7 Super Spooky Songs For Your Halloween Playlist

Every Halloween party needs a great Halloween playlist. Now, you may have some other songs that you prefer. Music from the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show comes to mind. But the ones listed below are some of the most popular Halloween songs.

I thought I’d do a little reading on Wikipedia.org to learn more about the history of Halloween. Basically, Halloween is a shortened term for All Hallow’s Eve. It’s a traditional Christian celebration the evening before All Saints’ Day.

However, it wasn’t until the 1800’s that the celebration began to become popular in the United States. Generally, the Irish and Scottish people who migrated here during that century brought many Halloween customs with them. In fact, back in their home countries, they put a burning coal or candle inside a hollowed-out turnip or rutabaga. Once they arrived on our shores, they began to hollow-out and carve up the native pumpkin into a “jack-o-lantern.”

So, what about trick-or-treating on Halloween? According to Wikipedia.org, this tradition began back in Europe as “souling.” Basically, groups of soulers would ask rich people for cakes. Then, in return, the soulers would pray for the souls of the people who gave them a cake. When did this tradition become trick-or-treating in North America? Probably in the early 1900’s. The earliest mention of the term in print comes from Alberta, Canada in 1927.

Finally, the tradition of wearing costumes on Halloween stems from the late 1800’s in Scotland and Ireland. Children would wear “false faces” and run around with lanterns during All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween. Subsequently, here in the U.S.A., Halloween costume parties for adults as well as children became popular during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Naturally, wearing costumes and trick-or-treating were eventually combined to celebrate Halloween.

Before we get to our suggestions for your Halloween playlist, we thought we’d hand out some honorable mentions. First, there are some cool “witch” songs like “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac, and “Witchy Woman” by Eagles. Then, you have the “evil” tunes such as “Evil Ways” by Santana and “Evil Woman” by Electric Light Orchestra. Additionally, there are the “devil” songs like “Devil Woman” by Cliff Richard and “Devil Inside” by INXS. But wait, there’s more! How about “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels Band. And we cannot forget “Runnin’ With The Devil” by Van Halen. Of course, there's also "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo. That's become a cult classic over the years even though it never charted. But you can catch them performing it on screen in the classic Rodney Dangerfield comedy film Back to School.

Now, on to our top seven scary songs for your Halloween playlist!

Although this song really isn't about the walking dead, we just can't resist adding this to our Halloween playlist. The Irish band, The Cranberries, released this single in 1994 and it topped the pop charts in eight countries. Here in the U.S.A., "Zombie" reached #1 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart. The lyrics are about "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. This was a time of great unrest and violence. According to Wikipedia.org, over 3,500 people were killed between the late 1960's to the late 1990's. Thousand of others were injured in numerous bomb attacks in Ireland and England.

This song originated in the 1960's. The Strangeloves released their version in 1965, using that famous "Bo Diddley beat." In the early 80s, the English new wave group Bow Wow Wow with lead singer Anabella Lwin, released their version of "I Want Candy." It was a top 10 hit in their home country but only reached #62 here in the U.S.A. in 1982 according to Wikipedia.org. However, even though the song did not chart well at that time, it has since become a new wave classic. VH-1 ranks it at #86 on their list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's, and at #8 on their list of the Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s. And what does every kid want on Halloween? Candy!

You may only recognize the piano riff on this song. Kid Rock sampled it for his 2008 worldwide smash, "All Summer Long." It's from Warren Zevon's highest charting single of all time, 1978's "Werewolves of London." The single reached #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year according to Wikipedia.org. You may also remember actor Tom Cruise dancing and singing along to this tune in the 1986 film The Color of Money. Incidentally, that's Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie playing bass on this track. However, they don't appear in the video.

The founder of Motown Records, Berry Gordy Jr., decided to help out a young performer who called himself Rockwell. That performer happened to be Gordy's son, Kennedy Gordy. Well, Rockwell also got a couple of former Motown superstars to sing backing vocals on the paranoid smash, "Somebody's Watching Me." Jermaine and Michael Jackson helped out one of their young friends, and the result was a huge 1984 hit which reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

One of the great sci-fi comedies of the 1980's, it's the theme song from the film Ghostbusters. The movie starred Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Rick Moranis. It's a comedy classic from the MTV decade. The theme song by Ray Parker Jr. spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the summer of 1984. However, after it's success, Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker Jr. for plagiarism. He felt Parker had ripped off the melody and bassline from the Huey Lewis and the News smash, "I Want A New Drug." The suit was eventually settled out of court. Ya gotta love all the cameos in this music video. "Who ya gonna call?"

Well, this song is a must. First recorded and released way back in 1962, it's been played on the radio every year since then during October. In fact, "Monster Mash" has entered the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart four times! The single reached #1 upon it's initial release in 1962. Then it barely entered the chart in 1970, peaking at #91. A few years later, it reached the top 10 in 1973. And finally, more recently in 2021, it peaked at #37. That is an incredible 60-year history.

Of course! What other song could hold the top spot on our Halloween playlist? It's only one of the most famous music videos ever created. The video for "Thriller" wasn't just a music video. It was really a short film at over 13 minutes in length. Even though the song was not the biggest hit from the album Thriller, it might be one of the most enduring tunes from the best-selling album in history. Especially around Halloween. The music video was actually given a premiere date on MTV. Once it aired, it doubled sales of the album. Incredible! The documentary about the making of the "Thriller" music video sold over a million copies, becoming "the best-selling videotape at the time," according to Wikipedia.org.