15 Of The Best Halloween Rock Songs

15 Of The Best Halloween Rock Songs

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best halloween rock songs
Alice Cooper, 1987 (Photo by Staff/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)

As the spookiest night of the year descends on us this week, and given that we’re way too old to be out trick or treating, we’ve compiled a list of great Halloween themed rock songs for you to indulge instead.

Whilst Halloween is traditionally a big deal in the USA, we’ve seen it building up in Australia over the last few years with fancy dress parties, kids out collecting candy door to door, and lots of houses covered in cobwebs. All just a bit of fun believed to be an extension of the pagan tradition of celebrating the dead.

Here are our Top 15 rock tracks for you to carve pumpkins to this Halloween…

Welcome To My Nightmare – Alice Cooper

A concept album when played in sequence, the songs form a journey through the nightmares of a child named Steven. According to Alice Cooper, he used the Steven character on four or five albums. He got the idea of using a recurring character through his albums from Kurt Vonnegut using Kilgore Trout through his novels. Alice believes that Steven is a seven-year-old boy that lives in all of us and keeps us young.

Werewolves Of London – Warren Zevon

Probably Warren Zevon's best-known song, co-written with guitarist Waddy Wachtel and recorded with Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie and Mick Fleetwood.

Read more: 10 Of The Best From Warren Zevon

Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf

It was the music video – filmed in the Sri Lankan jungle -  getting played on MTV that propelled the single and album into the charts. Andy Taylor, who contracted a stomach virus serious enough to require hospitalisation from accidentally drinking water in the lagoon during the shoot, describes the storyline as "Indiana Jones is horny and wants to get laid."

Runnin' With The Devil – Van Halen

The song's lyrics have often been misinterpreted as being satanic, yet the members on Van Halen have never revealed the full meaning of the song. It is most commonly interpreted as being about the life of a touring young band, the lyrics "Runnin' with the devil" being a reference to freedom. 

Pet Sematary - Ramones

The song was originally written upon request by Stephen King for his 1989 film adaption of the same name, to soundtrack the end credits. It became one of the band’s most successful radio hits and was a staple of their concerts during the 90s.

Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) - David Bowie

This is the title track and third single from David Bowie’s 1980 album. Robert Fripp of King Crimson played the lead guitar on the track, over distinctive synthesized percussion. “There are an awful lot of mistakes on that album that I went with, rather than cut them out. One tries as much as possible to put oneself on the line artistically.” said Bowie.

Psycho Killer – Talking Heads

Psycho Killer, rumoured to have been written about Son of Sam, but couldn’t be cos David Byrne said he wrote it two years earlier.

 

Zombie – The Cranberries

This song, obviously, is not about the dead coming back to life, but was written as a political response to the death of Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry, who had been killed in the IRA bombing in Warrington earlier that year.

 

Shout At The Devil – Motley Crue

One of several songs by Motley Crue which conservative groups alleged encouraged devil worship. The song was re-recorded by the for their 1997 album, Generation Swine, and got a music video at the same time. This live version is great.

 

Feed My Frankenstein – Alice Cooper

Featured in the 1992 film Wayne's World, in which Cooper performs the song at a concert. Guest appearances on the track include Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Nikki Sixx, and Elvira (Cassandra Peterson).

 

The Number Of The Beast – Iron Maiden

This song was influenced by the 1978 movie Damien: Omen II, which is about a 13-year-old Antichrist. It was written by Iron Maiden bass player Steve Harris, who explained: "Basically, this song is about a dream. It's not about devil worship."

 

Enter Sandman – Metallica

The plot of the music video directly relates to the theme of the song, combining images of a child having nightmares and images of an old man (R. G. Armstrong). The child dreams that he is drowning, falling from the top of a building, covered in snakes, being chased by a truck and finally falling from a mountain while escaping the truck. During the part of the song in which the child recites a prayer, he is being watched by the Sandman, flickering continuously. The video won Best Hard Rock Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

 

Children Of The Grave – Black Sabbath

From their 1971 album Master of Reality. This song lyrically continues with the same anti-war themes brought on by "War Pigs" and "Electric Funeral" from Paranoid.

 

Monster Mash – Bobby Pickett

A novelty song that everyone knows and is included on pretty much every Halloween collection since it's release in the early 60s. 

 

 

Hells Bells – AC/DC

From Back in Black, released on 31 October 1980 (Halloween). The song also appears on Who Made Who, AC/DC's 1986 soundtrack to the Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive.

 

These songs and more can be found on Halloween playlists below...

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Music

 

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