Ah, Halloween. For those who start dreaming of filling their home with jack-o-lanterns and faux spiderwebs in July, it's the most wonderful time of the year. It's the time our Wednesday Addams-inspired wardrobe is in style (as if it ever wasn't on trend) and when it's deemed perfectly acceptable to eat your weight in Reese's peanut butter cups and candy corn while binging the Michael Myers franchise. But while it's the season of spooky flicks and tasty treats, the music of Halloween doesn't always get the love it deserves. Sure, there's the "Monster Mash," the novelty smash that's nearly as inescapable in the month of October as "Jingle Bells" is post-Thanksgiving. But what about all the other eerie songs about mad monster parties, dead men's parties and werewolves — of both the teenage and London variety?
If you're looking to add to your Halloween party playlist, we've rounded up 20 Halloween songs every ghoul will love.
"Monster Mash," Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers
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"Monster Mash" came to be thanks to singer Bobby Pickett's penchant for doing a Boris Karloff impression while performing with his band the Cordials. The audience loved it and inspired Pickett and fellow Cordial Lenny Capizzi to write the "Monster Mash," inspired by the then-trendy Mashed Potato dance craze. It went on to become a number one hit in October of 1962 and has remained a perennial Halloween favorite ever since. Ironically, the song doesn't even mention Halloween at all!
"Ghostbusters," Ray Parker Jr.
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The theme from the movie "Ghostbusters" is impossible to avoid come October (and who would want to avoid such a classic singalong favorite?) However, it was originally released in June of 1984 along with the hit movie, which became the then-highest grossest comedy of all time. Parker had a hard time coming up with lyrics for the song until he was inspired by a late-night commercial for a local business, which became the basis for the now-famous question "Who ya gonna call?" The song went to number one on the Billboard charts and was nominated for an Academy Award.
"I Put A Spell On You," Screamin' Jay Hawkins
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This eerie song, complete with shrieks and groans, is a straight up rock and roll and blues classic as well as a Halloween favorite. It's been covered many times but nothing beats the original. Released in 1956, some radio stations banned the tune but that just gave it more notoriety. Hawkins went on to capitalize on the song's mood by kicking off live performances rising from a coffin amid smoke and fog dressed in a cape — pure Dracula-core!
"Thriller," Michael Jackson
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Speaking of movie monsters, who could ever forget horror legend Vincent Price's iconic monologue at the end of the song that warns any listeners "without the soul for getting down must stand and face the hounds of Hell"? Better start practicing your zombie dance moves now! This is yet another Halloween fav that didn't actually come out in October. It was released in January 1984 as the final single from the album Thriller, which remains the best-selling album of all time.
"Dead Man's Party," Oingo Boingo
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Another scare-themed song made to get people moving and grooving, this bouncy new-wave classic was written by Oingo Boingo frontman Danny Elfman and released in 1986. The song's protagonist proclaims he's "going to a party where no one's still alive." Oingo Boingo played the song live in a frat party scene in the Rodney Dangerfield comedy "Back To School" because the '80s were a strange time. Elfman went on to write the theme to The Simpsons as well as numerous songs and scores for Tim Burton movies, including The Nightmare Before Christmas.
"This Is Halloween," The Cast of The Nightmare Before Christmas
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Speaking of Danny Elfman and The Nightmare Before Christmas it doesn't get much more seasonal than "This Is Halloween," which features vocals from not only Elfman himself but also Catherine O'Hara, proving that the Schitt's Creek and Best In Show actress can truly do anything. The movie and its scary yet sweet soundtrack remains wildly popular nearly 30 years after its original release. Elfman heads an annual Halloween concert in which the score and songs are performed live as the movie is projected behind the musicians.
"Mad Monster Party," Ethel Ennis
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The Rankin/Bass company is best known for its animated Christmas specials like The Year Without a Santa Claus, but have you heard of their 1967 Halloween cult classic Mad Monster Party? Baron Boris Von Frankenstein (voiced by Boris Karloff himself) plans to retire as president of the Worldwide Organization of Monsters and summons Dracula, the Werewolf, and the rest of the gang to his Isle of Evil. Shades of "Monster Mash" are probably intentional. The slinky theme song by jazz chanteuse Ethel Ennis is delightfully haunting.
"Halloween," Misfits
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Extremely literal, extremely effective. Glenn Danzig has spent a lifetime writing and recording songs with themes of spookiness and it all started with his horror punk band Misfits. Danzig released the song on his own Plan 9 record label on October 31, 1981, appropriately. It starts out with the singer's memories of Halloween bonfires and pumpkin faces and gets decidedly more scary and creepy as the song goes on. Danzig apparently loves Halloween so much that he named his next band, Samhain, after the ancient Celtic festival that inspired the modern holiday.
"I Was A Teenage Werewolf," The Cramps
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Speaking of horror punk, it doesn't get much more iconic or fun than genre pioneers the Cramps. Led by husband and wife duo Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, the band formed in 1976 in Sacramento, California and relocated to New York where they created the subgenre of "psychobilly" — rockabilly, punk, and horror themes mashed up into one freaky package. "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" starts out with the protagonist noting he has "braces on my fangs" and just gets funnier and weirder from there.
"Goo Goo Muck," The Cramps
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Another example of the Cramps' commitment to B-movie tropes, the titular "Goo Goo Muck" is also a teenager, in this case one who cruises the city looking for something (someone?) to eat. The fabulously creepy song was originally released by Ronnie Cook & the Gaylads in 1962. It was a flop and remained buried until the Cramps unearthed it in 1981. Over 40 years later, it became a popular meme after it was featured in a dance scene performed by Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams.
"Bloody Mary," Lady Gaga
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Wednesday gave more than one scary song a second life. After videos of the "Goo Goo Muck" dance went viral, the internet responded by re-editing them with a soundtrack of a sped up version of this darkly gothic song from the 2011 Lady Gaga album Born This Way. Gaga herself got in on the fun and made her own video in which she copied the Wednesday dance and the song was re-released as a single. The song is actually a tribute to the Biblical figure Mary Magdalene whom Gaga called "the ultimate rockstar's girlfriend."
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper," Blue Oyster Cult
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At this point, Blue Oyster Cult's signature song originally released in 1976 is perhaps best known for the hilarious "More Cowbell" sketch from Saturday Night Live, so if you're looking for a real mood-lifting crowd pleaser that's also about facing the inevitability of death bravely, well, you're in luck! The song still packs a chilling punch despite its modern status as a comedic touchstone, hence its use in the book and both television adaptations of The Stand as well as the horror movies Halloween and X.
"Dragula," Rob Zombie
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Rob Zombie has been following in Alice Cooper's unearthly footsteps for decades; his first solo single was actually a duet with Cooper. Before that, his metal band White Zombie broadcast their obvious love for campy horror with album titles like "Make Them Die Slowly" and "La Sexorcista: Devil Music Volume One." His solo single "Dragula," released in 1998 as a tribute to Grandpa Munster's dragster on The Munsters, remains a grimy good time and even features a sample of horror icon Christopher Lee intoning "Superstition, fear and jealousy."
"(Ghost) Riders In The Sky," Johnny Cash
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Actor and musician Stan Jones wrote this song in 1948. He was inspired to do so by a Native American story he heard as a child of a man who looks up and sees red-eyed cattle stampeding across the sky, chased by the spirits of eternally damned cowboys. Countless cover versions followed but the Johnny Cash one is arguably the standard, thanks to his signature deadpan delivery and unmistakable deep baritone voice. Like Alice Cooper, Cash, too, performed a version on The Muppet Show.
"The Dead Don't Die," Sturgill Simpson
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Not only is this song the theme to the 2019 Jim Jarmusch zombie movie of the same name, but Sturgill Simpson himself made a cameo appearance in said movie as "Guitar Zombie." It doesn't get much more bona fide than that. According to the lyrics, the dead actually "walk around us all the time, never payin' any mind to the silly lives we lead." It's unclear if the dead are actually ghosts or zombies here, but if that's not a debate made for the Halloween season, I don't know what is.
"Haunted," Taylor Swift
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Taylor Swift's "Haunted" from Speak Now (Taylor's Version) isn't about a haunted house — at least not in the traditional sense. Rather it's about being haunted by the realization that a relationship is nearing its end. At the end of the day, what's scarier that memories of your ex? No matter your relationship status — this is the perfect song to sing at the top of your lungs with your besties.
"Howlin' At The Moon," Hank Williams
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Hank Williams was no stranger to scary songs. In "Howlin' At The Moon," Williams is so in love that he's turned into...a werewolf? It's a little unclear because sure, he's "chasin' rabbits, walkin' on his hands, and howlin' at the moon" but he's also eating his steak with a spoon and trying to fuel up his horse at a gas pump. At any rate, you can howl along with the chorus and that's all that matters.
"Spooky," Classics IV
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Another song about romance, but this time it's the object of the singer's affection who is, well, spooky. This song started out as an instrumental written and performed by saxophonist Mike Sharpe and was a mild hit in 1967. Later that year, Classics IV released their version, which went to No. 3 on the Billboard charts. It features lyrics about a "spooky little girl" who has the narrator in such a state that he decides to "propose on Halloween." Very romantic!
"(It's A) Monster's Holiday," Buck Owens
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No one did a novelty song quite like country cut-up Buck Owens and "It's A Monster's Holiday" is his unforgettable contribution to both the novelty and holiday genres. The title track to his 1974 album, the song was actually recorded on Halloween Eve and features a bevy of not just classic monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman but also goblins, dragons and zombies all scaring poor Owens as he tries to drift off to sleep. Kitschy? Of course. Scary? Not really. Perfect Halloween party music? You betcha.
"Werewolves of London," Warren Zevon
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Music legend Warren Zevon wrote the ultimate werewolf song (with apologies to Tracy Jordan's "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" — a close runner-up). The song was actually inspired by Phil Everly, who, after viewing the film Werewolf of London, joked to Zevon that he should pen a song with the title for a song and dance craze. Though it began as a joke, the song became a fan favorite, a staple of Zevon's concerts for years to come and an all-time Halloween classic.
