Music: A Halloween Soundtrack

Every time December rolls around, there's enough Christmas carols and holiday pop songs to fill up days and days worth of airtime. Not surprisingly, there are a lot fewer Halloween songs out there. The ones that do exist, though, are pretty good. Here are a few of the tracks I'll be playing to set the mood for those who make their way to my doorstep:

Thriller, Michael Jackson

Unless you were living on Pluto, you probably heard that the King of Pop passed away over the summer. "Thriller" is not only Jackson's most famous music video, but also a perfect Halloween song - the thumping groove makes it perfect for dancing, while the Vincent Price narration adds an appropriate touch of creepiness. This is actually one of the few megahits that Jackson did not write himself - "Thriller" was written by Rod Temperton.

Monster Mash, Bobby (Boris) Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers

This song has become a Halloween favorite, and I've blogged about it before. It's been covered by a lot of musical acts, with the most famous one coming from punk band "The Misfits":



Night on Bald Mountain, Modest Mussorgsky



Along with Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, this classical composition is associated with the occult because of its use in popular culture. Anyone who's ever seen "Fantasia" associates the screeching, whirlwind orchestral cues with the resurrection of ghosts by an enormous demon, Chernabog. Mussorgsky himself attributed to the composition various fun images, including a witches' sabbath and St. John's Eve.

Purple People Eater, Sheb Wooley

Another silly song that briefly rocketed to the top of the Billboard charts. While it wasn't actually released in October, "Purple People Eater" has gone on to become a staple Halloween song (When else would you play it? Easter?), especially for schoolchildren. The fun refrain ("one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater") is catchy and easy to dance to, while simultaneously evoking some '50s B-movie monster.

Theme from Halloween, John Carpenter

Horror movies, even good ones, generally don't have very strong scores. "Night of the Living Dead," for instance, didn't have an original soundtrack, and even more modern movies like "Scream" or "Final Destination" sport forgettable music. A happy exception is the main theme from "Halloween," performed and written (mostly) by the director John Carpenter. It's chilling and memorable because of its simplicity, which matches the singular homicidal drive of silent boogieman Michael Myers: