Unique Halloween songs make for spooky listening this October

Every time I go to a Halloween party, I end up hearing the same five songs. I get why “Thriller” is a staple for spooky season—have you seen a picture of Michael Jackson later on in his life? That’s one guy I wouldn’t wanna run into after dark, let me tell you. But beyond MJ and the “Monster Mash,” the average American’s Halloween playlist is sorely lacking in diversity. If you ask me, that’s a crying shame.

As a self-declared expert in music, I’ve taken it upon myself to save this campus from mediocre Halloween playlists. Here’s a list of some of my favorite songs to break out each Halloween. Any discussion of Halloween music has to start with the Misfits. Not only were these guys one of the first punk rock bands to make it big, but they’re also highly skilled when it comes to writing creepy stuff.

Almost every single Misfits song is inspired by horror movies, monsters or any other flavor of creepy concepts. The band’s early 80’s stuff is pretty straightforward hardcore punk while the 90’s and beyond saw them taking a bit more of a heavy metal approach. “Saturday Night,” “Where Eagles Dare,” “20 Eyes,” “I Turned Into a Martian” and “Last Caress” are some of my favorites. The entire “Misfits” album, released in 1986 as a collection of the band’s best work, is solid from top to bottom.

If you want some more horrorinfused hardcore punk, I’d recommend The Cramps. They’re not quite as steeped in horror imagery. They’re a solid band nonetheless. Check out “Human Fly” and “Surfin’ Dead.” And while the Ramones tend to stay away from Halloween inspired imagery, they do have “Pet Sematary,” which is brilliant. If you’re a punk rock fan on Halloween, you’ve got a lot of options.

Movie soundtracks are another great place to look for seasonal music. One of the best Halloween movies of all time is “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” which is supported by an iconic soundtrack written by none other than Danny Elfman. I loved Elfman’s early band Oingo Boing, and I like the stuff he’s done since, so it’s always a treat to hear him perform. (While we’re on the topic, Oingo Boingo’s song “Dead Man’s Party” should be on everybody’s Halloween playlist.) But there’s another version of the soundtrack as well.

The original movie saw vocal performances from Elfman and the various voice actors behind each of the characters. But in 2008, Disney (who held the copyright for the movie and it’s soundtrack) issued “Nightmare Revisited”—a reimagining of the original soundtrack.

Basically, they got a bunch of 2000s rock and metal bands to re-record every song in the movie. Korn, Rise Against, the All American Rejects, Amy Lee—it’s all here. This project wasn’t limited to simply re-recording vocals karoke style either—all of the songs were completely rearranged and they rock much harder now. I find it to be more spooky, more aesthetically fitting and just generally more fun to listen to overall. If you ever want to hear a Heavy Metal version of “This Is Halloween,” I highly recommend Nightmare Revisited.

There’s some other movie classics you could include as well. “The Ghostbusters” theme has been played to death, but there’s a little known fact about it – it’s stolen. The song “I Want a New Drug” by Huey Lewis and the News was originally intended to be in the Ghostbusters, soundtrack, but Mr. Lewis refused to sign off on it.

The filmmakers then asked Ray Parker Jr. to write a song “inspired” by “I Want a New Drug” – resulting in a song so similar that a lawsuit was filed. “I Want a New Drug” doesn’t have much to do with Halloween on it’s own, but if you’re sick of hearing the Ghostbusters theme every October, go ahead and switch the two. No one’s gonna notice, and you’ll be able to give your ears a break for once.

Rap has a lot of great Halloween songs, too. Outkast has “Dracula’s Wedding,” Ice Cube has “Dr. Frankenstein” and Eminem has a dozen or so songs about wanting to kill his ex-wife. (That’s a different kind of horror, but disturbing nonetheless.) Horrorcore is actually an entire genre within hip-hop, if you want to do some digging. Much like punk fans, I expect rap enthusiasts to have a blast this season.

Another genre ripe with spookiness is the blues. Robert Johnson wrote a number of haunting songs, to the point where rumors began to circulate that he had sold his soul to the devil for musical talent. Him writing a song called “Me and the Devil Blues” probably did little to help dispel those rumors. Much of his music, while not containing themes traditionally associated with horror, has a melancholy and unsettling vibe that could be fit for the season.

“Hellhound On My Trail” and “Cross Road Blues” in particular could fit snugly into a Halloween playlist. Other good choices include Albert King’s “Born Under a Bad Sign” and “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” originally from Muddy Waters and brought back into pop culture by Nirvana’s acoustic version. You know, speaking of Nirvana, grunge has some great options as well. I feel like all of the big 90s grunge bands are at least somewhat Halloween-appropriate.

A couple of Nirvana’s lesser-known tracks like “You Know You’re Right” and “Clean Up Before She Comes,” alongside some of their album cuts like “Something In the Way,” “Floyd the Barber” and “Endless, Nameless” are pretty spooky. Beyond them and the other big grunge bands (Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains) you have some lesserknown bands like Silver chair with their song “Freak” that might fit the mood. You can keep digging and find a ton of grunge bands just waiting to fill up your October playlists.

Most of these songs are the fun kind of scary. Maybe it’s time for a song that’s not so fun. I remember years ago reading Rolling Stone magazine and, in one article, they stated the scariest song of all time was “Frankie Teardrop.” Out of curiosity, I listened to the song. This was not one of my better decisions. Many of the songs I’ve included on this list would be very unfit for a party. But I can say with confidence that “Frankie Teardrop” is probably the least appropriate out of all of them.

The only reason you should play this one in front of other people is if you want them to leave. Having said that, it is sort of a rite of passage for brave music fans to suffer through this one. It’s ten minutes long and features spoken word over sparse instruments, telling a story about the titular Frankie and his struggles with life.

I’m not one for spoilers but I’ll say it right now: This isn’t a story with a happy ending. If you want something to truly unsettle you this Halloween, “Franke Teardrop” is waiting for you. But of course, out of all the Halloween songs out there, there’s one scarier then all the rest. A song that makes “Frankie Teardrop” look like a Beatles tune. A song that strikes fear into the hearts of men, women and children alike without exception. And that song is “Piano Man.” Not because of the song itself, but because of what happens when people hear the song.

If you know, you know. If you want to see horrors you will truly never forget, “Piano Man” is your best bet. Listen at your own risk.