Dead Man's Party

"It's a dead man's party. Who could ask for more? Everybody's comin’, leave your body at the door. Leave your body and soul at the door.”

🎃👻💀🕷🧙‍♀️

I love making lists, I love music, and I love All Hallows’ Eve, not necessarily in that order. As such, the challenge to put together and share the ultimate Halloween party playlist (UHPP) was impossible to ignore. It was also nearly as impossible for this zaftig geek to accomplish.

“Why?” You ask?

Well, I’ll tell you.

Firstly, there’s the fact that I’m a Virgo. Yes, I’m bringing the zodiac into it, because I believe in astrology, and most everything I’ve read about Virgos holds pretty dang true.

For those not in the know, the motto of the Virgo is ‘I analyze’ and boy do we. We analyze and overthink everything.

Things to overthink about this challenge:

• What would the ultimate Halloween party be like?
• Where would it be held?
• Who would be invited?
• Will there be kiddos?
• How long would it last?
• Will there be a dance floor?
• What makes a playlist the ‘ultimate’?
• How many songs should it have?
• Do they have to be explicitly Halloween songs or just fit the vibe?
• What if the judges have never heard some of the songs?
• Is my eclectic taste going to be too jarring?

Then there’s the sounding board, no pun intended. Okay, maybe the pun was a little intended. I mean I could have worded it differently.

I discuss my writing with writer friends, my mom and, because he was going to get subjected to my playlist plotting, a coworker. Everyone had their own ideas of what has to be on a ‘UHPP’.

One advisor insisted, “It has to have Monster Mash!” While another was absolutely adamant that it should be, “Anything but that Monster Mash crap!” That debate sent me into a long game of ‘Do I include childhood favorites or don’t I?’ I mean, they’re Halloween staples, but are they, like my coworker opines, overplayed?

Oh, and Mom’s suggestion? “That song that starts, “Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood,” which it turns out is actually named Little Red Riding Hood, because the wolf howl at the start used to scare the crap out of her when she was younger.

So, here it is, the proverbial eleventh hour and I have finally stopped thinking, having decided on what the outline of my ultimate Halloween party would be. Family and friends(from near and far) in a location that allows for music and dancing and for the kids and adults to have separate but interminable areas of fun. Tricks and treats, costumes and games, and the assurance that no one has to drive if they decide to imbibe. And of course, decorations to do my late brother, the King of Halloween proud.

Party basics settled, I then set some rules for myself and put together what I think of as my Ultimate Halloween Party Playlist. The guidelines I set for myself are as follows:

1. Choose no more than two songs per artist or group
2. Reflect my admittedly eclectic tastes
3. Include nods to my self-proclaimed ZaftigGeekness
4. Include at least one song from my favorite local band, Blair Crimmins & The Hookers
5. Top out at no more than 3 hours runtime
6. Be based around my own personal favorite Halloween song
7. Start with family friendly songs for the kiddos to enjoy before segueing into more grown up tunes.

So, without further ado…

Welcome to the Dead Man's Party!!

This Is Halloween 🎃 Danny Elfman - Seems like the only song to start this playlist off with.

Monster Mash 👻 Don Hinson & the Rigamorticians - I had to. It’s the quintessential Halloween song, I’ll just skip it when I play this list at work.

Scooby Doo 🐾 Ohio Express - Who doesn’t love Those meddlesome kids and their dog?

Keep Your Head On Halloween 💀 Descendants Cast - I’m not going to lie, I loved the Descendants as much as my kid.

The Halloween Dance 💃🏻 🕺🏻 Reverend Horton Heat - I’m a sucker for instructional dance songs.

Spooky Scary Skeletons ☠️ LVCRFT - I discovered LVCRFT while putting this list together and highly recommend everyone check them out. I could have so easily broken rule 1 multiple times over for them.

Casper the Friendly Ghost 👻 Little Richard - Does this one really require an explanation?! It’s Little Richard singing Casper!

The Purple People Eater 👾 Sheb Woolley - One of the songs of my childhood. A Halloween staple.

Calling All the Monsters 👹👺 China Anne McClain - Disney knows talent and the song itself is catchy and easily gets stuck in my head.

Main Theme: The Addams Family 🤏🏻 Vic Mizzy & Hi Orchestra w/ Chorus - The First Family of Monsterdom had to be represented here.

Skeleton Sam 💀 LVCRFT - My favorite new Halloween song, second only to Dead Man’s party. It’s just so fun and danceable.

Hex Girl 🪄 Moon Sisters/The Nostalgia Girls - Another shout out to Scooby Do and crew!

This is the Night 🧙‍♀️🧙‍♂️🧙🧙🧙‍♂️ The Weird Sisters - Of course Harry Potter was going to be represented in some way on this list.

I Put A Spell On You 🪄 PattyCake - I couldn’t find a Bette Midler version, but this one is pretty magical!

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Theme 🧛‍♂️ Michigan Music Works - I’ve actually went as Buffy for Halloween so I had to represent and it seemed a good song to announce that the kids portion of the party is over. Music gets paused and kiddos get herded, with teens to look after them to a different area of the house for more movies, games and snacks and the adults get to take over.

Of course, in my house that just means a few of us might have a drink or two, and the games will change to board and tabletop games that may not be quite as kid friendly, or easy to play.

The Crypt Jam ⚰️ The Crypt Keeper - I love watching this show with my stepdad when I was in my early teens.

Dead Man’s Party ☠️ Oingo Boingo - It’s just not Halloween for me until I hear this song. In the last few days I’ve listened to it at least a dozen times. Halloween is starting early this year!

Zombie Hop 🧟 Zombina & The Skeletons - A song dedicated to zombies. Someone needs to make a Walking Dead fanvid!

A Nightmare On My Street 🛑⚠️🛑 DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - I couldn’t not invite these guys to the party!

Boris, The Spider 🕷 The Who - I hate- really, really hate- spiders, but I love this song.

Honky Tonk Halloween 🤠 Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures - A Country Halloween Song. Be still my heart.

Keeping’ Halloween Alive 👻 Alice Cooper - Is anyone really surprised this Alice Cooper song made the list?

Little Red Riding Hood 🧺 Sam Sham & the Pharohs - Mom’s suggestion, and she’s right the howls can be spooky. Plus, it’s a great old song.

Two Big Pumpkins 🎃🎃 Elvira - Elvira will always be welcome at any Halloween Party I throw.

Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard 🪦 Tom Waits -This man’s voice is haunting and rough and perfect for this list.

Werewolves of London 🇬🇧🐺🇬🇧 Warren Zevon - Like Little Red Riding Hood, this is a great old song that fits right in here.

Tell That Devil 😈 Jill Andrews - This Wynona Earp theme song will always call to mind demons for me.

Black Magic Woman 🪄 Santana - Speaks to me of witches and magic.

I Want Candy 🍭 Bow Wow Wow - Don’t we all on Halloween?

Trick or Treat 👻🍫 Nekromantix - Another new find that felt like a perfect fit. It really appealed to me.

Teen Wolf Main Title 🕴🐺 Dino Meneghin - I will happily admit I’m a Teen Wolf junkie and just wanted this instrumental on the list.

Somebody’s Watching Me 👀 Rockwell - Another Halloween must.

Thriller 🧟‍♀️🧟🧟‍♂️ Michael Jackson - Can you do a Halloween list without Thriller?

Jump in the Line 🪲🧃 Harry Belafonte - Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Bee….

Witchy Woman 🧙 The Hollies - Another great oldie that just fits the vibe.

A Demon Like Me 😈 Blair Crimmins & The Hookers - My favorite Hookers song. I was so happy it was appropriate for the list.

Ghostbusters 👻👻 Ray Parker, Jr. - Who you gonna call?!

Goblin Girl 👹 Frank Zappa - I find myself picturing the orcs of World of Warcraft when I listen to this song.

Creatures of the Night 🕷🧟‍♂️🧙🧙‍♂️ Mannheim Steamroller - How did I not know that they did more than just Christmas music?!

Scarecrow 🎃 Beck - I love this song.

The Hanging Tree 🌳 James Newton Howard and Jennifer Lawrence - Haunting and eerie and beautiful. It makes me want to find that tree.

Halloween 👻 🎃👻 Siouxsie & the Banshees - Siouxsie does Halloween! I’m there.

Checked Out Early 🪦 Blair Crimmins & The Hookers - Just listen to the lyrics!

Come Little Children 🧙‍♀️🧙‍♀️🧙‍♀️ Madison Metricula Roberts - Calling out to the children in all of us. One last eerie song before we wrap things up.

Stranger Things Vs Halloween Mashup 👾🎃 Cinescore - New scary music + old scary music = mind blowing close out to the playlist.