Isn’t it funny how music playlists are born?

Let’s rewind to a camping trip from six years ago, at Harrisville State Park. You can read about that trip here:

https://wordpress.com/post/hebontheweb.blog/13130

Since that time, I’ve updated this playlist each year. I attempt to be diverse – include not only my favorite genres but some oddball genres, too. This year, I’ve added the genres of New Jack Swing, Reggae, Contemporary Pop, Heavy Metal, Rap, Rockabilly and Crabgrass (genre unique to Ypsilanti based band Black Jake and the Carnies which includes elements of punk, bluegrass and americana).

I don’t like cheesy stuff, so you won’t find “Monster Mash” or “Purple People Eater” on here! Some of the “Halloween” themes may be a bit tenuous, and this playlist may just be songs with themes about the devil, witches, curses, spells, zombies – drawing from as many different genres as I can. The oldest track on here is Toccata and Fugue by Bach – the most recent is Haunted House by McKenna Grace. Sure, that song is pretty much a breakup song, but…it’s my playlist, and I’ll add it if I want to! Hey, it was used in one of the new Ghostbusters movies!

No, I don’t have the Ray Parker Jr. Ghostbusters song on here. Why? It’s my playlist, and if I don’t want it, I don’t want it! Maybe I thought it was a bit overplayed in the ’80s!

New additions for 2024 include:

• I’m Your Boogie Man, KC and the Sunshine Band
• I’m Your Boogie Man, White Zombie
• Ghost of Stephen Foster, Squirrel Nut Zippers
• Hell, Squirrel Nut Zippers
• Haunted House, McKenna Grace
• A Night on Bald Mountain, (Fantasia motion picture soundtrack, Modest Mussorgsky)
• No Vampires Remain in Romania, Kings of Leon
• The Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden
• Rap Devil, Machine Gun Kelly
• You and Me and the Devil Makes Three, Marilyn Manson
• Devil Train, Stray Cats
• Boogie Monster, Gnarls Barkley
• Chase the Devil, Romeo
• Shout at the Devil, Motley Crue
• My Angel Marie, Last Ecstatic Liniment and Old Scratch Radio Show, Black Jake and the Carnies
• Music of the Night, Phantom of the Opera
• Limbo, Bryan Ferry
• Rihannon, Fleetwood Mac

And the remainder of the list:

• Dead Man’s Party, Oingo Boingo
• Runnin’ With the Devil, Van Halen
• The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead, XTC
• Main Theme, Halloween (John Carpenter)
• Main Theme and Rocky Mountain Theme, The Shining (Wendy Carlos)
• Sympathy for the Devil, The Rolling Stones
• Nightmare on My Street, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
• Dragula, Rob Zombie
• Living Dead Girl, Rob Zombie
• Partyman, Prince (Batman soundtrack)
• Treehouse of Horror theme music, “The Simpsons”
• Season of the Witch, Donovan
• The Ballad of Dwight Fry, Alice Cooper
• Waltz to the Death and Descent into Mystery, Batman soundtrack (Danny Elfman)
• Dead Souls, nine inch nails
• Stranger at the Window and Colquoun’s Story (Ravenous Motion Picture soundtrack)
• Shelob’s Lair, Howard Shore (Return of the King soundtrack)
• Night on Disco Mountain, Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (David Shire)
• Lullaby, The Cure
• Witchy Woman, The Eagles
• Thriller, Michael Jackson
• Toccata and Fugue, J.S. Bach
• The City Sleeps, MC 900 Foot Jesus
• Worlock, Skinny Puppy
• Jack’s Lament, The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Cry Little Sister (The Lost Boys soundtrack); The Devil Inside, Inxs
• Main Titles, Trick ‘r Treat
• In the Hall of the Mountain King, Edvard Grieg
• March of the Dead, Army of Darkness Soundtrack (Joseph LeDuca)
• Danse Macabre, Saint Saens
• Happy Phantom, Tori Amos
• Black Magic Woman, Carlos Santana
• Welcome to My Nightmare, Alice Cooper; Pretend We’re Dead, L7
• Is It My Body, Alice Cooper
• Dead Babies, Alice Cooper
• Killer Inside Me, MC 900 Foot Jesus
• Surprise You’re Dead, Faith No More
• Psycho Killer, Talking Heads
• Catch Hell Blues, White Stripes
• Heirate Mich, Rammstein
• A Forest (Tree Mix), The Cure
• The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Charlie Daniels Band
• The Dead Don’t Die, Sturgill Simpson
• Spooky, Dusty Springfield
• Mr. Crowley, Ozzy Osbourne
• Highway to Hell, AC/DC; Stranger Things (theme song Netflix series)
• You’re Dead, Norma Tanega (theme song What We Do in the Shadows)
• Heaven’s on Fire, Kiss
• Superstition, Stevie Wonder
• Candy, Iggy Pop
• Witch’s Promise, Jethro Tull
• Wicked Old Witch, John Fogerty
• Burn the Witch, Radiohead
• Waking the Witch, Kate Bush
• Nothing Else Matters, Paint it Black, Four Seasons/Winter, Main Titles; Wednesday TV Soundtrack
• Goo Goo Muck, The Cramps
• Strange Brew, Cream
• Bullet with Butterfly Wings, Smashing Pumpkins
• Halloween, Siouxsie and the Banshees