Halloween Music (or lack thereof)

Originally written 10/23/7

It pisses me off to go into a store and see Xmas stuff out, when it’s not even Halloween. Halloween is one of the greatest holidays in the history of recorded holidays. And yet it’s Xmas that gets all the hype. Xmas gets to be a whole season. Halloween is by and large one night. Xmas gets all kinds of music, and Halloween really doesn’t have any music. It seems I can’t go through a Xmas season without hearing Jingle Bells done 500 times by 600 different artists. (Yea, I can’t figure that part out, either.)
Where’s all the songs for Halloween? Where’s all the songs about kids trick or treating? Where’s all the songs about ghosts and goblins? Where’s all the songs about the Headless Horseman or the Great Pumpkin? Where’s all the songs about getting dressed up for a Halloween party, drinkming tpoo much, and vomiting in the punch bowl? We have seriously missed the boat here.
Xmas has a song about just about every damn aspect of the holiday. From putting up decorations (Deck the Halls) to the actual decorations themselves (Silver Bells). There’s music for rocking around the Xmas tree, hanging up your stockings by the chimney with care and snowmen who come to life. Rudolph gets name checked in a bunch of songs. Santa and all his aliases are in just about every song.
Poor Jason Voorhees and Fred Krueger get no play. There’s no songs about the campfires at Crystal Lake. No choirs roaming up and down Elm Street. Xmas even gets a 12 day countdown. And what does Halloween get? The fricking Monster Mash. Really, that’s it. There’s a huge void for Halloween music, we just need some brave soul to start the ball rolling.
Dee Snider from Twisted Sister is giving it his best shot. Dee’s a huge horror guy. And he saw that there really is no Halloween music out there. So he got a project together to play theaters for the month of October. Named Van Helsing’s Curse, it’s the only Halloween band I know of.
Outside of that, you’re stuck with Gothic stuff. I personally recommend a band called Black Tape for a Blue Girl. Very gothic, atmospheric with female vocals. If you’re into that kind of thing, then I alos point to Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Tapping the Vein as other gothic bands. Hey, I bring the music, you bring the black nail polish.