Name your favourite horror-related song.

Jeff O’Brien

Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie - love the sample from Last House on the Left.

Don May, Jr. - Synapse

I’m partial to “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” from BAUHAUS…

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

This is only horror-related in the most tangential of ways, but I find my favorite Tori Amos song, “Bells for Her” from 1994’s Under the Pink, absolutely terrifying. From the broken-down piano it’s played on to the ominous chorus of “can’t stop what’s coming / can’t stop what is on its way,” this chronicle of a good friend breaking down frightens the hell out of me.

Billy

Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult. What’s kind of funny is that the first time I ever heard this song was during the opening of the made for TV movie of Stephen King’s The Stand.

Gary Wintle

Totally the Monster Mash.

When I wake up in the morning on Halloween , if I don’t hear that song before lunch, I’m pissed.

Doug Nagy

My favorite horror-themed song would be Nightcrawler by Judas Priest, it is a bitchin’ tune. I love songs that paint a picture with words and this song has always done that for me. It is a 5 minute operatic horrror story, sung by macho men - this is the way all stories should be told.

Paul Corupe - Canuxploitation

Now you’re talkin’ my language! Since I pretty much picked a novelty track last Roundtable, even it was a movie theme, it should come as no surprise that I’m going to name another: Zacherle’s “Dinner With Drac.” Beginning with an undeniably groovy guitar and sax studio backing track, the song features clever monster limmericks delivered between insane cackles by the Cool Ghoul himself. Dick Clark even made Zacherle tone down the “gruesome” lyrics for his appearance on American Bandstand! It’s definitely one of the most listenable horror novelty songs ever recorded, and it most certainly paved the way for the beyond-overplayed “The Monster Mash” and its dozens of imitators.

I actually did a short article on my five favourite vintage Halloween tracks for Rue Morgue last October, anyone interested in my full list should check that out.

Kimberly - Cinebeats

“Bela Lugosi is Dead” by Bauhaus is easily my favorite. It’s suitably dark, but also fun and just an all around great song.

Mark - Exclamation Mark’s SciFi/Horror Review

My favorite horror-related song is called Moon Over Bourbon Street, by Sting. I know Sting seems like an unlikely performer as far as horror-related tunes go, but it really is a haunting song. I believe it was inspired by Ann Rice’s Interview with the Vampire.

Stacie - Final Girl

THRILLER by a margin of 10,000,000%. It’s just so good- and it’s got Vincent Price. How can anyone hope to match that? And the video! Man, THRILLER rocks my face like Mount Rushmore.

I also dig GODZILLA by Blue Oyster Cult and FRANKENSTEIN by Edgar Winter Group. There’s probably more I’m forgetting…did Freddy Krueger ever release a single? It seems like something he would have done in the 80s.

Red Hawk - Happy Horror

I’ve always been partial to the comedy side of things when it comes to music. Having said that, there’s usually four to six hours worth of stuff spread out over three weeks on Dr. Demento around Halloween that I could list here but, narrowing it down, I’d have to say my favorite horror-related song would have to be “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Nature Trail to Hell”. The lyrics sound like they’re talking about an upcoming movie, while also describing the effects in said film, promising a “super secret ending”. Almost makes me wish that the song-based movies hadn’t ended with the Jeepers Creepers duo.

T. Van - Tolerated Vandalism

Horror music that wasn’t used in a movie? Hmm. This isn’t an easy question to answer. I generally don’t listen to horror themed music unless it’s from a movie. The first thing that popped into my head was Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult but that’s become a standard to be used in horror flicks [ex. Halloween, The Stand]. Then, I started thinking about that most ridiculous genre of music known as Black Metal. I don’t really understand the allure of Black Metal. I mean what’s the deal with Black Metal [that’s Gold Jerry, Gold!]. Are we supposed to be scared? Are we supposed to find it amusing? Give me something here.

My vote would have to go to Black Sabbath’s song Black Sabbath. When this was released in 1970 I’m sure there were a lot of people wondering what the fuck was going on with this weirdo band from Birmingham. With the song Black Sabbath, the band created an eerie and creepy vibe that was only eclipsed by the fact that Ozzy Osbourne is certifiably insane [who later went on to lament the obvious question on 1975’s Sabotage - Am I Going Insane?]. Ozzy’s voice whispers a tale about Satan that will make you never want to listen to this song in the dark. The music sounds like it was recorded by a demented old circus monkey. It’s the first track from the band’s debut record and it truly set the tone for the direction that metal was headed. It’s a great song and you’d be hard pressed to find anything more relevant to horror fans.

JA - My New Plaid Pants

“Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads.

I do love it, but I’m really only mentioning it right now because it plays over the credits of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, which I implore everyone, if you haven’t seen it yet, go right this second. Drive where ever you need to go! It’s wonderful. That is all.

Casey - Cinema Fromage

Can I go with an entire album? The entire Groovie Ghoulies album, Monster Club, is a fun little horror movie throw back. Fun little no frills punk songs covering the spectrum from King Kong Stomp, Running with Big Foot, The Beast With Five Hands, Blood Beach, etc. the entire album feels like one giant B-Movie. Fun stuff. If I have to pick one, then Running with Big Foot off this album is always fun and envokes embarrasing sing alongs at the stop light on my daily commute.

David Z. - Tomb It May Concern

I’m going to take my favorite horror related song to be GOBLET OF GORE done for the Andreas Schnaas film of the same name. If you score the limited DVD of the film you’ll get the movie (where the song appears), but also a rocking music video as well. The funniest part of this song is that it is a really basic metal track with a bunch of guys singing, including SCHNAAS himself!! I recommend the track to anyone that enjoys mangled English lyrics and directors singing. Heck, I’m going to see if I can find a copy to share with all of you…

It’s the weekend and you’ve just received a new batch of rocking tunes courtesy of The Horror Roundtable miscreants, so take off your pants and rock the fuck out. And while you’re rocking, make sure you check out the links above for all the news, reviews and opinions that I missed over the past couple weeks. Nothing says rock like surfing the ‘net!

This entry was posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 12:47 pm and is filed under Roundtable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.