From creepy classics to essential earworms
What’s that? You say you don’t have a mind-meltingly amazing playlist of the best Halloween songs for your shindig this year? Fear not! Our too-ghoul-for-school friends at Time Out New York have selected the best Halloween music ever recorded, including the pop hits from Michael Jackson, creepiness galore from Nick Cave and, of course, 'The Monster Mash'. In short? All 'Thriller', no filler.
Here's the top 20. Head online for our full roundup, as well as a pre-made Spotify playlist, to get you through the spooks.
1. Michael Jackson, 'Thriller'
2. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, 'I Put a Spell On You'
3. Donovan, 'Season of the Witch'
4. The Cramps, 'Surfin’ Dead'
These rockabilly goths were always a B-movie for your ears, so it was inevitable that Lux Interior and Poison Ivy would end up on the soundtrack to a campy slasher flick. In 1985, Return of the Living Dead popularized the notion of zombies chomping brains. In the movie, a bunch of punks battle the undead—but the Cramps have a hard time choosing a side. When Interior sings 'Run run run run!' it sounds just like a chainsaw itching to rip through necrobiotic flesh. But in the end, he makes it seem more fun to be one of the rotting.
5. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 'Time Warp'
6. The Specials, 'Ghost Town'
7. The Ramones, 'Pet Sematary'
Hard to believe the original Ramones are all dead. By 1989, the punks’ career was nearly six feet under. But this toe-tapping title track from a hit horror film, a bite-size Snickers with a metal shard inside, put the New Yawkers back on MTV, introducing a new generation to the leather-wrapped Phil Spector fanatics who looked like motorcycle zombies. If only Stephen King’s resurrecting graveyard were real – we miss these buffoons.
8. The X-Files (Terrestrial Mix)
Recently this iconic theme-song synth riff transcended from a well-known nostalgia artefact to a staple of modern meme culture. So despite these sounds being lifted from a beloved '90s TV show, it's all the more relevant for celebrating with millennial crowds this spooky season. And don't be mistaken – this isn't some orchestral party-pooper. This is the chart-topping trance remix written and released by the original composer in 1996. Expect it to bring every 'I want to believe-r' to the dancefloor.
9. Cerrone, 'Supernature'
10. Rockwell, 'Somebody’s Watching Me'
11. Mark Knight, 'Devil Walking'
12. The Misfits, 'Halloween'
13. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, 'Red Right Hand'
Of course, we could’ve put together an entire list of Nick Cave songs to score your Halloween shindig, but instead we're choosing Cave’s singularly most creepy cut. A smouldering slow-burner, 'Red Right Hand' appears on 1994’s Murder Ballads album and lifts its title from John Milton’s Paradise Lost epic poem – which refers to the supposedly vengeful hand of God. It’s been used in all three Scream movies, such is its spook-factor. Show off your vampiest moves on the dance floor as you shimmy along to its rumbling drums, clanging bells and Cave’s sinister lyrics.
14. Kanye West, 'Monster'
15. DJ Touche, 'Vampires'
Theo Keating, aka DJ Touché, is a guy who knows his horror. This cut is just one in a long list for someone who's had more than 20 years to rack up quite a few proverbial 'kills'. It’s the title track of his EP (alongside other funky frighteners 'Zombies' and 'Spectres') on Fatboy Slim’s Southern Fried Records.
16. Greenskeepers, 'Lotion'
If Silence of the Lamb’s Buffalo Bill made beats instead of flesh masks, he would have probably been super proud of the fanmade video to Chicago band Greenskeepers song 'Lotion', in which he appears to be singing along to the song detailing his exploits with his latest would-be victim.
17. Bauhaus, 'Bela Lugosi’s Dead'
Bela Lugosi died in 1956. Informing people of his demise in 1979 was strictly the concern of the most archetypal of goth bands, Bauhaus. Goth is a cocktail best served as equal parts glamour and nihilism. Singing about Dracula is metal. Singing about the Hungarian star of the silver screen who played him is goth. The ticking dirge was used fabulously in The Hunger, in the coolest opening sequence of ’80s cinema, a montage of sex, jump cuts, drugs and Bowie. At last, frontman Peter Murphy was a vampire in the movies.
18. Echo and the Bunnymen, 'People are Strange'
If you can’t commit a bit of sacrilege at Halloween, then when can you? We're choosing Echo and the Bunnymen’s 1987 version of this song over the Doors’ original, partly because this cover soundtracked cult ’80s vampire movie The Lost Boys (a Halloween must-see), but also because it kicks ass with its dramatic pauses, spooky piano flourishes and – oh! – that ending.
19. Art Department, 'Vampire Nightclub'
Art Department, which is now just No. 19 boss Jonny White going solo – but at the time also included Canadian house legend Kenny Glasgow – linked up with the ghost of Seth Troxler-past on 'vocals'. It's not until halfway through this face melter that it dawns on you that the title may be a double entendre that you’re not sure you completely get.
20. Mike Oldfield, 'Tubular Bells Part 1'
If you’re looking for something to set the mood, throw on this 1973 track and watch everyone’s hair stand on end. At least, everyone who’s seen The Exorcist. What could have been a beautiful orchestral piece is instead insidiously and inextricably tied to images of projectile vomit and bloody crucifix masturbation. Oh well, happy Halloween!
For the full playlist, hit 'Read more'.
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