Horror Rock Classics Vol. 1 (1983)


Horror Rock Classics Vol. 2 (1983)


Halloween A Go Go (2008)


Monster Rock 'n' Roll Show (1990)


New Wave Halloween (1998)


These Ghoulish Things (2008)


Screemers (1996)


They Came From Outer Space (1998)


Doo Wop Halloween Is A Scream (2007)


Halloween's Gravest Hits (2009)


Halloween Stomp (1993)


Horror Hop (1994)


Monster Bop (1994)

Introduction. Like many men of my post-boomer generation, I developed an early and abiding fascination with monster movies. Before Farrah Fawcett and Cheryl Tiegs captured my adolescent fancy, I dreamed of Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I also loved rock 'n' roll, so when Bobby "Boris" Pickett's 1962 horror rock classic "Monster Mash" experienced a revival in 1973, I thought I'd reached nirvana - and yet the best was yet to come.

Over the years I developed another obsession - hip Christmas music - and inevitably discovered that Bobby Pickett had waxed a follow-up record called "Monster's Holiday." Oh, the unspeakable joy I felt that day.... "Monster's Holiday" was included, by the way, as a bonus track on the 1991 CD reissue of Pickett's Original Monster Mash LP (now deleted but easily available on MP3).

Like Christmas rock, horror rock peaked commercially during the innocent age before the Beatles. As rock developed pretensions during the 1960's, such novelties fell out of vogue. Again as happened with Christmas music, it took the punk rockers of the late 1970's - who overtly rejected the pretensions of their forebears - to revive horror rock (albeit weighted with nihilistic ennui).

My first horror rock records neatly bridged this divide. In 1983, a very young Rhino Records issued two 4-song, 10-inch EP's simply called Horror Rock Classics (1983) – one pressed on orange vinyl and shaped like a jack-o-lantern, the other made from regular black vinyl but shaped like a bat (see pictures, right). The Horror Rock platters included such classics as Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater" (1958), Jumpin' Gene Simmons' "Haunted House" (1964), and Pickett's prototypical "Monster Mash." And, they contained songs such as the Challengers' "Out Of Limits" (1964) and the Fiends' rendition of "The Addams Family Theme" (1964) - guitar-fueled romps beloved by the surf punks who haunted the original Rhino Records retail outlet in Santa Monica, California.

But, Horror Rock Classics also included "Cemetery Girls" (1979) by Barnes & Barnes, a post-Zappa, pre-Devo duo best remembered for their bizarre paean to "Fish Heads." By including a recent record among such classics, Rhino seemed to be saying that horror rock was back to stay, and indeed it was. In the years that followed, grotesque groups like The Cramps, The Misfits, and White Zombie flourished while Gothic rock (beginning with Bauhaus and The Cure) turned the genre into a lifestyle.

This page lists a handful of worthy horror rock albums (among an ocean of exploitive budget discs unleashed every October) and a crypt full of songs sure to thrill boys and ghouls of all ages... Do they thrill you? Drop me a line...

Randy Anthony

Scariest Albums

• Halloween A Go Go (Wicked Cool, 2008)
• Monster Rock 'n' Roll Show (DCC, 1990)
• New Wave Halloween (Rhino, 1998)
• These Ghoulish Things: Horror Hits For Halloween (Ace, 2005)
• Screemers (RCA, 1996)
  - mainly obscure novelties, including several comedy bits rescued from "Bob & Ray Throw A Stereo Spectacular," one of the first stereo demonstration discs

Honorable Mention: Do space aliens count in the horror genre? If you think so, seek out They Came from Outer Space: The Alien Songbook (Varese, 1998), a near encyclopedic look at rock hits featuring Martians and flying saucers.

Creepiest Rockers
...and a few of their creepiest songs

• Alice Cooper
  
  • Feed My Frankenstein
  • Prince of Darkness
  • Welcome To My Nightmare
    
• The Cramps
  
  • Creature From The Black Leather Lagoon
  • Human Fly
  • I Was a Teenage Werewolf
    
• Screamin' Jay Hawkins
  
  • I Put A Spell On You
  • Feast of the Mau Mau
  • Little Demon
    
• Roky Erickson
  
  • Creature With The Atom Brain
  • I Walked With A Zombie
  • Night Of The Vampire

Beyond The Grave
...great albums of horror rock obscurities

• Doo Wop Halloween Is A Scream (Wanda, 2007)
• Halloween's Gravest Hits (Capitol, 2009)
  - mix of vintage garage rock and scary sound effects
• Halloween Stomp (Jass, 1993)
• Horror Hop (Buffalo Bop, 1994)
• Monster Bop (Buffalo Bop, 1994)

More Great Kooky, Spooky Albums

• Dr. Demento Presents Spooky Tunes & Scary Melodies (Rhino, 1994)
• Elvira Presents Haunted Hits (Rhino, 1988)
• Elvira Presents Monster Hits (Rhino, 1994)
• Elvira Presents Revenge of the Monster Hits (Rhino, 1995)
• Freaks Come Out At Night (Madacy, 1998)
• Ghastly Grooves (K-Tel, 1997)
• Halloween Classics (Shout! Factory, 2008)
• Halloween Classics: The Evil, The Demented, And The Just Plain Weird (Sony Legacy, 2007)
• Halloween Garage Rock (Garage Masters, 2009)
  - probably a bootleg, but cool - and cheap!
• Halloween Hits (Rhino, 1991)
• Halloween Jam (BMG Special Products, 2003)
  - a few cheesy covers, but mostly unusual and/or rare selections
• Halloween Party Hits (Rhino Flashback, 2008)
• Haunted Hits: An Hour Of Scary Songs & Sounds (Rhino, 1996)
• Have A Howlin' Halloween (Sony Special Products, 1997)
  - budget CD with a few genuine obscurities
• Monster Mash Rock ‘n' Roll Party (Novelty, 1998)
  - great Sgt. Pepper parody cover, decent selection of tunes
• Monsters, Ghouls, Goblins, and Demons (Hip-O, 1999)
• Rockin' Bones: A Halloween Samper (Yep Roc, 2009)
• Ultimate Rockin' Halloween Party: American Horror Songs 1930s-1950s (Viper, 2009)

Modern Horror

• Halloween Hootenanny (compiled by Rob Zombie, 1998)
  - featuring trailblazing ghoul John Zacherle (see Spook Along With Zacherley, 1960)
• Monster Party 2000 (Musick, 2000)
• Garage Band Halloween (Collectables, 2008)
• Garage Band Halloween, Volume Two (Collectables, 2009)
• The Moon Rays
  - modern band that focuses exclusively on "surfing, monsters and spies..."
• Groovie Ghoulies
  - longstanding California pop-punk band in the tradition of the Dickies with overarching monster movie obsession

Spine-Tingling Songs

Here's a lengthy list of hair-raising rockers sure to set your toes a-tapping! With a few exceptions they are included on one or more of the albums mentioned above.

• Addams Family Theme
  • The Fiends (1964)
    - produced by Sonny Bono
  • Vic Mizzy & His Orchestra (1964)
• Alley-Oop (Hollywood Argyles)
• Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (Lewis Lee)
• Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman (Tubes)
• Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
• Bela Lugosi's Dead (Bauhaus)
• Black Magic Woman
  • Fleetwood Mac
  • Santana (1969)
• The Blob
  • Five Blobs (1958)
  • Little Stevie & The McQueens (1958)
• Bo Meets the Monster (Bo Diddley)
• Castin' My Spell (Johnny Otis Show)
• Clap for the Wolfman (Guess Who)
• Coolest Little Monster (Zacherle, 1960)
• The Creature (From Outer Space) (Jayhawks)
• Creature from the Black Lagoon (Dave Edmunds)
• Dead Man's Party (Oingo Boingo)
• Devil In My Car (B-52's)
• Devil Inside (INXS)
• Devil Went Down To Georgia (Charlie Daniels Band)
• Dinner with Drac (Zacherle)
• (Don't Fear) The Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult)
• Doin' the Zombie (Chubby Checker)
• Do They Know It's Halloween? (North American Halloween Prevention Initiative, 2005)
  - benefit single for UNICEF, parodies "Do They Know It's Christmas," features Beck, and members of Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sonic Youth, Rilo Kiley, and more
• Drac's Back (Billy DeMarco)
• Drac the Knife (Hans Conried)
• Dracula's Deuce (The Ghouls)
• Evil Ways (Santana)
• Everyday Is Halloween (Ministry)
• The Fang (Nervous Norvus)
• Fear (Main Title From "One Step Beyond") (Ventures)
• Flyin' Saucers Rock & Roll (Billy Lee Riley & His Little Green Me)
• Freaks Come Out at Night (Whodini)
• Frankenstein (Edgar Winter Group)
• Frankenstein of '59 b/w Frankenstein Returns (Buchanan & Goodman)
• Frankenstein's Den (Hollywood Flames)
• Frankenstein's Party (Swingin' Phillies)
• (Ghost) Riders In The Sky (Vaughn Monroe)
• Ghost Train (Virgil Holmes)
• Ghostbusters (Ray Parker Jr.)
• Godzilla (Blue Oyster Cult)
• Graveyard (Leroy Bowman & The Arrows)
• Graveyard Boogie (Buster Doss & His Arkansas Playboys)
• Graveyard Shift (The Ghouls)
• Green Slime (Green Slime)
• Halloween (Siouxsie & the Banshees)
• Halloween (Dream Syndicate)
• Halloween (Sonic Youth)
• Halloween (Dead Kennedys)
• Halloween (Misfits)
• Halloween (Mudhoney)
• Halloween Spooks (Lambert Hendricks & Ross)
• Haunted Guitar (Three Suns)
• Hammer Horror (Kate Bush)
• Haunted House
  • Johnny Fuller
  • Jumpin' Gene Simmons
• Haunted House of Rock (Whodini)
• Headhunters' House Party (Cannibal & the Headhunters)
• Hearse With A Curse (Mr. Gasser & The Weirdos)
• Hoodoo (Al Reed)
• Horror Movie (Skyhooks)
• Howlin' for My Darlin' (Howlin' Wolf)
• I Ain't Superstitious (Howlin' Wolf)
• I Am a Demon and I Love Rock N Roll (Sweatmaster)
• I'm the Wolfman (Fuzztones)
• I Had Too Much Dream (Electric Prunes)
• I'm the Wolfman (Round Robin)
• Igor's Party (Tony's Monstrosities)
• In the Midnight Hour (Wilson Pickett)
• It's Halloween (The Shaggs)
• It's Your Voodoo Working (Charles Sheffield)
• King Kong (Jimmy Castor Bunch)
• Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Monotones)
• The Legend Of Wooley Swamp (Charlie Daniels Band)
• Lies of the Living Dead (Minus 5)
• Lil' Red Riding Hood (Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs)
• The Lurch (Ted Cassidy)
• The Mad Doctor & The Creature (Joe Reisman & His Orchestra)
• Man with the X-Ray Eyes (Jarvis Humby)
• Martian Boogie (Brownsville Station, 1977)
• Martian Hop (Ran-Dells)
• Midnight Stroll (The Revels)
• Monster (Steppenwolf)
• The Monster (A Pair Of Kings)
• The Monster (Bobby Please & The Pleasers)
• Monster Mash (Bobby "Boris" Pickett & His Crypt Kicker Five)
• Monster Party (Bill Doggett)
• Monster's Holiday (Bobby "Boris" Pickett & His Crypt Kicker Five)
• Morgus the Magnificent (Morgue & The Ghouls)
• Mr. Ghost Goes To Town (The Five Jones Boys)
• Mr. Were-Wolf (Kac-ties)
• Mummy's Ball (Verdicts)
• Munsters Theme (original version – who? - and Comateens)
• My Son, the Vampire (Allan Sherman)
• Nightmare Mash (Billy Lee Riley)
• Nightmare on My Street (DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince)
• Nosferatu (Blue Oyster Cult)
• Out of Limits
  • Marketts (1963)
  • Challengers (1964)
• People Are Strange (Doors)
• Pet Sematary (Ramones)
• Purple People Eater (Sheb Wooley)
• Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor (Big Bopper, 1958)
• Put Your Cat Clothes On (Carl Perkins)
• Riboflavin-Flavored, Non-Carbonated, Polyunsaturated Blood (Don Hinson & The Rigamorticians)
• Rock 'n' Bones (Elroy Dietzel & the Rhythm Bandits)
• Rockin' in the Graveyard (Jackie Morningstar)
• Restless Nights (Bruce Springsteen)
• Running Through My Nightmares (Chesterfield Kings)
• Say Leroy (The Creature from the Black Lagoon Is Your Father) (Jimmy Castor Bunch)
• Screamin' Ball (At Dracula Hall) (Duponts)
• Season of the Witch (Donovan)
• The Shadow Knows (The Coasters)
• She's A Monster (Stems)
• She's My Witch (Kip Tyler)
• Somebody's Watching Me (Rockwell)
• Spooky (Classics IV and Atlanta Rhythm Section)
• Spooky Movies (Gary Paxton)
• Spooksville (Nu Trends)
• Supernatural Thing (Ben E. King)
• Superstition (Stevie Wonder)
• Swinging At The Séance (The Deep River Boys)
• They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! (Napoleon XIV)
• Thriller (Michael Jackson)
• Time Warp (Rocky Horror Picture Show)
• Transfusion (Nervous Norvus)
• Tubular Bells (from "The Exorcist") (Mike Oldfield)
• Twilight Zone (Golden Earring)
• Twilight Zone Theme (Neil Norman & His Cosmic Orchestra)
• Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone (Manhattan Transfer)
• The Vampire (Orvin Yoes)
• The Vampires (Archie King)
• Voodoo in My Basement (Lovin' Spoonful)
• Voodoo Voodoo (LaVern Baker)
• The Voodoo Walk (Sonny Richard's Panics)
• Walking Through My Dreams (Pretty Things)
• Walking with a Ghost (Tegan And Sara)
• Weird Science (Oingo Boingo)
• Werewolf (Five Man Electrical Band)
• Werewolf (Frantics)
• Werewolves of London (Warren Zevon)
• The Witch (Sonics)
• Witch Doctor (Ross Bagdasarian)
• Witch Queen of New Orleans (Redbone)
• Witchy Woman (Eagles)
• Zombi (Monotones, 1958)