Realizing Resonance’s Top 13 Songs for Halloween

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The philosophical theme for Realizing Resonance in October is the Paranormal, and the inspiration for this is Halloween. However, unlike Christmas, Halloween does not have an official soundtrack. The most pervasive Halloween song is the classic Monster Mash, but I feel like the lack of other common tunes for the spooky season causes this old standby to get overplayed. With this in mind I have devised my own Halloween soundtrack, 13 songs that capture the spirit of those things that terrify and horrify, not including Monster Mash. Some of these songs are actually about Halloween, while others cover cult classic horror movies or novels, or have a fearsome theme. Not too much philosophy here, except to say that horror is a facet of fear that fascinates humans to no end, for some odd reason. Why do we seek to scare ourselves with haunted houses and horror movies? Aristotle pointed out this paradox of tragedy long ago, that we should seek out a type of fear such as horror for our enjoyment, and he suggested that this must be a form of catharsis that allows us to overcome and deal with our own personal fears.

#13: “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)” by Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper has so many dark and creepy songs that I could create a suitable Halloween list from his catalogue alone. My song selection here may actually come off as odd to Alice Cooper fans since there are so many other great tracks that fit, but this song is actually the theme for Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives, my favorite tale in the Jason Voorhees saga. Jason was truly killed in Part IV, and in Part V the killer is a copy cat, but it is in Part VI that Jason is resurrected and becomes the unstoppable zombie stalker that epitomizes the franchise.

“You’re with your baby and you’re parked alone on a summer night. You’re deep in love, but you’re deeper in the woods.”

#12: “Dream Warriors” by Dokken

I love all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, but my favorite is the third installment, Dream Warriors, where Freddy Krueger haunts the sleep of a group of young psychiatric patients in a mental institution. The kids discover that they each have a unique special power that they can wield inside their dreams to fight back against Freddy. The music video for this song places Dokken into scenes from the movie, with Freddy pulling guitarist George Lynch through a wall as he finishes his guitar solo. Good campy fun.

“I lie awake and dread the lonely nights, I’m not alone. I wonder if these heavy eyes can face the unknown.”

#11: “Dead Skin Mask” by Slayer

This songs is about the real killer and body snatcher Ed Gein, an American who was caught in 1957 with horrific human trophies in his home, made from bones and body parts. Mr. Gein was the inspiration for the character Leatherface in the movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as well as Norman Bates in Pscycho and the killer James Gumb in The Silence of the Lambs. The story of a gruesome man presented by a bloodcurdling band.

“Simple smiles elude psychotic eyes, lose all mind control rationale declines. Empty eyes enslave the creations of placid faces and lifeless pageants.”

#10: “Vampire Heart” by HIM

Although this song is more Goth metal metaphor than Halloween anthem, the title reference and chorus line put visions of fangs in my head. Vampire vocals and whaling ghostly keyboard hook make this track more than appropriate for the season.

“Hold me like you held on to life. When all fears came alive and entombed me. Love me like you love the sun scorching the blood in my vampire heart.”

#9: “Pennywise” by Pennywise

Pennywise is the extremely creepy clown with the power to manifest one’s deepest fears into reality, the evil nemesis in Stephen King’s magnum opus of the macabre, It. This is by far one of the scariest books ever. I could not put it down many years ago as I huddled in my bed reading late at night in the dim lamp light. A few bands have been inspired by Stephen King novels, like Anthrax who has written at least a few songs about his stories, Misery, The Stand, and Apt Pupil. However, Pennywise owes their entire band name to the master of horror.

“Clear your mind hide your fear. Don’t look around, don’t turn around. Pennywise is here.”

#8: “Pet Sematary” by The Ramones

Another song based on a Stephen King novel, and the first book I read by the eerie author. The Ramones released this track for the film adaptation of the book, but like most Stephen King movies the book is much scarier. The strange burial ground in the story allows for the dead to return to the living, but not the in the same condition as before. The premise is fairly gruesome already, but Stephen King’s choice of nemeses in Pet Sematary is particularly horrifying.

“Follow Victor to the sacred place. This ain’t a dream, I can’t escape. Molars and fangs, the clicking of bones, spirits moaning among the tombstones. And the night when the moon is bright, someone cries, something ain’t right.”

in this house by devin roberts

#7: “In This House” by Devin Roberts

In full disclosure Devin Roberts is my brother, but is an extremely talented artist if fairly unknown. He wrote this song for our old band isa, but since we broke up before we could record it as a group the only version that exists is entirely performed by Devin. This is a great pop song about ghosts and haunted houses. Click on the play button above to hear “In This House”.

“We talk to angels, spirits from the other world. They are the miracles, the spoken of but never heard. In every home there’s a broken shadow of a man, brought on by something that is left but never forgotten.”

#6: “Mr. Crowley” by Ozzy Osbourne

The live performance of this song from the Randy Rhodes Tribute album is amazing. The tone is set by a spooky pipe organ intro, but Randy’s guitar playing is historical and enthralling. This is Ozzy at his best, covering the kind of material that earned him his reputation as the prince of darkness. For those who don’t know, Aleister Crowley was a famous British occultist in the early 20th century, a man who pushed the envelope of normalcy in his time, just as Ozzy himself did.

“Mr. Crowley, what went on in your head? Oh, Mr. Crowley, did you talk to the dead? Your life style to me seemed so tragic with the thrill of it all. You fooled all the people with magic, yeah you waited on Satan’s door.”

#5: “Living Dead Girl” by Rob Zombie

No Halloween list is complete without Rob Zombie, who like Alice Cooper could have a list all by himself. Especially since Zombie directed the awesome and gruesome 2007 remake of the slasher epic, Halloween. I heard an interview last year in which Alice Cooper talked about the first time he saw White Zombie perform. Cooper said that he knew right away that Zombie would be a hit because he had figured out the secret to selling horror, make sure to add an element of humor in order to temper the fright. Like many Rob Zombie tunes, this one is an ode to several cult classic horror movies.

“ Psyclone Jack, hallucinating hack thinks Donna Reed eats dollar bills. Goldfoot machine creates another fiend. So beautiful, they make you kill.”

#4: “Thriller” by Michael Jackson

I remember getting to stay up late for the MTV world premier of this video back in 1984, and how I thought it was the best thing I had ever seen. The 14 minute masterpiece has Jackson turning into a werewolf and a zombie, with the most emulated choreography on the planet. It’s entirely possible that Michael Jackson did as much as Romero to promote the world wide zombie craze.

“It’s close to midnight, and something evil’s lurking in the dark. Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart. You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it. You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes, you’re paralyzed.”

#3: “Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)” by Type O Negative

It is hard to top Michael Jackson’s Thriller, but the next three tracks are about Halloween specifically. Type O Negative’s late singer Peter Steele looks like Frankenstein and sounds like Dracula, deep, dark and dangerous. The humoristic references to black hair die and Lilly Munster are murdered by much more disturbing passages in the middle of the full 11 minute version of this song. It is not for the faint of heart.

“She’s in love with herself, she likes the dark. On her milk white neck the Devil’s mark. It’s all Hallows Eve, the moon is full. Will she trick or treat? I bet she will. She will. Happy Halloween.”

#2: “Halloween” by Helloween

A song called Halloween by a band called Helloween has got to be close to the top. And this one is a 13 minute metal epic, with by far the scariest guitars on the list. There are so many crazy guitar solos, one of them sounds like a screeching banshee, and at the end there is a fast harmony solo that sounds like a grand battle between good and evil. Even if German progressive metal bands with operatic singers are not your thing, this song must be included in any self-respecting Halloween soundtrack.

“Someone’s sitting in a field, never giving yield, sitting there with gleaming eyes, waiting for big pumpkin to arise. Bad luck if you get a stone, like the good old Charlie Brown you think Linus could be right, the kids will say it’s just a stupid lie.”

#1: “This is Halloween” by Marilyn Manson

Marilyn Manson’s remake of the opening song from Tim Burton’s classic A Nightmare before Christmas is the creepiest and most excellently scary Halloween songs of them all. The original soundtrack is already great, with splendidly spooky lyrics, but Manson’s version is seriously possessed. I vociferously vote for Marilyn Manson to play Jack Skellington in a Broadway production of A Nightmare before Christmas.

“I am the one hiding under your bed, teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red. I am the one hiding under yours stairs, fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair. This is Halloween, this is Halloween.”

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