Halloween Mix CD...

Come Halloween time, I like to make a little Halloween mix CD for myself. Back in the day we called 'em "mix tapes"... but that was a long time ago... before things like "horseless carriages" and "light."

Though I consider myself a bit of a "traditional" Halloween fan (less gore, and more black and orange), I must say that the "traditional" Halloween songs make me ill.
"Monster Mash"-- No.
"Flying Purple People Eater"-- no thank you.
"Dead Man's Party"-- not so much.

So every year, I like to assemble a Halloween Music Mix to put on when I carve jack o'lanterns, paint grave stones and bake pumpkin seeds.

Here's this years' 60 mins. worth of music...

1) Hells Bells: AC/DC
A nice slow on-ramp to the mix. Spooky bells, into rock 'n' roll. The song was also featured in my guilty pleasure Maximum Overdrive.



2) Sweet Dreams: Marilyn Manson
This was used in the "started off good and went in the crapper by the end"-film House on Haunted Hill. Manson makes the new-wave Annie Lennox song creepy as only he can.



3) Bad Moon Rising: Creedence Clearwater Revival
A lot of my chosen mix songs have to do with the horror movies I associate them with. This appeared in An American Werewolf in London, and forever shall be associated with that movie in my brain.



4) Superstition: Stevie Wonder
A good song by itself that reminds me of a cool windy autumn night... when no one's on the street and the rustling of leaves covers up any sound.
Also appeared in John Carenter's The Thing--- one of the best thrillers ever.



5) Don't Fear the Reaper: Blue Oyster Cult
Speaking of songs that remind me of fall... this song has been overused in the past 10 years, with the nail in the coffin being Will Ferrel's "more cowbell" sketch on SNL... but it will forever be remembered as the song playing in Halloween when the girls drive around... before the boogeyman showed up.



6) He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask): Alice Cooper
I know I put this video in my previous post about my Halloween mix-DVD, but come on: it's Alice Cooper singing about Jason Voorhees... complete with the "ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma" noise. A must have on my mix.



7) Living Dead Girl: Rob Zombie
From shock rocker to horror director, Rob Zombie, is the keeper of the horror/music crown these days. Living Dead Girl is a modern classic.



8) Red Right Hand: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Very atmospheric and used in Scream. Done and done. And why is his hand red? What did he do? Is it paint? Is it blood? It's a RED RIGHT HAND!



9) Dream Warriors - Dokken
Surprise... another movie inspired pick. This is, of course, from A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors. I've got to have a Freddy song to balance out the Jason song earlier in the mix. And I did NOT want to use "DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince: Nightmare on My Street" or "Do the Freddy." --Shudder--



10) Insect Eyes - Devendra Banhart
This song was used in the fantastic teaser trailer for The Hills Have Eyes 2.
This song... this song creeps me the hell out.
It starts off and you think it's a little silly... but what that guy does with his voice in this song and how the rhythm gets lost from time to time really unsettles you and messes with your head. Don't listen to this while driving alone at night. Trust me.



11) People Are Strange - The Doors
Wow, looks like most of my list are horror-movie related. Huh. See what you learn about yourself when you make a mix? This song was featured in The Lost Boys a movie I usually pop in twice a year: once in the summer, once in the fall... and probably the only Joel Schumacher film I return to.



12) Sympathy for the Devil - Guns n Roses
Featured at the end of Interview with a Vampire, I really like this cover. No it's not the Stones... but hey, it's a great song, and it came out when Guns was still cool.



13) Pet Sematary - The Ramones
The movie was very unsettling. The song? Catchy fun.



I'm only giving you 13 songs. Why? Ummmmm... because 13 is a scary number. Yep... that's it. I haven't actually timed out how long this mix would be. Let's assume it fills a CD.

Ok, your turn commenters: What songs are on your Halloween mix?