie and sings along, but knowing how carried I get away with music, it only seems right to attend one sometime. It’s on my bucket list for sure.

Channel your inner Tim Curry and get yer groove on!

Bobby Pickett – The Monster Mash

Yeah now we’re going into the more obvious popular go-to songs. This one’s a classic! You gotta love how the singer handles the lyrics with a Bela Lugosi-like voice. Many people know this one, so it’s fun to reference it whenever possible. If someone’s having a conversation with you and says mash, smash, flash, or any variations, just work the lyrics into a response and see if they play along. No really, try it. It’s fun.

Anyway, this is always a good song to listen to. The fact this is an older song also gives it a nice nostalgic feel that takes you back, and yet also feels timeless. Mash on!

Michael Jackson – Thriller

Yeah, this one is always on the best-of lists, but it’s a must. Widely considered one of MJ’s best songs, it has become a true classic. The music video is legendary and is actually one of the first I ever saw as a kid. The fact that it pops up in other movies and TV shows only furthers its status as an always-required song for Halloween parties. The fact it has Vincent Price rapping makes it even better. His laugh at the end is perfect and always brings a smile to my face.

And of course, when you play this song at a party… you better have several people in zombie costumes ready to do the dance. Just sayin’.

Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters

Yeah yeah, another one that’s always everywhere and blah blah blah, I ain’t afraid of no ghost et cetera et cetera. Look, I have to have it on the list or else Vins Clortho, Keymaster of Gozer, will come over here and pound me on the head with a coffee pot. I don’t even drink coffee anymore dangit! Can’t a guy just write this blog entry in peace?

So anyway, this is a must-have just like Thriller. A Halloween party just wouldn’t feel right if it didn’t have the Ghostbusters song. It’s always nice seeing it appear in other media too. The way that it appeared in Stranger Things season 2 is one of my favourite uses of the song.

Do you want some Ghostbusters? Yes, have some!

The Addams Family (Opening Theme)

Nothing wrong with having a TV theme on here! It may not be a pop or dance song, but that doesn’t stop me from swaying my head and snapping my fingers along. It has a cartoonish feel that really adds to the charm. Listening to it always makes me wanna dress up like Gomez and play with toy trains.

That actually sounds like a good hobby. I may have to try it sometime.

Danny Elfman – This Is Halloween

This is Halloween! That’s kind of a ballsy title in a way. For a song to just come into pop culture and be like, “Yo, hold my beer… THIS is Halloween,” is crazy. But man does the song live up to that title.

In my opinion, this song captures everything about the holiday perfectly. Danny Elfman did an incredible job with all the music in Nightmare Before Christmas, but this song is definitely the one I think of the most. It’s spooky but playful, has a hint of being mischievous, and it never fails to get me and many others excited for Halloween. Hail to the Pumpkin King and celebrate!

I hope you all enjoyed the music. There are definitely more out there, but this entry’s already packed and I’d love to save some for next year. If there are some songs not on the list that you know of, please mention them in the comments. I’d be happy to check it out!

Until next time… hey, whatever did happen to that Transylvania Twist?

Oh! Here it is. Silly me 🙂