Christmas may get most of the holiday music love, but it’s not hard to scare up a frighteningly good Halloween playlist either. Before Mariah Carey defrosts, here are 12 tunes for your pumpkin-pumping pleasure.
Michael Jackson, “Thriller”
Still getting ghouls grooving in “Thriller” line dances all over the world four decades later — and that Vincent Price rap remains, well, priceless.
Rockwell, “Somebody’s Watching Me”
Michael Jackson also sang guest vocals on this haunting hip-shaker from 1983 that gives all the eerie feels. The King of Pop shared a Motown connection with Rockwell, who is the son of label founder Berry Gordy.
Ray Parker Jr., “Ghostbusters”
They somehow keep making “Ghostbusters” films after 40 years — hello “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” — and Parker’s No. 1 hit won’t quit either.
KC and the Sunshine Band, “I’m Your Boogie Man”
KC was possessed by a disco demon on this 1977 chart-topper that never fails to bring hellfire to the dance floor.
Duran Duran, “Hungry Like the Wolf”
Simon Le Bon and his wolfpack put out an entire Halloween-themed album, “Danse Macabre,” last year, and released a deluxe version of the LP in September. (They’ll also be bringing their “Danse Macabre” party to NYC’s Madison Square Garden on Halloween night.) Still, nothing beats them on the synth-pop prowl on this 1982 hit.
TLC, “Creep”
TLC may have been singing about a different kind of creeper on this No. 1 single from 1994’s “CrazySexyCool,” but devilishly dipping on the down-low has never sounded funkier.
Lady Gaga, “Monster”
She may be back in macabre mode with new single “Disease” and its video. But Mother Monster truly took us to the edge of gory singing about her heart being eaten — to a killer beat — on this slayer from 2009’s “The Fame Monster.”
Billie Eilish, “Bury a Friend”
The spooky-cool sounds of Eilish’s 2019 single are goth pop gold. But what’s really scary is how sick she was at just 17.
Beyoncé, “Haunted”
Queen Bey channels the spirit of Madonna’s “Justify My Love” over some sinister electro-soul from her surprise self-titled album that changed the game in 2013.
Olivia Rodrigo, “Vampire”
Sinking her own fangs into this piano ballad, the 21-year-old singer drives a stake through the “blood-sucker” who broke her heart on this 2023 No. 1 hit.
The Cranberries, “Zombie”
Even the walking dead would get their life from the rousing late Dolores O’Riordan. But really this 1994 alt rock classic is a protest song about a real-life horror: bombings in the Northern Ireland conflict that claimed young lives.
The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”
Mick Jagger as a shimmying Satan? “Nature” meets “game” on this wicked epic from 1968’s “Beggars Banquet.”
