I love making playlists. It’s one of the many ways in which iTunes revolutionized my music listening habits. I have playlists for my different friends when they come over, for various occasions, moods, etc. I also have some really wacky playlists, but I’ll leave that for another article. One of my favorite playlist is the Halloween playlist. Or should I say playlists. Scroll to the bottom of the article to jump straight to my Spotify playlist!
First up is the party playlist. It’s safe, a little corny, but will please most people, and gives you a great opportunity to trot out a bunch of one hit wonders and novelty songs!
Some suggestions for this playlist:
- Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon (I’m sure his royalty statements peak around Halloween)
- The Monster Mash – Bobby Pickett
- Frankenstein – Edgar Winter (I think that playing an instrumental track at a party is great idea!)
- I Put a Spell on You – Screamin Jay Hawkins (or you can use the Creedence Clearwater Revival or Marilyn Manson versions. But Screaming Jay’s version is worth tracking down)
- Witchy Woman – The Eagles
- Godzilla – Blue Oyster Cult (Their Don’t Fear the Reaper might work too, and it has a horror pedigree: it was featured in the original Halloween movie)
- Of Wolf and Man – Metallica
- Black Widow – Alice Cooper (coupled with the Vincent Price intro, it’s a great Halloween track)
- Thriller – Michael Jackson (another great party track, again with spoken word contribution by Mr Vincent Price)
- Ghostbusters – Ray Parker Jr (Come on, you know you like it)
- Dream Warriors – Dokken (OK, there’s nothing remotely scary about this, except for their 80’s hairdos. But this track was a highlight of the movie Nightmare on Elm Street 3. )
- Bela Lugosi’s Dead – Bauhaus. And if you don’t know who Bela Lugosi is, you probably shouldn’t be hosting a Halloween party anyway.
- Dracula – Iced Earth (OK, this one is not for everyone, but if your guests can appreciate power metal, this is a great track! In fact, the whole album it is from (Horror Show) is devoted to horror classics.
- This is Halloween – Danny Elfman. The them from the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas was also remade by Marilyn Manson if you want to ratchet up the creepy level.
- Depending on your tastes, The Misfits or King Diamond also have many horror themed tracks.
Then there’s my favorite: the horror movie playlist! I play this one while answering the door for trick or treaters. It spooks the kids!
I have two versions. The first is a little more commercial. People usually recognize most of the tracks, and it’s not too creepy.
Some examples:
- Jaws Theme – John Williams
- Theme from Halloween – John Carpenter
- Psycho – The Murder – Bernard Herrmann (whenever that comes on, it gets a big reaction)
- Theme from A Nightmare on Elm Street – Charles Bernstein (a little more obscure, but deliciously creepy)
- Theme from the Exorcist – Mike Oldfield (This is really Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, but the movie only uses a small part of the 45 minute track. Better find a version on a horror movie compilation. I like this one: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/a-history-of-horror/id168403644 You’ll also find many of the tracks I mentioned on that album)
- Fall of the House of Usher – Main Titles – Les Baxter (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/fall-house-usher-original/id421185985 I love these old school horror scores. They sound a little cheesy now, but it doesn’t matter, it’s a great mood for Halloween)
- Welcome to Camp Crystal Lake – Friday the 13th – Harry Manfredini. (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/friday-13th-ultimate-compilation/id475821258 You can marvel at how it manages to rip off Jaws and Psycho AT THE SAME TIME! This track also features the famous “ki-ki-ki ma-ma-ma” sound from the series)
- Sydney’s Lament – Scream – Marco Beltrami (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/scream-scream-2-music-from/id65171766)
- Lost – Main Title – JJ Abrams (Sure, this show is not horror, but the eerie main titles work fine in this playlist)
- The X-Files – Main Theme – Mark Snow (again, not horror but works so well)
And if you want to spice it up with a more hardcore horror sound:
- Prince of Darkness – John Carpenter (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/prince-darkness-complete-original/id332016138 Anything from it really, but Opening Credits will do nicely)
- Ave Satani – Jerry Goldsmith (from the movie The Omen. That choir will scare the neighbors, their kids and their pets too!)
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre – The Beginning – Steve Jablonsky (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/texas-chainsaw-massacre-beginning/id192521902 Modern sounding horror score that’s more about ambiance than melody. Jablonsky’s score to the original remake is also very good but harder to find as it was released as a limited edition CD)
And my last suggestion is a little self-serving, but if you’re looking for a haunted house ambiance, here’s some sound design I did last year for Halloween. Unfortunately I never got to use it because my then 5-year old son found it too scary. I’ll try again this year 🙂
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/26826220″ iframe=”true” /]
So, what are YOUR favorite Halloween tunes?
P.S. And don’t forget the soundtrack to Behaviour’s Naughty Bear! (From my recent blog post Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise: My adventure as a record producer
He's also a regular contributor at the excellent news site Montreal Rampage
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