I know what you're thinking. We're in the middle of the Halloween season. I'm primarily known as the "horror" guy. (I was even introduced last night to a stranger as the "king of horror," much to my embarrassment and mild amusement.) So where the hell is my Halloween themed mix?!? This should be a no brainer, right? I love music. I love horror. I should be able to put the two together with no problem, right? Believe or not, this has always been a difficult task for me. AJ Bowen once gave me a Halloween inspired mix CD shortly after wrapping on THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, which I still have & which thankfully introduced me to some amazing bands. So I started brainstorming.
Now, I've done plenty of articles on ICONS that touch upon my love of horror music. For example, MY TOP 10 HORROR THEMES, and then 10 MORE HORROR MOVIE THEMES FOR YOUR HALLOWEEN and finally my TOP 5 SDTKS OF 2013. Those for the most part specifically focus on horror "scores." I haven't quite perfected the art of making a good Halloween mix that combines a few horror themes here, a few horror themed rock songs there, and so on. But I figured I'd probably use "Dream Warriors" by Dokken (an obvious but rockin' choice), and maybe Siouxsie & The Banshees "Face To Face," even though it's from BATMAN RETURNS and hence is probably more appropriate for Christmas since that's a Christmas-themed movie. Sean once used "Wolf Like Me" by TV On The Radio, so that's a solid choice. I'd probably sprinkle a bunch of John Carpenter themes all through out. And the music from the impossible-to-beat FRIDAY THE 13TH Nintendo video game. OK, I've got a foundation here.
Then I got together with AJ the other night and he handed me a freshly burned CD mix that read "A Normaltown Halloween 2014." The next morning, I picked up a handful of magazines I'd been meaning to catch up on and threw on this new mix as I read. And guess what? Everyone can go home now. AJ has won Halloween for 2014.
The good news is his mix making abilities are still top notch and this is the best mix I've gotten in ages. The bad news is I can't top it so I won't even try. Good news again? I now have a full year to think up my own Halloween mix. It's a great mix of Halloween inspired songs, movie score themes, and recognizable songs from Halloween themed movies. He freakin' put on "No Shelter," the song that plays during the Halloween dance in THE KARATE KID for Crom's sake! (Reminding me once more that THE KARATE KID is in fact a Halloween movie.) How can I possibly beat this?! I can't. Instead I'll share it with all of you. Without further ado:
A Normaltown Halloween 2014:
1. Halloween TV Commercial by Tommy Lee Wallace & Alan Howarth (From HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH
2. The Innkeepers by Jeff Grace (From THE INNKEEPERS)
3. Psycho Killer by Talking Heads (From BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON)
4. Transformation by Miles Goodman (From TEEN WOLF)
5. Headless Horseman by Kay Starr
6. Dexter Main Theme by Rolfe Kent (From DEXTER)
7. Halloween (She's So Mean) by Rob Zombie & The Ghastly Ones
8. Michael Kills Judith by John Carpenter (From HALLOWEEN)
9. No Shelter by Broken Edge (From THE KARATE KID)
10. The Twilight Zone Theme by Jerry Goldsmith (From THE TWILIGHT ZONE)
11. Cry Little Sister by G Tom Mac (From THE LOST BOYS)
12. Main Title by John Carpenter/Alan Howarth (From HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH)
13. Natural Trail To Hell by Weird Al Yankovic (From the album IN 3D)
14. Cemetery Polka by Tom Waits
15. He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask) by Alice Cooper (From FRIDAY THE 13TH VI: JASON LIVES)
16. Halloween by Siouxsie & The Banshees
17. Haunted by Rob (From MANIAC)
18. Killer Klowns by The Dickies (From KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE)
19. Monster Mash by Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
20. Li'l Red Riding Hood by Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
I seriously love this mix. I already ripped it and saved it as an iTunes playlist and plan on listening to it straight through the rest of the month. The only thing I personally would've added (or swapped) is the HALLOWEEN III main theme. It's a good ambient track, but I've always loved the theme titled "Chariot Of Pumpkins." (Below) It could be my favorite John Carpenter piece of music and I listen to it more and more as we barrel towards Halloween day.
Got any Halloween themed playlists of your own? Would love to see 'em!
