It's the most wonderful time of the year! The air is crisp and the nights are drawing in, which for many of us means an increase in horror movie watching and thinking nothing of spending our hard earned cash on new spooky furnishings. The abundance of halloween decor is tempting us all to fill our houses with more candles, plastic skeletons and horror character plushies and of course we oblige because "THIS IS HALLOWEEN"!!!!

Last year I put together a little list of some great horrorpunk tunes to add to your halloween playlist. This year I've decided to be a little more sedate, or maybe just a little bit more me. You see I am most definitely a home body and as much as I love to dress up for halloween I am out of my comfort zone at parties. I'd much rather cosy up at home in my Evil Dead jogging bottoms, with my fleecy spooky themed blanket collection and a selection of snacks whilst watching horror movies. This is me pretty much all year round but as halloween comes around I like to watch even more and get fully immersed. It is a ritual I have upheld for many a year now and I start to get excited from the start of September, once October has arrived I am in full halloween mode and there are a few songs and films that really make me look forward to spooky season!!

1

Francis Haines - "Trioxin Theme from Return of the Living Dead" (1985)

This iconic theme has inspired variations on the theme from bands such as Send More Paramedics and Siblings Of Samhain and will forever be the theme song that gets me excited for halloween! I'm a horror movie fan but my chosen sub genre is zombie movies. I guess most will associate slashers like the Halloween or Friday the 13th movies with the season more, which I get, but zombie movies will always take preference for me so it makes sense that this is my number one! I could easily have chosen a track by Goblin as my top track too but this tune just beats them to the top. Return of the Living Dead is one of those fun zombie flicks that is perfect for halloween. It's a great combination of comedy and horror, fabulous practical effects and a quality soundtrack throughout. Starting with this catchy, stabby '80s synth, over laid with a killer guitar riff is the perfect start to your halloween!!

2

Danny Elfman - "This is Halloween" (1993)

A classic song taken from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas which has long been a staple run up to halloween movie for me and when I'm sick of Christmas movies (which happens pretty quick) it is a great in between movie. I've been watching this most years since I was about 12 and this song always pops into my head from mid September onwards. More so now thanks to instagram reels and TikTok videos. Another song that has prompted covers from various artists. Marilyn Manson's cover is particularly awesome and I do also enjoy Korn's cover of "Kidnap the Sandy Claws" but that is less Halloweeny.

3

AFI - "Halloween" (1999)

Not from a movie this time but from a band I obsessed over in my teens. Their All Hallows EP was played on an almost constant basis for months when I first got hold of it and their cover of Halloween by Misfits will always hold that halloween nostalgia for me. I'm not completely ready until I blast this out at regular intervals across the spooky season. I am a fan of the original, of course, but I will go so far to say that I do actually prefer AFI's version.

4

Oingo Boingo - "No One Lives Forever" (1985)

My second Danny Elfman song of the list. This track is my favourite song on their Dead Man's Party album which is a great album but it was also used on the soundtrack to the hilarious The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) which has to be another must see over halloween. The track itself just makes me feel happy, it's quirky, catchy and very '80s!

5

Vic Mizzy - "The Addams Family theme song" (1964)

I think I knew this tune before I knew what halloween was all about and I remember watching repeats of the TV sitcom series which first aired in the 60's when I was still into Seasame Street! Morticia and Wednesday being my role models. Another tune that will convey that wonderful warm, fuzzy feeling of nostalgia at any time of the year but more prominently over Halloween.

So there is a bit of a look into what makes halloween so great for me personally. Do these conjure the same feelings of nostalgia for you or do you have others to add to the list?