By Katherine Abissi
All Hallows Eve is fast approaching, and those classic tunes for the season are back once again. In the list below, I’ve taken the time to pair Halloween songs with the genre to which they might belong.
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is a famous Halloween song with an even more famous music video to match. The iconic beat, lyrics, and Vincent Price’s chilling voice for the outro serve as perfect additions to the horror genre of the tune. In the song, the events of a horror movie play out, but Michael Jackson can’t actually “save you from the terror of the screen” as “Thriller” comes for us all. The music video adds to the horror aspect, especially the moment when Jackson dances as a zombie along with several other monsters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA
“I Put a Spell on You,” sung by Bette Midler, is featured in the cult classic Halloween movie Hocus Pocus. The film centers sixteen-year-old Max, his little sister, Dani, and Alison as they fight the recently resurrected witches from the 17th century. The song features the refrain, “I put a spell on you” and alternates between different lyrics like “now you’re mine/you’re gone.” The song itself is meant to literally be a spell which is a playful twist perfect for the romantasy genre, named for works that combine both romance and fantasy elements. An all-powerful witch who searches for her lover for 300 years who seduces him by disguising a spell as a song could totally be a scene from a New York Times bestselling romantasy novel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCTbr3vjb6I
“Somebody’s Watching Me,” a classic Halloween song by Rockwell, features a man who feels as though he is being stalked. The line between paranoia and genuine illegal activity is blurred as the narrator describes coincidences that are a bit too coincidental. The lack of privacy and constant presence fits the dark romance genre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YvAYIJSSZY
The staple song “Season of the Witch” can easily represent the fantasy genre. The song has been re-popularized by Lana Del Rey, who released her version for the movie Spooky Stories to Tell the Dark. The song centers around a female character who is accused of being the witch. Del Rey’s version is softer and more hypnotic than Donovan’s original, almost as if she herself is the witch, a common sight in fantasy stories. Magic and witches are often staples of the fantasy genre. There are also a lot of fantasy stories focused on witches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA4OjrpVsiY
“The Addams Family” is a classic Halloween song that centers around the Gothic family. The song provides an introduction to the family in a fun and lighthearted beat. The iconic song is not very long but does a good job incapsulating who the Addams family is. This is a trait it has in common in biographies, books that recount events and other details of people’s lives from an outside perspective. The cult classic song “Monster Mash” possesses the same elements of a biography; however, the story is told from Dr Frankenstein’s perspective about a day in his lab, which makes the song a strange and spooky autobiography. Additionally, “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr is the classic theme song of the Ghostbusters movies. The song serves as an autobiographical recount of ghostly encounters and the message to call the Ghostbusters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfawtDT945o
Finally, “The Hearse” is a folk song that has no identifiable author. After listening to the song, which may date back as far as the Crimean War, one can hear the elements of fables and horror. The vivid grotesque imagery lends itself to the horror genre as well as the content of the lyrics. In Rusty Cage’s version, the piano provides a chilling backdrop to the uneasy song. However, it still serves as a warning as you shouldn’t “ever laugh as a hearse goes by for you will be the next to die,” fulfilling its purpose as a fable. While it’s not a long song, shivers will run down your spine at the graphic depictions of death emphasizing the message of respecting death. Other iconic Halloween songs that fall under this category include “This is Halloween” from the Nightmare Before Christmas as the citizens of Halloweentown explain their town and Jack Skellington. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xclh_676KwE
What is your favorite Halloween song? What novel genre do you think it belongs to?
