25 of my favorite Halloween Songs

[Ozzymandias]

25 of my Favorite Halloween Songs


1. Monster Mash – Bobby B. Pickett
2. Dinner With Drac – John Zacherle
3. Til The Following Night – Screaming Lord Sutch
4. Bark at the Moon – Ozzy Osbourne
5. Don’t Fear The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
6. Bela Lugosi’s Dead - Bauhaus
7. Children of the Grave – Black Sabbath
8. Creature with The Atom Brain – Roky Erikson
9. Season of the Witch – Donavon
10. Welcome to My Nightmare - Alice Cooper
11. Frankenstein – Edgar Winter Group
12. Black Magic Women – Santana
13. She’s Fallen In Love with a Monster Man – Screaming Lord Sutch
14. She’s My Witch – Kip Tyler
15. The Voodoo Walk - Sonny Richard’s Panics (with Cindy and Lindy)
16. Purple People Eater – Sheb Wooley
17. The Midnight Stroll – The Revells
18. Vampire Rock and Roll – Fabulous Poodles
19. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These) – Marilyn Manson
20. Spooky – Atlanta Rhythm Section
21. Thriller – Michael Jackson
22. Red Right Hand – Nick Cave
23. Witch Queen of New Orleans – Redbone
24. Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein or Dracula – the Diamonds
25. Boris the Spider – The Who

There are others and these really aren't in a particular order.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Very good, ozzy. Several of my favorites are on your list. If I may, add on to your list,  a dozen more of my favorites for next Halloween.

26, The Devil Went Down to Georgia
27. Dry Bones
28. Ghostbusters
29. The Haunted House
30. I Put a Spell on You
31. Night on Bald Mountain
32. Theme from "Dr. Who"
33. They're Coming to Take Me Away, ha-haaa!
34. The Time Warp
35. Werewolves of London
36. Wild Thing
37. Witch Doctor

[Scott]

The only ones I thought should be added

Godzilla (Blue Oyster Cult)
Halloween (Carpenter)

The ones already picked that I like are:

Bark at the Moon (Ozzy)
Monster Mash
Thriller (Jackson)
Purple People Eater
Ghostbusters
The Time Warp
The Devil Went Down to Georgia (Daniels)
They're Coming to Take Me Away, ha-haaa! (good one BoyScoutKevin)

Here are the lyric to Godzilla:

With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound
He pulls the spitting high tension wires down

Helpless people on a subway train
Scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them

He picks up a bus and he throws it back down
As he wades through the buildings toward the center of town

Oh no, they say hes got to go
Go go godzilla, yeah
Oh no, there goes tokyo
Go go godzilla, yeah

Rinji news o moshiagemasu!
Rinji news o moshiagemasu!
Godzilla ga ginza hoomen e mukatte imasu!
Daishkyu hinan s**te kudasai!
Daishkyu hinan s**te kudasai!

Oh no, they say hes got to go
Go go godzilla, yeah
Oh no, there goes tokyo
Go go godzilla, yeah

History shows again and again
How nature points up the folly of men
Godzilla!

[Yaddo 42]

Big Screamin' Jay Hawkins fan here, I'm always glad "I Put a Spell on You" gets played at Halloween time, but he has lots of other stuff that works for the season:

Little Demon
Alligator Wine
Feast of the Mau Mau
I Hear Voices
(She Put The) Wamee (On Me)
There's Something Wrong with You
Constipation Blues
Even his covers of popular songs often work, the man's voice was made for the season, that deep voice combined with the grunts, groans, snorts, howls, etc.

How about Tom Lehrer:
Poisoning Pigeon in the Park
The Masochism Tango
Oedipus Rex
There must be more by him I only know a few songs

Warren Zevon, besides "Werewolves":
Excitable Boy
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
Things to do in Denver When Your Dead (yes they got the movie title from the song)
Mr Bad Example
Rottweiler Blues

Loudon Wainwright III:
Dead Skunk
Clockwork Chartreuse (Like I tell people, it's the cutest song about a guy trying get his buddy to go on a killing spree you'll ever hear.)

And every song on Dr. John's album "Gris Gris"

For pure creepiness the Tangerine Dream soundtrack to "Sorceror"

[ulthar]

These are good lists.

I would add at least one Iron Maiden song - such as Number of the Beast which Steve Harris claims was written based on a nightmare he actually had.  I really like Two Minutes to Midnight, with it's dark imagery ("body bags and little rags of children torn in two"...geeesh), but it is not really a Halloween theme.

[zombie no.one]

dead kennedys - "halloween"
gravediggaz - "6 feet deep"
whoodini - "haunted house of rock"

[Ozzymandias]

Ozzymandias speaks: Wow! This topic was almost dead and came back to life in one day. I only picked 25 because of time limitations. "Alligator Wine" and "Feast of the Mau Mau" are great picks. I THOUGHT I had "Godzilla" on there, maybe not. A friend of mine pointed out "Dragula" by Rob Zombie wasn't on there. If I picked an Iron Maiden song it would be "Still Life" maybe others. I would choose "Dry Bones" by the Four Preps because that is probably the one used in the final episode of the Prisoner.

I left off classical and movie themes on purpose. I almost put Artie Shaw's "Nightmare," Ozzie Nelson's "Old Man Mose Is Dead" and Buck Owens "Monster's Holliday."

I'm considering writing a book on this subject. Do you guys think it would be worth the time and effort?

Ozzymandias has spoken!!!

[ulthar]

Ozzymandias Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
 
> I'm considering writing a book on this subject. Do
> you guys think it would be worth the time and
> effort?

What would be the book? Certainly more than just a list of Halloween themed songs, right?

[LilCerberus]

I've always felt that the first three songs on Chronic Town by REM had a kinda creepy feel to them, albeit I've never been able to figure out what Micheal Stipe is saying.

The Cramps tend to come out with some pretty amusing tributes to Halloween & classic baddies, although the lyrics sound more like a drunken contruction worker "complimenting" every woman he sees, but songs like Bikini Girls With Machine Guns, or Human Fly are still kinda catchy.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Yes, I for one would like to see a book on Halloween songs. And if you do write the book, ozzy, maybe Andrew will let you flog it here on this site.

I thought of adding "Dead Skunk" to my list of favorite Halloween songs, as it is one of my favorite novelty songs, but I didn"t know whether it would fit under the category of Halloween. Apparently, it does, as Halloween seems to be a broad enough category, you can fit almost any song under the category.

And Scott, have you ever heard the flip side of  "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!?"
Apparently, it is the same song, but played backwards. While I never have heard it, it is said, that when it is played, it has been known to clear out buildings in record time.

[Yaddo 42]

I tend to define pop culture lists broadly anyway since people tend to bring a more interesting group of choices. Makes me want to explore the stuff they bring up I haven't heard. Hopefully it works both ways.

I figure "Dead Skunk" works as a novelty song but also since it's a little morbid and in self-aware bad taste, both qualities that come out at Halloween. Plus I can only listen to Monster Mash and Thriller so many times.

Is "Witch Queen of New Orleans" the same song as "Marie LaVeau" by Bobby Bare? If not there's another song I'd recommend.

[Ozzymandias]

Ozzymandias speaks: It would deal with the origins of the songs and information about the artist. Marie Laveau was a real person, but the songs by Redbone and Bobby Bare are different.

Ozzymandias has spoken!!!

[ulthar]

Yes, I agree.  It would be a good idea for a book.

[Scott]

I only remember my father telling me how controversial the song was and that they had to take it off the shelves because people were literally going crazy listening to it.

[Scott]

Hear is a video on youtube.com that plays the Blue Oyster Cults song along with a montage of Godzilla clips.

GODZILLA	Small | Large