Upgrade Your Halloween Party Playlist Beyond 'Thriller'
Get into the Spooky Season Vibes with These 30 Contemporary Pop and Campy Classic Songs
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Everyone knows "Thriller" and "Monster Mash." But if you really want to impress the guests at your costume-party rager, or just get into the Spooky Season mood yourself, it's time to put some (after)life into your Halloween playlist. Check out a few dozen of our personal picks, arranged by genre to fit your mood.
Looking for even more suggestions? Check out the Great Pop Culture Debate's full Halloween Party Playlist, with 150+ tunes that bring the spooky and the fun. And check out our Halloween Collection featuring podcast episodes perfect for the season, including Best Horror Film Franchise, Best "American Horror Story" Character, Best Movie Monster, and much more!
Modern pop
Ludo, "Scare Me." This relatively unknown song should be on every Halloween Party playlist. It rocks and it is explicitly about Halloween.
The house will be jumping when you hit the bridge — especially if the house is haunted.
Christina Aguilera, "Haunted Heart." This sexy, vampy track was for the 2019 animated Addams Family movie, and will put a shiver down the spine of any fans of Xtina's Back to Basics album, or Amy Winehouse's catalogue.
LVCRFT, "Skeleton Sam." LVCRFT is a music-making collective that focuses explicitly on making Halloween hits. This one has an upbeat vibe with a little shimmy — think Meghan Trainor if she was possessed.
Slayyyter, "Miss Belladonna." One of SLAYYYTER's more PG-13 tracks, this song about a deadly woman will hit for anyone who enjoys Kim Petras, Charli XCX, etc.
Duran Duran, "Danse Macabre." Before you say, "Dude, Duran Duran is 40 years old; it's not modern" — yes.
But the band has produced consistently good music ever since the 1980s, and in 2023 put out a whole Halloween album loaded with great tracks for Halloween parties.
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Duran Duran's Halloween album, "Danse Macabre," got a deluxe release in 2024.
Classic rock
Blue Oyster Cult, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." Moody, atmospheric, and haunting, this is both a bummer and a banger.
If you play it, be ready for the inevitable, "I have a fever...and the only cure is...MORE COWBELL!" references.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Bad Moon Rising." Equal parts upbeat and spooky, this classic track is a crowdpleaser, especially for nihilists.
AC/DC, "Hells Bells." So many AC/DC songs could fit a Halloween playlist, but we're going with this given the dire tolling bell in the lead in.
And, you know, the whole "going to hell" thing.
Fleetwood Mac, "Rhiannon." Let's switch it up with something a bit more ethereal, a bit more magic, a bit more...witchy. While not explicitly a Halloween song, "Rhiannon" undeniably feels mystical, no doubt in part due to alleged actual witch Stevie Nicks' vocal.
Alice Cooper, "Feed My Frankenstein." You can't say "classic rock" and "Halloween" without mentioning Alice Cooper.
Every day is Halloween for Cooper, who has a few songs about the spooky holiday. This song is capital-H horny; let's ignore the fact that Frankenstein was the name of the scientist, not the monster.
Shock-rocker Alice Cooper has plenty of hits perfect for Halloween on "Mascara & Monsters: The Best of Alice Cooper."
'80s bangers
Dead Or Alive, "Something in My House." A lesser-known song from the "You Spin Me Round" Brit-pop band, this one is both about Halloween and bad relationships, and it is absolute fire.
This one deserves way more attention at Halloween.
Oingo Boingo, "Dead Man's Party." Between this song and "Weird Science," Oingo Boingo frontman Danny Elfman launched himself into one of cinema's spookiest composers.
Enjoy his more aggressively party-rock sounds while avoiding zombies.
The Smiths, "How Soon Is Now?" Used as the theme song for "Charmed," a soundtrack cut from The Craft, and multiple other supernatural-themed TV and film projects since the 90s, this is not actively about Halloween, but it sure feels spookery.
Siouxsie and the Banshees, "Spellbound." I mean, the band literally has "banshees" in it, and lead singer Siouxsie Sioux frequently sported a face of grease point.
And it's about magic! And it rocks!
Bow Wow Wow, "I Want Candy." Yes, I know they're not actually talking about candy. But this song is super catchy and will get the party bumping, and give you an excuse to give away your leftover trick-or-treating candy.
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Oingo Boingo's "Best O'Boingo" is loaded with creepy party pop perfect for Halloween.
FILM/TV
Ray Parker Jr., "Ghostbusters." Obvious? Sure. But 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Ghostbusters, and we should celebrate this Halloween.
After all, busting still makes us feel good.
Jace Everett, "Bad Things." This song might not ring a bell, but as soon those opening bass chords come in you'll recognize it as the Southern rock theme to HBO's sexy, soapy vampire drama, "True Blood."
The Citizens of Halloweentown, "This Is Halloween." If you have late Gen X-ers or elder Millennials at your Halloween party, putting this song from The Nightmare Before Christmas on your playlist is basically a guaranteed sing-a-long.
Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, "One Way or Another (Hocus Pocus 2 Version)." This remake of Blondie's iconic glam-rock track was given a full witchy reworking for the Hocus Pocus sequel, making it into a campy Halloween confection.
Cast of Only Murders in the Building, "Creatures of the Night." Season 3 of Hulu's "OMITB" centered on a Broadway musical production of a murder mystery, and featured shockingly great original songs, like this soaring opener, led by Martin Short.
The "True Blood" soundtrack is loaded with creepy, sexy songs featured in HBO's vampire show.
Jazz/blues
Ella Fitzgerald, "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead." Everyone knows this classic track from The Wizard of Oz, but jazz icon Fitzgerald cast her unique spell on it, transforming it into a slinky cocktail party track.
Louis Armstrong, "Spooks." Speaking of jazz legends, Louis Armstrong puts his inimitable spin on this storytelling song about supernatural creatures going bump in the night.
Kay Starr with Orchestra, "Headless Horseman." Sounding shockingly similar to "Spooks," make sure you space out these last two songs on your playlist.
But they're both great, and Starr's is a bit more upbeat (though it's about a decapitated assailant).
Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs, "Lil' Red Riding Hood." Straddling the line between blues and rock, this classic track has a lecherous quality it to it that may put off some listeners.
The Atomic Fireballs, "Man with the Hex." Remember when everyone was obsessed with swing dancing in the late 90s/early 00s? The Millennium was wild.
This blazing track is a great addition to get your joint jumping.
Comedy/campy
Jeff Richmond, Tracy Morgan, "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah." Initially, a seconds-long cutaway gag on "30 Rock," "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" went viral, so show songwriter Jeff Richmond, star Tracy Morgan, and writer Donald Glover made a full-length version.
Elvira, "13 Nights of Halloween." If you ever thought, "Why is there no Halloween version of 'The 12 Days of Christmas?', I have good news: There is, by B-horror icon Elvira, who delivers this ridiculously fun parody song with a great disco groove.
Moxy Früvous, "Splatter Splatter." A catchy spooky pop/rock song inspired by 80s and 90s slasher films. Another track that deserves way more Halloween airplay.
"She loves attention, she...craves attention." Terrific.
Jonathan Coulton, "Re: Your Brains." A jangly mid-tempo ditty about a zombie trying to reason with his colleague about why he should let the undead horde eat his brains, littered with corporate jargon.
Johnny Wild and the Delights, "Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein, or Dracula." A rollicking 50s rock track about a guy whose gal only gets amorous while watching scary movies. A perfect Halloween Party dance track.
Eric Rezsnyak is the founder and host of the Great Pop Culture Debate podcast. He is a journalist, writer, cultural critic, and trivia champion.