When you hear the term “holiday music,” you might think jingle bells and Christmas cheer, but Halloween is second only to the yuletide season for its exhaustive selection of mood music. Whether you’re draping the windows with cobwebs, hosting a costume soiree or answering the door to the neighborhood's candy gobblin’ goblins, you want a soundtrack that fits the festivities. Here’s a treat bag filled with the DAME’s Halloween musical favorites:

Kiddie Classics
“Monster Mash” – Bobby “Boris” Pickett
“Ghostbusters” – Ray Parker, Jr.
“I Want Candy” – Bow Wow Wow
“The Purple People Eater” – Sheb Wooley
“Witch Doctor” – Alvin and the Chipmunks
“The Addams Family Theme” – Vic Mizzy (R.I.P.)

Oldies But Goodies
“In the Midnight Hour” – Wilson Pickett
“I Put a Spell On You” – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (or Nina Simone)
“Spooky” – Classics IV
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” – Blue Oyster Cult
“Black Magic Woman” – Santana
“Bad Moon Rising” – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Standard Bearers
The Great American Songbook has a number of songs that fit the Halloween mood - “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “That Old Black Magic,” “Bewitched” and “Witchcraft” – to name just a few. Most of the great vocalists have tackled these tunes, but you can’t go wrong with Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald.

Beastly Tunes
“Thriller” – Michael Jackson
“Werewolves of London” – Warren Zevon (or you could switch if up with a decent cover by, of all people, Adam Sandler, from the tribute album, “Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon”)
“Psycho Killer” – Talking Heads (or a concert version by Moxy Fruvous on their “Live Noise” collection)    
“Season Of The Witch” - Donovan

Digging Deeper (like a grave!)
“Pet Sematary” – Ramones
“Ghosts Under Rocks” – Ra Ra Riot
“Dead Man’s Party” – Oingo Boingo
“Witch” – The Bird and the Bee
“Monster” – Fred Schneider
“Bela Lugosi’s Dead” – Bauhaus
“Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)” – David Bowie

Instrumentals
Some songs are just so naturally eerie that they don’t need scary lyrics to creep you out.
“Tubular Bells (Theme from the ‘Exorcist’)” – Mike Oldfield
“Ride of the Valkyries” - Wagner
"Night on Bald Mountain" - Mussorgsky
"Danse Macabre" - Saint-Saëns
"The Sorcerer's Apprentice” - Dukas  (I defy you not to picture Mickey Mouse and dozens of eager bucket-bearing brooms as you listen)

Hollywood’s Halloween Hero
The prolific film composer Danny Elfman has a catalog of soundtracks that offer a delicious combination of melody and menace. In the DAME household, his “Nightmare Before Christmas” is the Go-To disc for any/all costume, cookie and carving activities, but don’t forget his scores for “Sleepy Hollow” and “Beetlejuice” to help create an eerie mood, too.

One Stop Shopping
If you’re too busy, distracted or just plain lazy to make up your own mix, iTunes is offering a set of “Halloween Essentials,” starting with a basic mix of 25 tracks ($27.15) or a whopping 75-cut complete set ($79.35) that will keep the party jumping (or jumpy), along with separate mixes with themes like “Horror Movies,” “Vampires,” “Goth” and “Family Halloween.”

What have you got on your Halloween playlist? Feel free to make suggestions in the comments section, below.

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