Every year, as soon as November rolls around and honestly, sometimes even before the Halloween candy is cleared from the shelves. The holiday music floodgates burst wide open. You cannot walk into a grocery store, turn on the radio, or scroll through social media without being bombarded by hundreds of different Christmas classics. There are thousands of festive tracks spanning every single genre imaginable, from jazz and country to pop and rock.
But when it comes to spooky season? The selection is shockingly slim. Let’s be honest: Halloween gets totally shortchanged on music. While Christmas has endless albums, symphonies, and new pop covers generated every single year, Halloween music mostly relies on a handful of novelty tracks and cinematic scores to carry the entire month of October. We just don't have the same massive catalog to choose from.
Thankfully, the few true Halloween staples we do have are absolute masterpieces. While the overall playlist might be short, I always find myself returning to my two personal favorites to get into the eerie spirit. First up is the ultimate spooky season founding document: "The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. Released all the way back in 1962, this track is pure nostalgic perfection. It’s goofy, catchier than it has any right to be, and Pickett's brilliant Boris Karloff impression never fails to make me smile. It feels like the musical equivalent of a classic, old-school haunted house—charming, a little campy, and entirely timeless. Six decades later, it's still impossible to throw a Halloween party without it.
Then, on the completely opposite end of the production spectrum, there is "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. If "Monster Mash" is the fun novelty warmup, "Thriller" is the undisputed King of Pop culture horror. From the opening creak of the door and the howling wolves to Vincent Price’s iconic closing rap, the track is a masterclass in atmosphere. What I love most is how the music video essentially turned the song into a mini 14 minute horror movie, cementing the graveyard zombie dance into history forever. It’s cinematic, brilliant, and arguably the greatest single piece of holiday music ever recorded.
So while we might not have a never-ending playlist of spooky tunes to rival the winter holidays, I'm perfectly content spinning these two on repeat. Quality over quantity, right?
What about you? Are you content with the classic handful of spooky tracks, or do you wish musicians gave Halloween the same musical love as December?
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