# Recommend some Halloween songs

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 9, 2004, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238 "2004-03-09T04:01:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![InquisitiveIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3ec8ea/32.png) [@InquisitiveIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InquisitiveIdiot)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/1 "2004-03-09T04:01:56Z")

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It’s spring here. Winter’s back has been broken, and we’re well on our way to a warm, cheerful summer.\* Flower are blooming, birds are chirping, young lovers are walking hand in hand through the park. Well, necking, but the principle is the same.

I hate it. Too damn bright and cheerful.

I miss Halloween. Not the holiday itself, but the _feeling_ of Halloween. I miss pumpkins, and bonfires. Crisp, clear nights when the moon is full and the bare trees rise up like the silouetted remains of some incredible monster. Feeling the world slowly brown and die all around you, as the heat of summer is replaced by the chill of winter. Reading _October Country_ on a park bench at sunset. The feeling that you get near midnight, when you can almost swear this world and the supernatural one are mere inches apart, just for this one special time of the year.

Know what I mean?

Lately I’ve been trying to assuage my longing by creating a collection of songs that instill the same feeling in me as autumn does. God knows what I plan on doing with it - probably listen to it over and over until my family and friends tie me down and break my speakers. Let’s see them try.

Anyway, I’m having quite a bit of trouble finding songs of this nature. Here’s what I have so far:

[ul][li]A.F.I. - Halloween (It’s a cover of the Misfits, but I prefer this version)[/li][li]Nightmare Before Christmas - This is Halloween (this is split between the movie version and the Kingdom Hearts OST; one has lyrics, the other is purely melodic goodness)[/li][li]The Who - In the Hall of the Mountain King[/ul][/li]  
And that’s all I have. 15 lousy minutes. Seems that for some strange reason singers don’t want to write songs about my favorite holiday. So come on, I know there has to be a few fellow halloweenies here with me. Speak up!

\*'Cept for you folks in the Southern Hemisphere. Lucky bastards.

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**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/2 "2004-03-09T04:47:04Z")

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Sonic Youth - _Halloween_

Jeff Buckley - _Witches’ Rave_

Slint - _Nosferatu Man_

Rasputina - _Transylvanian Concubine{Manson Remix}_

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**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/3 "2004-03-09T05:02:59Z")

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Bauhaus reminds me of Halloween. Their song Rosegarden Funeral of Sores is pretty creepy. I’d also recommend Bela Lugosi’s Dead, In the Flat Field, The Passion of Lovers, well pretty much anything by them.  
David Bowie- Scary Monsters and Super Creeps  
The Sisters of Mercy- Flood 1 and Lucretia My Reflection

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**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/4 "2004-03-09T05:08:35Z")

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I should also say that to me, tonight feels like an October night. Maybe because I have the window open in a room down the hall and can feel the cool air.

Siouxsie and the Banshees also can have a halloweenish feel.  
Maybe the theme song to the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland.  
The theme song from The Lost Boys movie.  
Switchblade Symphony’s music.

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**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/5 "2004-03-09T05:13:34Z")

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Type O Negative, baby. Just about anything from _Bloody Kisses_ will do. Actually, just about anything of theirs will do, but BK is my favorite album.

_Black #1!_ and the cover of _Summer Breeze_ rawk.

Also try _Everything Dies, Creepy Green Light, Hallow’s Eve,_ from _World Coming Down_.

_October Rust_’ll be good if you want to get all Celtypagany.

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**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/6 "2004-03-09T05:15:06Z")

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You can’t go wrong with Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, played on organ of course.

On a different note, you also can’t go wrong with “The Monster Mash”.

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**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/7 "2004-03-09T05:32:28Z")

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If you’re into self-torture, there’s _It’s Halloween_ by the Shaggs. Hard to find, but well worth it.

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**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/8 "2004-03-09T05:35:04Z")

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Any song from Concrete Blonde’s _Bloodletting,_ except “Joey.”  
“In the Hanging Garden,” The Cure  
“Mechanical Flattery,” Lydia Lunch  
“Spooky,” Classics IV (or, if you’re more hardcore, Lydia Lunch’s version)  
“Every Day Is Halloween,” Ministry  
“Hellhound on My Trail,” Robert Johnson

For a more autumnal, pagany sort of Halloween number, check out XTC’s “Sacrificial Bonfire.”

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**Author:** ![Lockz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Lockz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockz)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/9 "2004-03-09T05:40:56Z")

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I always liked Michael Jackson’s “Spirit of the Night” around Hallowe’en.

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**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/10 "2004-03-09T05:54:39Z")

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I live in the Boston area and New England is famous for its Autumn weather, Fall foliage and so on. (Yes, we like Halloween around here too).

Anyway, I’d recommend **Donovan’s “Season of the Witch”**.  
Yes, there are a zillion renditions of ths song but I think Donovan’s is the best and the eeriest.

And of course there’s always **“Fire” by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown"**.  
That song was appropriately released in the Fall of 1968.

One song that always reminds me of Halloween is:  
**"Come Together" by the Beatles**. For one thing, it does have an eerie quality to it. Also it was released in the Fall of 1969 which also coincided with the “Paul Is Dead” hysteria, adding another level of creepiness to the song. Also, “Come Together” had a ‘clue’ that Paul was ‘dead’ - “One and one and one is three” - 3 Beatles not four.

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**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/11 "2004-03-09T06:26:08Z")

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[QUOTE=InquisitiveIdiot]

[ul][li]The Who - In the Hall of the Mountain King[/ul][/li][/QUOTE]

Huh. I’ve always considered myself a pretty knowledgeable fan, but I’ve never even heard of this. Where does it appear?  
Any way, as a fellow Halloween junkie, I’d recommend some Rob Zombie (especially “Dragula”) and most of Oingo Boingo’s catalog.

It’s not Halloween-y, but it is Fall-y: “California Dreamin’.”

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**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/12 "2004-03-09T06:41:18Z")

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The Cramps - The Surfing Dead

Shriekback - Nemesis

MC 900 Foot Jesus - New Moon

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**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/13 "2004-03-09T06:50:13Z")

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> [@Manatee](#):
>
> Huh. I’ve always considered myself a pretty knowledgeable fan, but I’ve never even heard of this. Where does it appear?

On the bonus tracks edition of _The Who Sell Out,_ for one thing. It’s pretty cool… 😃

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**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/14 "2004-03-09T07:18:51Z")

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Rob Zombie’s a decent choice. Pretty much the entire _Hellbilly Deluxe_ album comes across like an old Famous Monsters of Hollywood magazine (right down to the album cover art.)

Alice Cooper ~ It’d be easier to pick out the ones that _don’t_ have a Hallowe’en feel

I Love the Dead  
Sick Things  
Welcome to my Nightmare  
the Steven sequence from that album  
Devil’s Food  
Cold Ethyl (She’s cool in bed; she oughtta be, ‘cause Ethyl’s dead…)  
Black Widow  
Former Lee Warmer  
Dead Babies  
Tag, You’re It  
Ballad of Dwight Frye  
and so on and so on…  
A couple silly ones  
Jumpin’ Jean Simmons ~ Haunted House  
Sam the Sham ~ Little Red Riding Hood

And another fall-ish, but not Hallowe’en tune  
The Bangles cover of Hazy Shade of Winter might work

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/15 "2004-03-09T07:20:35Z")

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Gaaah.

Forgot Blue Oyster Cult’s _Don’t Fear the Reaper_

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**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/16 "2004-03-09T07:45:14Z")

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> [@Katisha](#):
>
> On the bonus tracks edition of _The Who Sell Out,_ for one thing. It’s pretty cool… 😃

Ah, that explains it: I only own the older release of this (can’t get the date, as it’s boxed up in the garage, but I probably bought the CD back in 86). I’ve got a couple of tapes and discs of rarieties, but none includes this track.

Thanks for the tip, though. I’ll have to track this down.

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**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/17 "2004-03-09T07:55:22Z")

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“Wicked Annabella”, by the Kinks!

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**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/18 "2004-03-09T08:13:54Z")

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‘Swamp Witch’ by Jim Stafford.

Also, read _The Halloween Tree_ by Ray Bradbury. That should help some.

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/19 "2004-03-09T09:28:22Z")

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Barenaked Ladies, _Grim Grinning Ghosts_ (from Disney’s Haunted Mansion)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238/20 "2004-03-09T10:40:55Z")

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Meanwhile, a few other things to keep your soul in that Halloween twilight country:

[The Castle of Otranto](http://digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=696), by Horace Walpole  
The original gothic novel

[The Legend of Sleepy Hollow](http://www.bartleby.com/310/2/2.html), by Washington Irving

[Young Goodman Brown](http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/Hawthorne.htm#INSERT%203), by Nathaniel Hawthorne

[The Fall of the House of Usher](http://www.bartleby.com/195/10.html), by Edgar Allan Poe

[Doombuggies.com:](http://doombuggies.com/) The Unofficial Tribute to Disney’s Haunted Mansion

[El Día de los Muertos](http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/)

[Halloween Universe](http://www.halloweenuniverse.com/)

[Robert’s Jack-o-Lantern Page](http://pumpkins.gusick.com/)

[Autumn wallpaper for your computer screen](http://www.mormonchic.com/wallpaper/)

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-halloween-songs/233238.md?page=2)
