Ultimate Halloween Party Playlist v. 6.0

Halloween is a week from today.  Halloween parties will be happening this weekend.  Call me a classic Satanist who enjoys a good chicken sacrifice -- or a bad one! -- but Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year.  

As I've done in years' past, I'm giving you the tools you need to make your Halloween party a blinding success.  I have added 3 more songs to the list this year -- because that's all that Baphomet commanded of me 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 Anton LaVey, passing out gummy pentagrams (new from Haribo this year!) to the neighborhood kids while telling people "The Black Pope wishes you only the best my child" and then laughing like Vincent Price at the end of "Thriller," but for like fifteen seconds too long.

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, Lizzo.  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 Caprathian Forest out your front door while handing their children candy corn, even if it should be obvious from the fact that you're wearing all black (other than the fresh pig intestines you're using as a sash), swinging a flail around, and the candy corn is covered in their dogs' blood.

For parties, you'll probably want to mix these songs in with your regular party mix.  After all, who doesn't want to hear "Children of the Grave" after "Juice"?  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 you'll get a midnight visit from a cloven-hoofed cat with three faces and an empty stomach.

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 Countess Bathory.

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 sprouts because the consumption of raw sprouts may result in an increased risk of foodbourne illness, such as salmonella or e-coli.

15.  "We Are The Dead" by David Bowie

16.  "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow

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

18.  "Satan Is My Motor" by Cake

19.  "Halloween Theme" by John Carpenter

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

20.  "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash

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

Baybaaaaayyyy!

22.  "Spooky" by The Classics IV

23.  "I Love The Dead" by Alice Cooper

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

I wasn't.

25.  "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 is dead.  Or should I say, undead?

26.  "Am I Demon" by Danzig

No, no I'm not.

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

28.  "Demon's Eye" by Deep Purple

29.  "Am I Evil?" by Diamond Head

"Yes I am."

30.  "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.

31.  "Dream Warriors" by Dokken

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

32.  "Season of the Witch" by Donovan

33-34.  "The End" and "People Are Strange" by The Doors

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

35.  "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran

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

In case you're spiking your M&Ms with molly.

37.  "Zombie Eaters" by Faith No More

38.  "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.

39.  "Satan Is My Master" by Ben Folds Five

40.  "Kiss Me Deadly" by Lita Ford

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

42.  "Evil and a Heathen" by Franz Ferdinand

43.  "Halloween Blues" by The Fratellis

44-51.  "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.

52.  "Friend of the Devil" by Grateful Dead

53.  "Maneater" by Hall & Oates

54.  "Hallow's Eve" by Hallows Eve

55-56.  "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.

57.  "Friendly Ghost" by Harlem

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

58.  "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.

59.  "Magic Man" by Heart

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

61.  "Devil Inside" by INXS

62-64.  "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.

65.  "Thriller" by Michael Jackson

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

66.  "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane

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

67.  "Devil's Child" by Judas Priest

68.  "Hotter Than Hell" by KISS

69.  "Pretend We're Dead" by L7

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

71.  "Heeby-Jeebies" by Little Richard

72.  "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.

73.  "Evil Love" by Meat Puppets

74-75.  "Fade to Black" and "Creeping Death" by Metallica

76-79.  "Halloween," "Death Comes Ripping," "Mommy, Can I Go Out & Kill Tonight," and "Bloodfeast" by The Misfits

80.  "Shout at the Devil" by Mötley Crüe

81-82.  "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and "I'm Your Witch Doctor" by Motörhead

83.  "Frankenstein" by New York Dolls

84.  "Spiderwebs" by No Doubt

85.  "Running Scared" by Roy Orbison

86.  "O Fortuna" by Carl Orff

87-88.  "Bark at the Moon" and "Zombie Stomp" by Ozzy Osbourne

89.  "Dracula's Wedding" by Outkast

90.  "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr.

91.  "Satan's Bed" by Pearl Jam

92.  "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.

93.  "Zombie Zoo" by Tom Petty

94.  "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.

95-96.  "Fallen Angel" and "Flesh and Blood (Sacrifice)" by Poison

97.  "Halloween" by Matt Pond PA

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

99.  "Going to Hell" by The Pretty Reckless

100.  "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.

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

102.  "Diablo Rojo" by Rodrigo y Gabriela

103-105.  "Sympathy for the Devil," "Dead Flowers," and "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones

106-108.  "Soul Sacrifice," "Black Magic Woman" and "Evil Ways" by Santana

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

110.  "Witchcraft" by Frank Sinatra

111.  "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.

112.  "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.

113.  "Serial Killa" by Snoop Doggy Dogg

114-115.  "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" and "The Witch" by The Sonics
Halloween has room for garage rock, too.

116.  "Fell On Black Days" by Soundgarden

117.  "Wicked Garden" by Stone Temple Pilots

118.  "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.

119.  "Santeria" by Sublime

120.  "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads

"You're crazy!"  

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

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

122.  "See No Evil" by Television

123.  "Here Comes the Night" by Them

124.  "Killer On the Loose" by Thin Lizzy

125-126.  "Demon On Demand" and "Sinister Minister" by Township

127-128.  "Running With the Devil" and "D.O.A." by Van Halen

129.  "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.

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

131.  "Burning the Witches" by Warlock

132.  "Got My Mojo Working" by Muddy Waters

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

134-137.  "Death Letter," "Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground," "Little Ghost," and "Walking With a Ghost" by The White Stripes

138.  "Boris The Spider" by The Who

139.  "Frankenstein" by The Edgar Winter Group

140.  "Friends of Hell" by Witchfinder General

141.  "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder

142.  "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.

143-144.  "Dragula" and "Living Dead Girl" by Rob Zombie