Halloween music isn’t exactly a genre like Christmas music is. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t put together a killer playlist of songs that capture the spirit of spooky season. If you’re looking for inspiration ahead of your next costume party, Play Like Mum has got you covered. From rock classics to horror movie tracks, they put together a list of the most popular Halloween songs on Spotify.
In order to compile the ultimate October soundtrack, the website collected 226 Spotify playlists with titles containing words like Halloween and spooky and determined which songs were most likely to appear on them. The top track—“Monster Mash” by Boris Pickett—shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. It’s the only song that follows the Christmas music model for Halloween, and continues to break into the Billboard charts 60 years after its release. “Thriller” by Michael Jackson at No. 2 is another staple this time of year, but it’s more likely to be played on the radio year-round.
Movies are another major source of inspiration for Spotify DJs. “This Is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), the title song from Ghostbusters (1984), and John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) theme all appear in the top 20. Classic rock is a common theme as well, with listeners blasting “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult and “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC around October 31.
Many Halloween staples are 30-plus years old, but some newer tracks have managed to become modern classics. Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” has infiltrated Halloween Spotify playlists in the three years since its release.
You can view the full list of Spotify’s most popular Halloween songs below. And if you’re thinking a few months ahead, check out these (controversial) Christmas tunes.
- “Monster Mash” // Bobby Pickett
- “Thriller” // Michael Jackson
- “This Is Halloween” // The Citizens of Halloween
- “Time Warp” // Little Nell
- “Highway to Hell” // AC/DC
- “Somebody’s Watching Me” // Rockwell
- “Disturbia” // Rihanna
- “Spooky, Scary Skeletons” // Andrew Gold
- “Halloween Theme – Main Title” // John Carpenter
- “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” // Blue Oyster Cult
- “Psycho Killer” // Talking Heads
- “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” // Eurythmics
- “Dead Man’s Party” // Oingo Boingo
- “Stranger Things” // Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein
- “bad guy” // Billie Eilish
- “Toxic” // Britney Spears
- “Living Dead Girl” // Rob Zombie
- “People Are Strange” // The Doors
- “Ghostbusters” // Ray Parker, Jr.
- “Maneater” // Nelly Furtado
Michele Debczak
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