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The Devil's Playlist

Rockin' around the cauldron

By Justin ElliottPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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The Devil's Playlist
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

So you have the best food, the most delicious drinks, the creepiest decorations. You’re all set, this Halloween party will go down in history as one of the best. Except… you forgot all about the music! How are you supposed to have the greatest party of all time in silence?! Well fear not, dear reader, for I am here to aid you in this, your hour of need.

Obviously, to be the best party, the music has to be on point. To me, it breaks down into three party ‘phases’, each having a unique feel all its own, and the music needs to reflect that, with all the 80’s love you can pour into it.

Phase One: Building Tension.

This is obviously the opening of the party, when people begin to arrive, get settled into the space, meet and mingle, etc. so the music reflects a more low key, background feel. As a result, a majority of it is instrumental or story driven, not necessarily made for dancing.

“Hedwig’s Theme” opens the list, it’s popularity gives it immediate recognizability and adds a feeling of magic and mystery. After that, we go into some popular themes for horror/thriller films or television. Friday the 13th, Jaws, X-Files, and Stranger Things, all popular and on theme, plus being in a minor key gives them a creepy vibe.

The next segment works more as a bridge, connecting Building Tension to The Horror. “Ghost Story” by Charming Disaster is a sweet story set to music, and The Addams Family Theme and “This is Halloween” are both fun and popular, with many able to sing along, leading directly into the beginning of The Horror.

Phase Two: The Horror

The Horror is the main portion of the party, so it is the longest section. This is when the festivities should be in full swing, people begin dancing, so it has more of a mix of ‘traditional’ Halloween music, and more contemporary music, though still with a creepy vibe.

We begin The Horror with a classic, a requirement of any Halloween party. I speak, of course, of “The Monster Mash”. It is iconic, and gets people pumped up! We follow immediately into another Halloween classic, “Thriller”. It doesn't get more undeniably Halloween than Micheal Jackson’s creepy hit. It slows a bit at that point with the lullaby “Come Little Children” from the Halloween staple “Hocus Pocus”, but picks back up with “Werewolves of London” and “Witchy Women”. Next you bring back some more classic movie nostalgia with “Ghostbusters”, followed by something for the younger partiers; Billie Eilish’s “Bury a Friend”.

As we slide into the back half of The Horror, we get everyone moving by doing the “Time Warp”, followed by “Evil Woman”, Stevie Wonder’s incomparable “Superstition”, and finish with “I’m in Love with a Monster”.

Phase Three: The Witching Hour

The Witching hour is bringing the party to a close, so it's a return to a more mellow sound, with a couple of annoying earworms added to the end to drive stragglers out. It’s meant to embody, ‘you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here’.

The Witching Hour starts with the hauntingly beautiful “The Highway Man” by Loreena McKennitt. Still with a dark message in the lyrics, it’s also ten minutes long. We follow with another long song about death, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. These should give people plenty of time to say their goodbyes and hit the road, and if not, we close with “999 Happy Haunts” from “The Haunted Mansion” and “Spooky Scary Skeletons”. These two songs, while undoubtedly fun in small doses, are horrendously annoying back to back, and will scatter any guests who haven’t gotten the hint that it’s time to go.

So there you have it, dear reader, a playlist guaranteed to take your already great party up to amazing. No one who attends your event will leave feeling dissatisfied by what was played. Enjoy the songs, and may your Halloween parties all be scary and, most importantly, fun.

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About the Creator

Justin Elliott

An aspiring writer that's just trying to hone his skills in his spare time.

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