Ultimate Halloween Party Playlist v. 5.0

Halloween is next Wednesday.  Halloween parties will be happening this weekend.  Call me an old-fashioned goat-sacrificing pagan, but Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year.  

Last year, I failed to post my Ultimate Halloween Party Playlist, mainly because I spend most of my 40th October in Haiti, becoming as proficient as I could in Haitian Vodou.  The year before, however, I added 13 songs to the playlist, bringing the total number of songs to 124.  This year, I'm adding another 17 songs to the list because that was the deal I made with Papa Legba.  Why he only wanted me to add 17 songs -- no more, no less -- to my Halloween party playlist (and a bottle of spiced rum) in exchange for the ability to speak with Jim Varney from beyond the grave, I'm not sure.  But Papa Legba makes only one offer, and you must either take it or leave it.  Know what I mean, Vern?

Alas, I have added 17 more songs to the list this year, compiling the best songs for you to use either at a Halloween party to set the mood right or in the background on Halloween night, when you're dressed like John Wayne Gacy, passing out candy and balloon animals to the neighborhood kids while telling people "that smell coming from my basement is probably just, uh, sewage" and then cackling like a hyena.

Halloween is the one time of year when it's okay to embrace evil.  At any Halloween party or during trick-or-treating, you want there to be a certain level of creepiness, as well as some campiness, because Halloween is supposed to be a mixture of paganism, macabre, and fun.  As a result, the playlist below includes songs that have dark and evil themes, talk about monsters or the devil or witches or the like, mention the word "Halloween," or are just plain creepy.  My mix has a lot of heavy metal, but that's kind of expected, since metal bands are more likely to embrace darker subject matter than, say, Portugal. The Man.  That said, it's all pretty palatable, even to those ears that might not be used to wailing guitars and double bass drums.  

As always, you don't want to go too dark, like, say, Norwegian black metal, because you're going to lose your party-goers, or the neighbors are going to think you're really into church burning.  And if you are into church burning, you're probably not going to want to tip the neighbors off by blaring Gorgoroth out your front door while handing their children packages of sour octopuses (or is it octopi?), even if it should be obvious from the fact that you're wearing all black (other than the fresh goat's head covering your head), wielding a battle axe, and loudly proclaiming your allegiance to Satan in response to the call of "trick or treat."

For parties, you'll probably want to mix these songs in with your regular party mix.  After all, who doesn't want to hear "Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight" after "Feel It Still"?  For trick or treating, you're probably going to want to just go straight spooky, which probably means a heavy dose of Ghost, Pentagram, Misfits, and Black Sabbath.  Just make sure the songs you choose for trick or treating don't have any swears in them.  Parents can be real assholes about that.

With that, here are my recommendations for your Halloween playlist, in alphabetical order by artist, with comments where I felt it was necessary.  For your sake and the safety of your offspring, I suggest you add at least some of these to your Halloween party playlist, lest your soul will become the next offering to Papa Legba.

1-4.  "Highway to Hell," "Hells Bells," "Night Prowler," and "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" by AC/DC

"Highway to Hell" is an obvious choice and a crowd pleaser.  "Hells Bells" has those instantly recognizable bells -- hells bells, if you will.  "Night Prowler" is a slower, creepy song that, several years later, serial killer Richard Ramirez (aka, "the Night Stalker") claimed inspired him, or something like that.  "If You Want Blood" was added solely to appease the Countess.

5.  "Demon Eyes" by The Answer

6.  "Zombie Graveyard Party!" by Be Your Own Pet

7.  "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles
This should be played just before or after "Look At Your Game, Girl" by Charles Manson.

8.  "Howling for You" by The Black Keys

9-13.  "Black Sabbath," "War Pigs," "The Wizard," "Children of the Grave," and "Heaven and Hell" by Black Sabbath

"Black Sabbath" was inspired by a vision Geezer Butler had one night after reading a book about witchcraft that Ozzy Osbourne gave to him.  He woke up in the middle of the night, and a black figure was standing at the foot of his bed.  The figure disappeared, and when Butler went to get the book, it too was gone.  "War Pigs" is about war, death, and bodies burning.  "The Wizard" is about a wizard.  "Children of the Grave" is about zombabies, presumably.  "Heaven and Hell" is the title track from the first Sabbath album with Ronnie James Dio as the lead singer, and it is awesome.

14.  "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult

But do fear people who would actually vote for Donald Trump.

15.  "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow

16.  "Howl" by JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound

17.  "Satan Is My Motor" by Cake

18.  "Halloween Theme" by John Carpenter

Instantly recognizable as one of the more creepy horror movie themes.

19.  "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash

20.  "The Night Time is the Right Time" by Ray Charles

Baybaaaaayyyy!

21.  "Spooky" by The Classics IV

22.  "I Love The Dead" by Alice Cooper

23.  "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" by The Cramps

I wasn't.

24.  "Zombie" by The Cranberries
Sure, it's about The Troubles, but it takes on a more prescient and sinister tone now that Dolores O'Riordan died.  Or should I say, undied?

25.  "Am I Demon" by Danzig

No, no I'm not.

26.  "One Way Ticket" by The Darkness
You see, it's a one way ticket to hell.  And back.

27.  "Demon's Eye" by Deep Purple

28.  "Am I Evil?" by Diamond Head

"Yes I am."

29.  "A Nightmare on My Street" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

This is a classic late '80s rap song, playing off of the popularity of Freddy Krueger, who, for many of us growing up in the '80s, was the most terrifying of all the horror movie villains.  I should also note that I did, in fact, perform this with a friend for our elementary school talent show in fifth grade.  I was Freddy.  It was pretty awesome.

30.  "Dream Warriors" by Dokken

Speaking of Freddy, this was the title track to Nightmare on Elm Street 3:  Dream Warriors.

31.  "Season of the Witch" by Donovan

32-33.  "The End" and "People Are Strange" by The Doors

"The End" is one of the creepier Doors songs, which says a lot.

34.  "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran

35.  "Murder On the Dancefloor" by Sophie Ellis-Bextor

In case you're spiking your Milky Ways with molly.

36.  "Zombie Eaters" by Faith No More

37.  "Trick or Treat" by Fastway

'80s metal band Fastway played the soundtrack to the 1986 the metal-themed horror film Trick or Treat.  This is the title song.

38.  "Kiss Me Deadly" by Lita Ford

39.  "Close My Eyes Forever" by Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne

40.  "Evil and a Heathen" by Franz Ferdinand

41.  "Halloween Blues" by The Fratellis

42-49.  "Monstrance Clock," "Year Zero," "Stand by Him," "If You Have Ghosts," "Ghuleh/Zombie Queen," "Cirice," "Nocturnal Me," and "Rats" by Ghost

"Monstrance Clock" is about conceiving "Lucifer's son," and "Year Zero" is about Satan in general and has a nice gothic feel to it.  "Stand by Him" is about "the night of the witch," which is, in fact, tonight.  "If You Have Ghosts" is a Roky Erickson cover about having ghosts.  "Ghuleh/Zombie Queen" is about Ghuleh and a zombie queen.  "Cirice" is a sold song about souls merging.  "Nocturnal Me" is about you, assuming you're nocturnal.  "Rats" is off their new album, and it's mostly about rats.  To be honest, I would suggest just including all songs from Ghost's four albums and two EPs -- Opus Eponymous, Infestissumam, If You Have Ghost, Meloria, Popestar, and Prequelle -- especially if you're looking for trick-or-treating background music.  They are demonic in a polite Swedish way.

50.  "Friend of the Devil" by Grateful Dead

51.  "Maneater" by Hall & Oates

52.  "Hallow's Eve" by Hallows Eve

53-54.  "Halloween" and "Mr. Torture" by Helloween

German power metal band Helloween obviously has the right name for a Halloween mix, and their song "Halloween" is included for obvious reasons.  I also chose to go with "Mr. Torture" because I like the song.  So there.

55.  "Friendly Ghost" by Harlem

This one's a little more light-hearted, to offset the vast majority of this list.

56.  "I Put a Spell On You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins

I prefer the original to CCR's cover (which is still very good) because Hawkins adds a level of voodoo campiness that CCR just couldn't have matched.

57.  "Magic Man" by Heart

58.  "I Ain't Superstitious" by Howlin' Wolf

59.  "Devil Inside" by INXS

60-62.  "Killers," "Murders in the Rue Morgue," and "Number of the Beast" by Iron Maiden

It was tough figuring out just one Iron Maiden song to include, so I went with three.  The first two are from 1981's Killers album:  "Killers," which is essentially about someone being stalked and murdered, and "Murders in the Rue Morgue," which is not only my favorite Iron Maiden song, but is also based on short story by Edgar Allen Poe of the same name.  The third, "Number of the Beast," is a metal classic off of the 1982 album of the same name.  Because of this song, my children know that 666 is the number of the beast.

63.  "Thriller" by Michael Jackson

This is a no-brainer and should be played at every Halloween party for eternity.

64.  "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane

This is especially good if your partygoers are all on LSD.

65.  "Devil's Child" by Judas Priest

66.  "Hotter Than Hell" by KISS

67.  "Pretend We're Dead" by L7

68.  "Vampire" by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

69.  "Heeby-Jeebies" by Little Richard

70.  "Look at Your Game, Girl" by Charles Manson

Recorded when Manson was still trying to break into the LA music scene and before he started ordering his minions to murder movie stars and grocery store owners, this song comes across as an innocent folky acoustic song.  Then you realize it's sung by Charles Manson, and it becomes super creepy.

71.  "Evil Love" by Meat Puppets

72-73.  "Fade to Black" and "Creeping Death" by Metallica

74-77.  "Halloween," "Death Comes Ripping," "Mommy, Can I Go Out & Kill Tonight," and "Bloodfeast" by The Misfits

78.  "Shout at the Devil" by Mötley Crüe

79-80.  "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and "I'm Your Witch Doctor" by Motörhead

81.  "Frankenstein" by New York Dolls

82.  "Spiderwebs" by No Doubt

83.  "Running Scared" by Roy Orbison

84.  "O Fortuna" by Carl Orff

85-86.  "Bark at the Moon" and "Zombie Stomp" by Ozzy Osbourne

87.  "Dracula's Wedding" by Outkast

88.  "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr.

89.  "Satan's Bed" by Pearl Jam

90.  "Sign of the Wolf (Pentagram)" by Pentagram

Doom metal pioneers Pentagram have a good number of hard-rocking creepy songs, but this one is probably the most relevant to Halloween.

91.  "Zombie Zoo" by Tom Petty

92.  "The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt Kickers

This is a classic Halloween song that should be played at least once at every Halloween party.

93-94.  "Fallen Angel" and "Flesh and Blood (Sacrifice)" by Poison

95.  "Halloween" by Matt Pond PA

96.  "(You're The) Devil in Disguise" by Elvis Presley

97.  "Going to Hell" by The Pretty Reckless

98.  "Gates of Babylon" by Rainbow

The song is about sleeping with the devil.  And then paying for sleeping with the devil.  Probably because the devil gave you the clap.

99.  "The Time Warp" by The Rocky Horror Picture Show cast

100.  "Diablo Rojo" by Rodrigo y Gabriela

101-103.  "Sympathy for the Devil," "Dead Flowers," and "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones

104-106.  "Soul Sacrifice," "Black Magic Woman" and "Evil Ways" by Santana

107.  "Li'l Red Riding Hood" by Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs

108.  "Witchcraft" by Frank Sinatra

109.  "Angel of Death" by Slayer

While I would generally recommend steering clear of Slayer at parties, there is no more appropriate time to let it loose than Halloween.  And you can always use it as a way to clear people out.

110.  "Bullet With Butterfly Wing" by Smashing Pumpkins

It just wouldn't seem right to have a Halloween playlist without a Smashing Pumpkins song on it.  I went with this one, not only because it starts by exclaiming -– wrongly, mind you -– that "the world is a vampire," but also because it's an awesome song.

111.  "Serial Killa" by Snoop Doggy Dogg

112-113.  "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" and "The Witch" by The Sonics
Halloween has room for garage rock, too.

114.  "Fell On Black Days" by Soundgarden

115.  "Wicked Garden" by Stone Temple Pilots

116.  "To Hell With the Devil" by Stryper

In case you are concerned that your playlist might be a little too devil-heavy, you can balance it out with this '80s Christian hair band classic.

117.  "Santeria" by Sublime

118.  "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads

"You're crazy!"  

"That's what they said about Son of Sam."

119.  "Devil's Daughter" by Tax the Heat

120.  "Here Comes the Night" by Them

121.  "Killer On the Loose" by Thin Lizzy

122-123.  "Demon On Demand" and "Sinister Minister" by Township

124-125.  "Running With the Devil" and "D.O.A." by Van Halen

126.  "The Black Angel's Death Song" by The Velvet Underground

I have never done acid, but I assume this song is what a bad acid trip would have sounded like in Victorian England.

127.  "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)" by W.A.S.P.

128.  "Burning the Witches" by Warlock

129.  "Got My Mojo Working" by Muddy Waters

130.  "If My Mind is Evil" by White Lion

131-134.  "Death Letter," "Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground," "Little Ghost," and "Walking With a Ghost" by The White Stripes

135.  "Boris The Spider" by The Who

136.  "Frankenstein" by The Edgar Winter Group

137.  "Friends of Hell" by Witchfinder General

138.  "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder

139.  "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon

"I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic's / And his hair was perfect."  Great line.

140-141.  "Dragula" and "Living Dead Girl" by Rob Zombie