Music to Haunt By

Mwah ha ha ha ha! Halloween is just around the corner and I have been creating a monstrous playlist of spooky, funny songs to play for Trick or Treat night! There are a lot of lists out there on the interwebs, but most of the ones I saw had maybe ten songs on them, and many were the same few songs suggested over and over. So, I created my own. Mwah ha ha ha ha! It's alive!! It's alive!! *cough cough* ahem. Sorry about that. I get carried away sometimes.



I'll group them by type, so you can pick the kind of songs you are most interested in. All of these were available from ITunes.




SCARY HALLOWEEN SOUNDTRACKS:



Some of them are no-brainers. Halloween, Friday the Thirteenth, Nightmare on Elm Street- you can find the main themes to these songs easily on ITunes. But there are others you may not have thought of that are also fantastic,



X-Files, The Walking Dead, The Exorcist, Psycho, Coraline, and the Twilight Zone, and even the theme from the TV show, Goosebumps are all songs that I have added to my list. They really help set that spooky tone, since most people have seen and were scared by these films or shows. Often you want the main theme song, or the opening credits- whatever is most recognizable. But sometimes the most remarkable song isn't the main theme. From The Omen, I chose the haunting "Ave Satani" which features the choir singing in Latin, and from Nightmare on Elm Street, I also picked the song "Jump Rope"- where the children sing that beautifully creepy nursery rhyme- "One, Two Freddy's coming for you..." Whew! Gives me the shivers!



FUNNY SOUNDTRACKS:



A little bit spooky, but mostly just fun. I love to include the main themes from The Addams Family and The Munsters. From The Nightmare Before Christmas, I love "This is Halloween" and "Oogie Boogie's Song." From Rocky Horror Picture Show- I choose "Time Warp" and "Science Fiction/Double Feature." And I add the themes from Edward Scissorhands, Ghostbusters, and the opening credits from Beetlejuice. I also adore the songs from Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog- "Slipping" and "Brand New Day" to add that mad scientist vibe to the whole thing.



I also love to include songs from old Disney specials if I can find them. One of my all-time favorites is the song, "Headless Horseman" from the cartoon, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. There is a version sung by Kay Starr that is just heavenly. (Or should that be devilish?) Also, you may be familiar with the song "Grim, Grinning Ghosts" from the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. I have found that on ITunes as well, and I love having it in my playlist. You could also include "Cruella DeVil," from 101 Dalmations.



CLASSICAL SONGS:



Well, probably the most recognizable will be "Toccata and Fugue", by Bach, and then "Night on Bald Mountain," by Mussorgsky, (featured in Fantasia). But don't forget about other hauntingly beautiful works like: The Planets, "Op. 32, No.1 Mars, the Bringer of War," by Holst,"In the Hall of the Mountain King," by Grieg, from Peter Gynt, and "O Fortuna," by Orff, from Carmina Burana.

Seriously...I can't hear that without getting chills.



PLAIN OLD FUN SONGS:



First of all, in this category you can include all of those great oldies hits, like "Monster Mash", "Love Potion #9", "Purple People Eater","Witchy Woman", and of course, "Thriller." You simply cannot make a Halloween playlist without that one. I also add "Boris the Spider" by The Who, "Somebody's Watching Me," by Rockwell, and "The Boogie Monster," by Gnarls Barkley.



Then, add songs from some lesser-known artists. A great one for Halloween is a band called Creature Feature. They have whole albums just full of great creepy songs. I have added "A Gorey Demise," "Mommy's Little Monsters," and "The Greatest Show Unearthed" to my list, but there are loads of songs to pick from, so give them a listen.



Comedian, Heywood Banks has a great Halloween song, called..."Halloween." Fitting, huh? It is a lament about modern day celebrations, like mall trick or treating, parents checking kids' candy, and other annoyances. Very funny.

And one of my new favorites is a song by Jonathan Coulton, called "Re: Your Brains." It's a heartfelt song from the zombies point of view.

(Warning: Cartoon Violence)

So, that's my really big list of Halloween songs. I hope it helps you get into the spirit...Get it, spirit? Mwah ha ha ha ha! Sorry, I just love this holiday a little too much maybe.Happy listening!
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