The perfect Halloween mix is a hard thing to create. I should
know, every Halloween I try. & every Halloween I get really frustrated
& never finish it. There are so many directions to go. You can go with your
classic tacky tunes like the Monster Mash or just make a whole CD full of
pyschobilly & horror punk songs as their genres generally apply to
halloweenish themes. Or you can just leave on the Misfits for the whole month
of October & you would be pretty much set. Whatever songs you decide to
play this year here are some essentials that no Halloween is complete with.
Bauhaus – Bela Lugosi’s Dead
In my mind this will always & forever be the theme to Halloween.
The whole song, which is nine minutes long, is just down right creepy. The way
the guitar drones on & Peter Murhy cries “Undead, Undead” over & over
again is enough to send chills down any skeletons spine.
Concrete Blonde – The
Bloodletting
Best song ever written about vampires, hands down. This is
the kind of song that makes you want to wear all black, drink red wine &
smoke cloves all day.
The Cramps – Surfin’ Dead
The Cramps are one of those bands that have a lot of Halloween
themed songs. I Was A Teenage Werewolf, Zombie Dance, Human Fly, Aloha From
Hell. Almost any of their songs are prefect for the ghoulish occasion, but I
feel like Surfin’ Dead fits the mood best.
Anything by The Misfits
Seriously, they don’t have one song that isn’t appropriate
for Halloween. All of them about zombies, skulls, killing people, monsters, et cetera.
But if you don’t want to play the same band over & over, you are in luck
cause everyone & their mother has covered a Misfits song. My personal
favorites being Skulls by the Lemonheads, Halloween by Alkaline Trio, Hybrid
Moments by Idiot Pilot & No Use For A Name, Where Eagles Dare by Atom &
His Package, Astro Zombies by My Chemical Romance, & a very nice Misfits Medley
done by Zombina & the Skeletones.
The Ramones – Pet Semetery
The song stated above was written for the movie adaptation
of the Stephen King book of the same name. So you know its fucking good. I was
raised on the Ramones & Stephen King. Don’t question my logic.
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – I Put A Spell On You
This song never fails to blow me away. I honesly don’t even
know what to say about it. It would be a sin not to play it on Halloween, that’s
how amazing it is.
Siousxie & The Banshees – Halloween
Similar to the Cramps, this band has a handful of songs for
halloween. Generally speaking Goths capture the dark spirit of the season, instead
of just screaming about blood and zombies, they really make you feel like that apocalypse
is right at your door.
So there they are. Seven songs (well actually six songs & a band, but whatever) you have to have on your Halloween mix this year. & if you don't Satan will eat your soul. TRUFAX.
