Martin’s Music: Halloween Rocks
October 7, 2022
Written by Martin A. Nemeth
The 1950s have been called the Golden Age of Rock and Roll. It was also the Golden Age of Horror. When the decade began, horror comics dominated the newsstands. Pressure from parents’ groups, and a Senate investigation (fueled by Frederic Wertham’s book THE SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT) led to most publishers adopting the Comics Code, one of the strictest codes of censorship to be applied to any media. This effectively ended the horror comics for a while. The words “Horror” and “Terror” were forbidden in titles of books, as were vampires, werewolves and zombies. Meanwhile, film studios were selling and licensing their films to television stations, desperate to fill airtime. Many classic, and not so classic, horror films found a brand new audience on local tv shows, often presented by appropriately ghoulish hosts and hostesses. Horror comics made a comeback by the end of the decade, in magazine format (outside of Code jurisdiction). Warren Magazine had great success with titles like CREEPY, EERIE and VAMPIRELLA as well as FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND.
Two years after defanging comic books, parents groups found a new threat to the American Way of Life, a young man from Mississippi named Elvis Presley, and the music he played, Rock and Roll. Many saw Elvis as the Antichrist (the first rock star to have that distinction). Like comic books and horror movies, Rock and Roll was seen as trashy and a corrupting influence over young people. It is probably no surprise, then, that Horror movies influenced many Rock and Roll songs to adopt horror themes, first as novelty records and later in a more serious vein.
Of course, horror themes have always found their way into music. Classical pieces such as Berlioz’s “Witches Sabbath”, Mussorsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain”, Lizst’s “Faust” and Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” (which was heard in many horror movies). Folk songs dating back hundreds of years also delved into horror themes. “King Henry” tells of a king being seduced by a hideous hag and “Tam Lin” relates the story of a woman who helps a reclusive Lord defeat a fairy curse on Halloween. Both songs were later recorded by folk rock bands Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention.
American folk ballads and blues songs have also dealt with the supernatural. The best known would be “Crossroads” by Robert Johnson, which deals with the Faustian them of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for the ability to play the blues. Howlin’ Wolf weighed in with “Evil” and Louis Armstrong did two Halloween themed jazz records, “Skeletons in the Closet” from 1936 and “Spooks” from 1952. As Rock and Roll became more prominent, horror themed records popped up on the charts throughout the Fifties and early Sixties. Most notably there was “Haunted House” by Jumpin Gene Simmons (no relation to the bassist for Kiss), later covered by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. There was also “One Eyed One Horned Flying Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley, “Voodoo Voodoo” by Lavern Baker”, “Love Potion Number Nine” by the Coasters, later covered by the Searchers and “I Put a Spell on You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. “I Put a Spell on You” was originally intended as a ballad, but the version that came out was the result of a wild party in the studio that turned into a drunken jam session that was recorded and released with Hawkin’sknowledge until he heard it on the radio. He soon developed a stage act where he would dress up as a witch doctor and be carried onstage in a coffin. These theatrics would predict later such acts as David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne and Alice Cooper. In 1962 came a song that has been indelibly associated with Halloween, “Monster Mash” by Bobby Boris Pickett. This was an instant hit and charted several times throughout the years.
The British Invasion, led by the Beatles, brought over some more Halloween inspired songs. The Beatles didn’t delve much into horror, although “Baby’s in Black” had a dark theme of a woman who wouldn’t shed her mourning dress. There was also “Eleanor Rigby” which has an eerie theme of desolation and loneliness and “Maxwells’ Silver Hammer” a happy little toe tapper about a serial killer. Their masterpiece (one of many) was “A Day in the Life” which also has an air of eerie menace to it, especially in the chaotic orchestral bridge.
The Rolling Stones, looked like refugees from a horror movie to many parents, still getting used to the Beatles, and were one of the first bands to be accused of outright Satanism. They released “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Midnight Rambler”, inspired by the Boston Strangler.
One band that had a few memorable horror themes was the Who. Their hit single “Boris the Spider” has become a Halloween standard and they also gave us “Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde”.
One outrageous figure from the United Kingdom was Screamin’ Lord Sutch, who gave us such classics as “Dracula’s Daughter”, “Monster Man” and his signature piece “Jack the Ripper”. There was also the wildly theatrical Arthur Brown, who weighed in with “Fire” and would appear on stage in ghoulish costumes and makeup, with a flaming headdress. An American counterpart to Brown would be Dr. John the Night Tripper, who incorporated voodoo imagery of his native New Orleans into his music, especially his debut album GRIS GRIS. There was also “Season of the Witch” by Donovan and an early track by David Bowie “Please Mr. Gravedigger”.
American groups were also deep in the horror themes throughout the Sixties. After “Monster Mash” there was “My Girlfriend is a Witch” by October Country, “The Spider and the Fly” by the Monocles and “The Lurch” by Ted Cassidy, reprising his role from televisions ADDAMS FAMILY, which, along with TWILIGHT ZONE, THE MUNSTERS and ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, are classic televisions shows with horrific and fantastic themes to them.
Most of these records were novelty songs that were all in fun, but, in the wake of the Beatles and Bob Dylan, rock and roll began to take on a more serious tone. Much of the horrors of the Vietnam war and racial unrest pushed vampires, ghosts and werewolves out of many rock songs. Some groups like the Doors and the Velvet Underground took on many dark themes that weren’t necessarily horror, but did influence a lot of glam, punk and goth bands. “The End” and “People are Strange” by the Doors had an air of menace about them, however, and would fit pretty well into any Halloween playlist. The same could be said about the Velvet Undergrounds’ “Black Angels Death Song”, the darkly humored “The Gift” and “Lady Godiva’s Operation” a chilling tale of a lobotomy gone wrong. Also from this period were “Bad Moon Rising” and “It Came out of the Sky” by Creedence Clearwater Revival and “Voodoo Chile” by Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Another notable band, known for their dark themes was Black Sabbath. Originally Earth, they changed their name to Black Sabbath after seeing the Boris Karloff movie of the same name. All of them were fans of classic horror movies, as well as the, then current, output of Hammer studios. Many people misinterpreted the name and themes of the music to mean that they were Satanists, mostly thanks to an ill advised promotion by their American record company Warner Brothers. Some of their notable songs were “Paranoid’, “Fairies Wear Boots”, “NIB” and “Black Sabbath.
Horror themes, both frivolous and serious, continued into the Seventies. Frank Zappa gave us the instrumental “Transylvania Boogie” and “The Torture Never Stops” among other memorable moments. The decade also produced such memorable numbers as “Witchy Woman” by the Eagles, “Witch Queen of New Orleans” by Redbone, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult, “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon, “Wuthering Heights” and “Hammer Horror” by Kate Bush and the instrumental tour de force “Frankenstein” by Edgar Winter group. Country artists weighed in with “Monster Holiday” by Buck Owens and “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by Charlie Daniels Band.
One Rock artist who traded exclusively on horror themes to great success was Alice Cooper. Claiming to be the reincarnation of a 16th Century witch, Cooper often presented a ghoulish presence which frightened many parents, who though he was the Devil incarnate”. His concerts resembled Broadway plays that seemed to be based on horror movies. Notably horrific songs by Cooper are “Welcome to my Nightmare”, “Black Widow (with guest vocals by horror star Vincent Price), “Billion Dollar Babies”, “Go to Hell”, “Clones” and “Feed My Frankenstein”. David Bowie also indulged in theatrics and dark themes but was more influenced by Science Fiction.
Two rock musicals made it to the silver screen in the mid-seventies that provided many memorable Halloween songs. THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW and PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE. The former was a campy musical which featured songs such as “Time Warp” and Tim Curry’s memorable number “Sweet Tranvestite”. This has become a cult classic and has been playing at midnight shows almost continuously since its release in 1975. The latter was much darker and frightening, incorporating elements of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, FAUST and PORTRAIT OF DORIAN GREY.
The mid-seventies saw the rise of Punk Rock and New Wave which returned to a simpler style of playing as well as new experimentation. Two major influences were Iggy Pop, both with the Stooges and Solo, who recorded such songs as “Gimmie Danger”, “Death Trip” and “Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell” with the Stooges and “Sister Midnight” solo. There was also the New York Dolls who recorded “Frankenstein” and “Who Are the Mystery Girls”.
Many punk bands were horrific but didn’t really delve too deeply into horror. The Sex Pistols were more into horrifying people then they were in doing scary songs and the Clash tended to be more political. The Ramones, pioneers of punk as we know it, were known for many cartoonish songs about mental illness, freaks and violence, often presented humorously. One notable song by them was “Pet Sematary” (sic), the theme song to a Stephen King Movie. (Horror writer Stephen King is said to be a big Ramones fan).
One Halloween inspired group was the Damned, who often used ghoulish imagery in their stage act and album covers, especially lead singer Dave Vanian, a former gravedigger, who dressed in black and had a vampiric look about him. Horror themed songs by them include “Plan Nine, Channel Seven”, “Wait For the Blackout” and the Who inspired “Grimly Fiendish”.
Perhaps the U.S. equivalent to the Damned was the Misfits, who called their sound “Horror Punk”. While not being as prominent as the Sex Pistols or the Ramones, they slowly developed a cult following and are one of the most popular punk bands today. Their trademark was a grinning skull that came from the movie serial “Crimson Ghost’ and their songs include “Land of the Dead”, “American Nightmare” and Night of the Living Dead.”
There was also the Cramps, who played a hybrid of punk and rockabilly called Psychobilly. Often dressed in ghoulish clothes and makeup they played songs such as “Teenage Googoomuck” and “I Was a Teenage Werewolf.”
Other notable Punk and New Wave songs with horror themes include, “Attack of the Giant Ants” by Blondie, “Psyco Killer” (sic) by Talking Heads, “Prince of Darkness” by Bowwowwow, “Dead Man’s Party” by Oingo Boingo, “Count Dracula Where’s Your Trousers: and “Horror Movies” by the Bollock Brothers, “Fright Night” by Sparks and “Cannibal Café” by SNFU.
The 80s also saw the rise of the Goth genre, which dealt in dark themes and imagery. Many state that the first Goth band was Bauhaus. Their best known song “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” was featured in the vampire movie The Hunger (Starring David Bowie). Another Goth influence was Siouxsie and the Banshees, who recorded songs such as “Spellbound”and” Limblessly in Love” .
The 80s also saw the release of another song that has become a Halloween standard, “Thriller” the title track of Michael Jackson’s most famous, and best selling album. Vincent Price can be heard on this track and the video, featuring Jackson dancing with Zombies and monsters was in heavy rotation on the, then new, cable channel MTV.
Rap and Hip Hop, while mainly dealing with life on the streetsand partying, had a few horror themed numbers as well. “Nightmare on My Street” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince,“Mr. Ouija” by Bone Thugs and Harmony, “This Monster” by Eminem, “The Haunted House of Rock” and “Freaks Come Out at Night” by Whodini.
The early 90s saw the release of Time Burton’s film THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, with music by Danny Elfman, former frontman of Oingo Boingo. The soundtrack features the classic song “This is Halloween” among other great songs fitting with the Halloween theme. Elfman also worked on other Tim Burton films such as MEN IN BLACK, BATMAN and PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE.
In the 90s, there were fewer songs with explicit horror themes, with most acts like Marilyn Manson opting for an overall horror image while exploring other themes in their music. There were songs like “Enter Sandman” by Metallica, “Zombie” by Cranberries, “Ghosts” by Marilyn Manson and “Halloween” by Aqua.
The new Millennium saw the rise of Rob Zombie, another horror fan who introduced such elements into his music. His songs include “Super Beast’, “Dragula” and “Living Dead Girl”. Zombie also moved into directing and producing movies suchsas HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, DEVIL’S REJECTS and a remake of the 70s horror film HALLOWEEN.
There were fewer horror themed songs in recent years. There was “Toxic”, by Britney Spears, “Monster” by Kanye West, “Haunted” by Beyonce and “Transylvania Concubine” by Rasputina which was featured in an episode of television’s BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.
While many rock and pop songs deal with love and loss, or social issues there have always been occasions where artists have visited, and even traded in, the realm of horror and darkness. Much of this reflects the collective fears of the human psyche, which horror brings to light, sometimes seriously and other times not so seriously. As long as there is music and art, the horrific aspects of our imagination will always be expressed in one way or another.