the Horror, the High blood sugar, the Humor, and the Heightened confidence

Halloween is made up of these four elements. And these 13 songs will harness the forces of those 4 elements, delivering the best Halloween experience possible.

the Horror

Michael Jackson- “Thriller”

I don’t know if there is a more quintessential song for this holiday. The song is perfect, but the music video/ short film supplied pop culture with a staple whose impact is irreplaceable. I imagine that everyone has a story about the first time they watched the video or tried to learn the dance. My elementary/ middle school put on a performance each year for all grades called “Thriller”. This was the one display of Halloween that I was allowed to participate in. My mom was so anti-Halloween I couldn’t even go to the Fright Fest Six Flags trip in 6th grade. I built up the courage to audition for the modeling part of the show in 7th or 8th grade. She must have been so moved by my excitement over being selected that she okayed my involvement in the festivities. It’s been over a decade so some of the details are blurry. My education from years of watching America’s Next Top Model secured my position as one of the models closing the runaway act of the show. My mom wouldn’t buy a costume, so my sympathetic family helped me make a mummy costume out of old clothes. I can’t explain the hysteria around the day of the show. It was a bigger deal than your class play because every grade got to see you perform. Thriller is not just the album that stayed at the #1 spot on the Billboard charts for 37 weeks. It is not just the red leather jacket, werewolf, and jheri curl that took over the world. It is more important than just the dance I could never fully learn, so I had to struggle through the choreography in the back of the lineup. It is that smile that comes on your face when the narrator draws you in before “you start to scream, and terror takes the sound before you make it.”

Guns N’ Roses- “Welcome To The Jungle”

This song is chaos. It is wild. It is captivating. This classic is the 2nd song played in my favorite film Lean On Me. “Welcome to the Jungle” is the summary of the Purge films before they were even thought of. The guitar, the moans, the screams, and the lyrics teleport you into the “jungle.” The song plays with your emotions. The bridge of the song calms you for a moment, after two and half minutes of banging your head.

And when you're high, you never

Ever want to come down

So down, so down, so down, yeah

And then the guitar and Axel Rose’s voice reminds you…

You're in the jungle, baby

You're gonna die

Eminem- “Bad Guy”

I could have inserted at least 20 Eminem songs here because of his creativity and ability to get people to sing along to the most heinous thoughts of his psyche. Or better yet the psyche of the characters he portrays in his music. “Bad Guy” is the story of Matthew Mitchell (the brother of “Stan”) coming to kill Marshall Mathers for the role Matthew feels Marshall played in the death and mocking of “Stan.” “Bad Guy” is on The Marshall Mathers LP2. “Stan” is the groundbreaking song off The Marshall Mathers LP that is recorded as correspondence between a fictional crazed fan of Eminem and the rapper himself. “Bad Guy” is a horror/thriller film in a song. I compare it to M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable, Split, and Glass films. These geniuses could see the end of a saga 20 years before they showed it to the world. (Technically, I don’t definitively know that Eminem planned to do a conclusion of the story of “Stan” when he originally wrote that song. I do feel that The MMLP2 was him holding himself accountable for many things in his life and his seamless ending of Stan’s story through Matthew is the perfect example of that. There is no feeling more connected to horror than revenge.)

Lil Wayne ft. Eminem- “Drop The World”

I remember the feeling I had when this song came out. Every time I hear it that same feeling surges through me. I know the whole song, lyric for lyric. I still stumble and lose my breath over some of Eminem’s verse but that is excusable. The song makes you feel invincible. I think of Wayne talking about how one of his goals was to be on a track with Em. This was also on his rock album, Rebirth. People may have laughed when he was learning the guitar or wondered how a song with he and Eminem would sound. Wayne did the unexpected and if that’s not an aspect of Halloween I don’t know what is. Without all those other facts, “Drop The World” is perfect for a Halloween playlist because it is grungy and both emcees rhyme about how they’re supernaturally different from everyone else.

Hozier- “Arsonist’s Lullaby”

With apprehension and clauses, I declare that this track is eerily relatable and informative.

All you have is your fire

And the place you need to reach

Don't you ever tame your demons

But always keep them on a leash

We all have varying nuances/skills/interests that set us apart from everyone else and it is important that you hold on to those pieces of yourself. Keep whatever it is that makes you special but don’t allow it to consume you. On a strictly horror level, the humming of this song puts you in a trance and by the end of it you are surrounded by flames. Hozier’s voice is so soothing you are not singed by the fire, only comforted.

Now, if starting fires happens to be your niche “gift”, find another gift.

“Container”(from the television series The Affair)

Disclaimer: Spotify doesn’t have the Fiona Apple version of the song I fell in love with but the Southern Creek Players definitely did the song justice.

I was interested in the Showtime series because of Joshua Jackson (Pacey from Dawson’s Creek) and Dominic West (McNulty from The Wire) but the moment I heard that intro song I was solving the murder before I knew who the characters were. Sadly, I fell behind with the show, but I still listen to the song all the time. The song let the viewers know that “the affair” the title references would not be the only affront the show depicted. The track creates mystery because it becomes very difficult to figure out who is a reliable source.

I have only one thing to do and that's

Be the wave that I am and then

Sink back into the ocean

“Sink back into the ocean” is repeated as the song fades out. Whoever the “I” represents causes havoc and then disappears until they’re moved to wreck those at the surface once again. A wave is never gone forever much like Jason, Freddy, Candyman, Chucky, etc.

the High blood sugar

Young the Giant- “My Body”

When I was thinking of the hankering for candy that overcomes the world during the time of Halloween this was one of the first songs I thought of.

My Body tells me no, but I won't quit

Cause I want more, cause I want more

My Body tells me no, but I won't quit

Cause I want more, cause I want more

I know the song is not about candy per say, but it is about not being able to stop doing something that is destroying you. Images of insane nights exceeding everyone’s physical limit flash through my mind. Halloween demands more.

Sammy Davis Jr., - “The Candy Man”

This is the first song that popped into my head when I was up to the sugar element of Halloween. The latest edition to the Candyman saga tried to taint a song so pure and infectious, with their rendition of the tune. They did it marvelously too, because I have not sung along with it since I watched the Nia DaCosta directed film. That is a serious feat because the song is so catchy. I know Candyman isn’t real, but I am not going to type it again. The pleasant memory that is fighting to stay attached to this song in my mind is running to the corner store after school on Halloween, getting the free candy, and devouring it before I got home.

the Humor

Levi Stubbs and Little Shop of Horrors- “Mean Green Mother From Outerspace”

This showtune is hilarious and outrageous. Audrey II is an extra-terrestrial plant that feeds off human blood. This is the moment in the film where Seymour fully realizes he has no control over the monster he has catered to and profited from. Audrey II has started bullying Seymour and convinces him to kill the dentist boyfriend of Seymour’s love, Audrey. This song comes from a “children’s” musical but there’s cursing and a lot of adult insinuating. Audrey II quickly becomes the most entertaining villain in the film and is the reason this film is rated PG-13.

The Lonely Island ft. Natalie Portman- “Natalie’s Rap”

With The Lonely Island I had so many songs to choose from because their music is rooted in comedy. I went with this song off the first album because it brought Natalie Portman into a genre she’s not known for. Halloween gives you the freedom to be whoever you want to be for one night. To pretend and to exaggerate. Also, this song really cracks me up.

the Heightened confidence

Rosario Dawson- “Out Tonight”

Disclaimer: I know Rosario was not a part of the original cast of Rent but her version of the song is the one I listen to the most because of the film.

It must be the costumes infused with the alcohol that intensifies the confidence of people during Halloween. Now in this case Rosario’s character, Mimi, doesn’t need Halloween to make her live life to the fullest but the song itself fits perfect for the point I am trying to make.

In the evening I've got to roam

Can't sleep in the city of neon and chrome

Feels too damn much like home

When the Spanish babies cry

So let's find a bar

So dark we forget who we are

But all the scars from the nevers and maybes die

I “wanna wail at the moon like a cat in heat” when that part of the song comes. The song is meant to be performed with everything you have, no inhibitions or reservations.

Bibi Bourelly- “Sally”

The beat of the track intertwined with Bibi’s raspy voice must make even the most reluctant to dance start moving their shoulders. This song feels like when you are running on your highest frequency and your friends are hyping you up as you dance. The lights are warmer and the hairs on your arms are vibrating with the music.

Childish Gambino- “Terrified”

I started getting overheated just thinking about this song. It is sensual and seductive. Gambino going from talk-singing to hitting high notes on the track adds to the suspense of the song. For some reason I was late listening to “Awaken, My Love!” and when I saw him perform it, I was paralyzed. My soul started rocking side to side in my body. The song is just perfect.

You are fully equipped to have the best Halloween of your life now.