A good friend has an annual Halloween costume party and last year I put together a special Halloween set list to play during the festivities. For posterity I thought I would list it here (also this will help me keep tabs and make sure I don’t duplicate too much on this year’s list). Surprisingly there are a ton of Halloween themed songs out there. I probably had an initial list with 15-20 hours worth of songs and had to trim down to around a 5 hour set. And of course when putting one of these together, you really have to resist the urge to be lazy and just put a whole White Zombie album on there.
So without further ado, here is the list from last year along with some notes. It is listed with song name then artist.
- Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor – Kenny Ball
- Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
- Halloween – Dave Matthews Band
- Halloween – Dead Kennedys
- Ghostbusters Movie Main Title Theme – Elmer Bernstein
- Surprise! You’re Dead! – Faith No More (Great vampire themed song)
- Mars Attacks – Aesop Rock (This guy is amazing)
- Tales From The Crypt Theme – Danny Elfman
- Feed My Frankenstein – Alice Cooper (If you ever get the chance, see Alice Cooper live. It is a rock theater production!)
- The Phantom of the Opera – Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Addams Family Theme – Vic Mizzy
- October – Athenaeum (might have been when the band was Collapsis)
- (Don’t Fear) The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
- Bark At The Moon – Ozzy Osbourne
- Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon
- Helter Skelter – The Beatles
- I Put A Spell On You – Creedence Clearwater Revival (originally by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins)
- Phantom Manor Ride Theme – Disneyland Paris (It has Vincent Price as the Ghost Host. Vincent Price is Halloween)
- A Nightmare On My Street – DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince (Don’t be afraid to step outside of the box with your Halloween setlist)
- Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones
- Vampires – Godsmack
- Every Day Is Halloween – Ministry
- Halloween Movie Theme 2007 – Tyler Bates
- Shout At The Devil – Mötley Crüe
- Doctor Who Theme – (The updated version)
- Monster Mash – Bobby “Boris” Pickett
- Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival
- The Time Warp – The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Thriller – Michael Jackson (more Vincent Price goodness)
- The Morning After – Faith No More (Songs about zombies are always a plus)
- Twilight Zone Theme – Marius Constant
- Vampires In Love – Marvelous 3 (Can’t go wrong with a little Marvelous 3)
- The Thing That Should Not Be – Metallica
- Superstition – Stevie Wonder
- Monster Mash Metal Version – Misfits
- Scooby Doo Theme – Hoyt Curtin
- Halloween – The Misfits
- Sweet Transvestite – The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Overture – The Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack
- Who Wants To Live Forever – Queen (Dont’ forget that Queen penned songs for the Highlander movie)
- Call of the Zombie – Rob Zombie
- Ghostbusters (Who You Gonna Call) – Ray Parker, Jr.
- Munsters Theme Metal Style – (not sure who did this version since I found it on YouTube)
- More Human Than Human – White Zombie
- Godzilla – Blue Oyster Cult
- I’m Your Boogie Man – Rob Zombie (Originally by KC and the Sunshine Band)
- In the Hall of the Mountain King – Edvard Grieg
- Living Dead Girl – Rob Zombie
- Of Wolf and Man – Metallica (I’m a sucker for anything Werewolf related)
- Munsters Theme (TV Show Version) – Jack Marshall
- Transylvanian Transmissions, Pt. 1 – Rob Zombie
- Monster Squad Rap – Bruce Broughton (The Monster Squad was an awesome cheesy horror flick from my youth. The rap at the end rocks)
- Zombie – The Cranberries
- Halloween II – The Misfits
- Halloween – Helloween (You know a band named Helloween must have a song about Halloween)
Of course the real goal that my good friend Horst and I have always had was to put a band together that could perform a Halloween themed set list live. It still hasn’t happened but I am holding out hope. Maybe when Horst comes back from his adventures in New Zealand we can make it happen. Plus it would be a good excuse for me to learn the entire Thriller dance (I just need to get this shirt for my cheat sheet).
If you have any favorite Halloween songs that I didn’t use, please post them in the comments.
I haven’t got a song for you. Just wanted to say that I’d LOVE to watch you do the Thriller dance!! Make sure I’m there or videotape the happening 😉