Revisiting Halloween 2024: A Playlist

callum fisher - - (Published: )

Image by pikisuperstar on Freepik

As Halloween creeps up once again, I've been thinking back on the playlists I've made for various parties. This one was built to serve a local pub on Halloween night of 2024.

The playlist had to be family friendly while offering a varied selection of music.

The final version ended up running for about 4 hours, with 62 tracks in total.

You can listen to the playlist on YouTube.

Listen on YouTube

Here's how it started...

  1. John Williams - Hedwig's Theme (Harry Potter Soundtrack): This classic piece of music instantly set the tone as families began creeping in for the evening.
  2. Danny Elfman - Main Titles (from Beetlejuice): Picking up the pace, the opening theme of Beetlejuice is another familiar track that got guests excited at the start of the night.
  3. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor: Clipped to its iconic opening notes, this piece served as a short, sharp dramatic transition into more vocal tracks from family films.
  4. Oogie Boogie's Song (from The Nightmare Before Christmas): This character's voice actor, Kenneth Page, had passed away the day before October, so I thought this was an appropriate tribute.
  5. Rob Simonsen - Go Go Go (from Ghostbusters: Afterlife)
  6. Bobby Boris Picket - Monster Mash
  7. Sheb Wooley - The Purple People Eater
  8. Casper The Friendly Ghost (from Casper)
  9. The Bus Boys - Cleanin' Up the Town (from Ghostbusters): I thought this song complemented the track from Casper pretty well, as they share a very similar style.
  10. This is Halloween (from The Nightmare Before Christmas)
  11. Bette Midler - One Way or Another (from Hocus Pocus)
  12. Bobby Brown - On Our Own (from Ghostbusters II)
  13. Lady Gaga - Bloody Mary
  14. Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me
  15. Britney Spears - Toxic
  16. Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal
  17. Louis Armstrong - Spooks
  18. Ray Parker Jr. Ghostbusters (from Ghostbusters)
  19. The Addams Family Main Theme
  20. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
  21. Michael Jackson - Thriller
  22. Lana Del Ray - Once Upon a Dream
  23. Nina Simone - I Put a Spell On You
  24. Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra
  25. America - You Can Do Magic
  26. Billie Eilish - bury a friend
  27. Ella Henderson - Ghost
  28. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
  29. Stevie Wonder - Superstition
  30. Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in the Sky
  31. Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
  32. Harry Belafonte - Jump in the Line (Used in Beetlejuice)
  33. Queen - Another One Bites the Dust
  34. Electric Light Orchestra - Birmingham Blues
  35. INXS - Mystify
  36. Will Smith - Men in Black
  37. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - A Nightmare On My Street
  38. The Rocky Horror Picture Show - The Time Warp
  39. Pilot - Magic: This one surprised me when a group of people immediately got up for this & started singing, which was great to see.
  40. Naked Eyes - Always Something There to Remind Me
  41. UB40 - I Got You Babe
  42. Julian Lennon - Too Late For Goodbyes
  43. Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You
  44. The Prodigy - Out of Space
  45. Harry Nilsson - Coconut
  46. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder on the Dancefloor
  47. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - All Along the Watchtower
  48. Alannah Myles - Black Velvet
  49. Coldplay - Magic
  50. Tears for Fears - Mad World
  51. Madness - If I Go Mad
  52. The Police - Spirits in the Material World
  53. Michael Sembello - Maniac
  54. Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science
  55. Hall & Oates - Private Eyes
  56. John Carpenter - HALLOWEEN Theme
  57. The Dickies - Killer Klowns
  58. Blancmange - Living On The Ceiling
  59. Duran Duran - Save a Prayer
  60. The Scary Gang - It's Cool To Be a Ghoul
  61. Katy Perry - Dark Horse
  62. Electric Light Orchestra - Strange Magic