Devil’s Radio: 10 Great Halloween Songs
Looking beyond the standard holiday playlist
Who doesn’t like a good rock ‘n’ roll song list?
True, there are probably 9,847 Halloween song lists flying around the tubes of the interwebs right now, but this one is a Rock & Roll Globe song list – and it’s yours, too: I encourage you to add your favorites in the comments.
Before we dig in, there are a few obvious choices not included because … well, because they’re so obvious. Kind of like the Free Space square in the center of a BINGO card. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” for starters. Also “Time Warp” from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash,” “Ghostbusters” from Ray Parker Jr. and Sheb Wooley’s “Purple People Eater,” (bet you didn’t know it was once covered by Judy Garland).
Those most obvious of no-brainers aside, here (in no particular order) are 10 songs for your Halloween playlist consideration:
The Gaslight Anthem “Halloween”
The protagonist is attending a Halloween party. He sees someone, but: Is it his ex that he’s seeing in a new light? Is it someone who reminds him of his ex? Either way, he has plenty of questions, but not a lot of answers. “Who are you supposed to be? / Yeah, you look just like my love. / Who are you supposed to be? / Are you dressed just like my love?” Originally the B-side of a 2013 fan club release, it appears as the closing track on their 2014 album, Get Hurt.
AUDIO: The Gaslight Anthem “Halloween”
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins “I Put A Spell On You”
This 1956 track was one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock. It’s been covered by everyone from Marilyn Manson to Bette Midler, but seriously: How can you not include the original? The band was shitfaced when they recorded it. (Hawkins had blacked out and re-learned it from the recording.) Hawkins was carried out on stage in a coffin. (A gimmick originated by legendary DJ Alan Freed.) He carried a smoking skull on a stick. (Its name was Henry.) I imagine it felt like Halloween most times Hawkins performed.
AUDIO: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins “I Put A Spell On You”
Marilyn Manson “This is Halloween”
Speaking of Marilyn Manson, theirs is the go-to version of the Danny Elfman tune from 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Released in 2006 for the special edition soundtrack of Tim Burton’s film, it brings a rougher, darker, more ominous edge to the song than the Citizens of Halloween were able to muster.
AUDIO: Marilyn Manson “This Is Halloween”
The Creepshow “Zombies Ate Her Brain”
Sure, it starts off sweet with a guitar strum and Jen “Hellcat” Blackwood saying that she’d “like to tell a little story / About a girl from far away” – but then the propulsive drums kick in and this Canadian psychobilly outfit starts firing on all cylinders, leaving that poor girl a hot mess in just 1:29: “Sometimes you’ll see her walking downtown / Not many notice the undead / Can’t ask the girl a simple question / Because she’ll never ever understand! / Because those zombies ate her brain.” Yeah, we’ve all met girls like that.
AUDIO: The Creepshow “Zombies Ate Her Brain”
Starcrawler “Pet Sematary”
I know, I know, you expected to see The Ramones listed alongside that song title. I’m with you: Their song, which they wrote for the end credits of the 1989 movie based on Stephen King’s 1983 novel, is a classic. But when the movie was remade in 2019, so was the title song, this time by L.A.-based punkers, Starcrawler, and it’s a terrific cover. That the opening riff recalls Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” is icing on the cake.
AUDIO: Starcrawler “Pet Sematary”
Lou Reed “Halloween Parade”
New York is arguably Lou Reed’s greatest album (yes, it has some stiff competition), and the poignant and haunting “Halloween Parade” is one of New York’s best songs. Reed uses Greenwich Village’s annual costumed celebration as a way to acknowledge those who’ve been lost in the past year, and the difficulties of moving forward without them. “This Halloween is something to be sure / Especially to be here without you.” Give it a spin and raise a glass to the comrades we’ve lost.
AUDIO: Lou Reed “Halloween Parade”
Link Wray & His Ray Men “Jack the Ripper”
What the hell, let’s put an instrumental on the list: Released in January 1961, rereleased in March 1963 and rerereleased in 1967, “Jack the Ripper” was the title track of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s third album, which also includes the Wray classic, “Rumble.” If tunes like the Chantays’ “Pipeline” or Dick Dale’s “Miserlou” do it for you, you’ll love this one, too.
AUDIO: Link Wray “Jack the Ripper”
Whodini “Haunted House of Rock”
The opening track from the Brooklyn hip-hop groundbreakers’ 1983 debut album namechecks The Grateful Dead, Wolfman Jack, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, the Addams Family, the Invisible Man, Frankenstein, Igor … well, you get the idea. Who wouldn’t want to be at this Halloween party?
AUDIO: Whodini “Haunted House of Rock”
The Who “Boris the Spider”
Because every time I walk past my neighbor’s house, where he has a giant spider perched atop a giant spider web that stretches from the top of his roof to the middle of his front lawn, I whisper, “Hi, Boris.” Find it on their second album, 1966’s A Quick One. John Entwhistle wrote it in six minutes, and Pete Townshend noted that it was Jimi Hendrix’s favorite Who song.
AUDIO: The Who “Boris The Spider”
Bow Wow Wow “I Want Candy”
Hey, it’s Halloween – and as much as it’s about darkness and demonism and the devil and all sorts of D-words, it’s ultimately about the sugar, right? This song was supposedly written about a girl at the 1964 World’s Fair, but it’s really about Kit Kats and Reese’s, if you ask me. I almost went with the original 1965 version by the Strangeloves based on both that band’s fascinating history and their reference to one of my favorite movies of all time, but Bow Wow Wow gets the nod because that video never gets old.
VIDEO: Bow Wow Wow “I Want Candy”
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February 1, 2019 -
October 31, 2020 -
It wasn’t Halloween, but in High School many of us listened to WPLJ when John Zacherle was on the air. One day, a friend hears that he paid a visit to a neighboring High School and called the station. Zacherle picked up himself, my friend said. Two or three days later, Zacherle was talking to our English class. It was an awesome treat, made even better because the teacher locked one guy who wasn’t in out section–but saw himself as a Mr. Rock and Roll–out. Ha!