As we find ourselves midway through the month of October, the giant cobwebs and bright-lit pumpkins have finally made their way out in front of the Lincoln Park homes. While students and kids alike have begun scurrying to find this season’s favorite costumes, many have still not fallen into the Halloween spirit.
When Election Day is scarier for most people than the last day in October, there’s a clear problem Halloween hasn’t kicked in on everyone. Though I wouldn’t blame that notion on the October 31st holiday, it is apparent that many of us need to be lured into the Halloween spirit.
Therefore, here are just some of the many festive melodies and songs to get students in the right mood for this year’s Halloween.
1. “Thriller” – Michael Jackson
Easily the most popular festive song of the Halloween season, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is not only a regular season hit but also one of Michael Jackson’s most-downloaded songs. The 13-minute music video that accompanies “Thriller” is just as iconic as the song itself, being as it was MTV’s first world premiere video – airing in 1983. The video – which was estimated to cost less than a million dollars at the time — was directed by John Landis, the horror mind behind An “American Werewolf in London” and the “Twilight Zone” movie, who with Jackson went on to earn the video a Grammy award.
The video has become not only a Halloween staple but an undeniable influence on all music videos thereafter.
2. “Ghostbusters” – Ray Parker, Jr.
Possibly just as popular as Jackson’s “Thriller,” Ray Parker Jr.’s hit song, “Ghostbusters” went hand-in-hand with the success of the film by the same name of which it was made for. When approached to create a theme song for the film, Parker only had days to write its lyrics and drew inspiration from a late-night cheap commercial on television, resulting in a pseudo-advertising jingle. The song and film were so successful that they not only earned Parker an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, but also put him at the top U.S. Billboard’s Hot 100.
3. “This is Halloween” – Danny Elfman
Joining “Ghostbusters” in the ranks as one of the best Halloween films of the season, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is full of brilliant music and lyrics by composer Danny Elfman. One of the best songs of the 1993 stop motion animated film is song “This is Halloween,” which introduces the viewer to the marvelous and frightening “Halloween Town”, a fantasy world filled with citizens such as deformed monsters, ghosts, vampires and more. There are not many better ways to get in this season’s festivities than with the “The Night Before Christmas” and “This is Halloween.”
4. “Monster Mash” – Bobby “Boris” Pickett
The oldest of the songs on this list, the 1962 novelty song “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett has always been a classic Halloween tune. Covered throughout the years by various artists, “Monster Mash” remains one of the longest running Halloween hits.