Halloween Playlist

Goooood Eeeeeevening. (Said in creepy Vincent Price-voice)

It's behind me, isn't it?

Last night I set myself the task of compiling a Halloween playlist for the shop in which I work. For me, Halloween is about cheesy and spooky fun. I'm very much an Evil Dead 2 type person; meaning Halloween is equally goofy and creepy for me. So I wanted my playlist to reflect this. I also needed to make it long enough so that I would be stuck with the same ten songs on repeat for an entire day. Things might just have gotten scary then.

This face means it's all gone wrong for me.

I also wanted a wide variety of music, again, some creepy some fun. So I came up with an extensive list of songs, so hopefully there is something for everyone; young and old, living and dead.

Not gonna lie, some of these are pushing it ever so slightly... but it's my playlist so NYAH! to anyone who objects. I'll put the full list first, and then some categories for convenient perusing.

If anyone reads this and has some suggestions, do comment and tell me. You don't have to, but I'd like if you did. And if you were looking for some choons for your Halloween shindigs and shenanigans, I hope you find some cool ideas here.

CAT! SCARY!!! Wooooo!!!

Halloweenie Playlist -FULL LIST (Running time c. 4h 25mins)

Click on title to go to youtube vids of each song.

1. Kate Bush —"Mother Stands for Comfort"

2. The Misfits/Bobby 'Boris' Pickett — "Monster Mash"

3. KidneyThieves — "Before I'm Dead"(Queen of the Damned)

4. Kate Bush —"Get Out of My House"

5. Disney —"Who's Afraid of The Big Bad Wolf" (Three Little Pigs)

6. Bach — Toccata and Fugue in Dmin (Version from Disney's Fantasia)

7. Casper the Friendly Ghost theme

8. Queen —"Killer Queen"

9. Michael Jackson —"Thriller"

10. Roy Orbison —"Devil Doll"

11. Annie Lennox —"Love Song for a Vampire" (Bram Stoker's Dracula)

12. Addams' Family Theme

13. Backstreet Boys —"Backstreet's Back"

14. Imogen Heap/The Puppini Sisters —"Spooky"

15. Bjork —"Play Dead"

16. Emilie Autumn —"4 O'Clock Reprise"

17. Florence and the Machine —"Howl"

18. Rob Zombie —"Dragula"

19. Amy Studt —"Paper Made Man"

20. Kate Bush —"Hounds of Love"

21. Yann Tiersen —"La Valse des Monstres"(Amelie)

22. Danny Elfman —"Oogie Boogie's Song" (Nightmare Before Christmas)

23. Disney/Keith David —"Friends on the Other Side" (Princess and the Frog)

24. Imogen Heap —"Aha"

25. Koop —"Forces...Darling"

26. Michael Jackson —"Smooth Criminal"

27. Screamin' Jay Hawkins/Hocus Pocus —"I Put a Spell on You"

28. Rihanna —"Disturbia"

29. Marina & the Diamonds —"Living Dead"

30. Alexandre Desplat —"Lily's Theme"(Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt II)

31. Kate Bush —"Hammer Horror"

32. Hocus Pocus —"Come Little Children"

33. Disney —"Cruella de Vil" (101 Dalmatians)

34. David Bowie —"Magic Dance" (Labyrinth)

35. Frank Sinatra —"Bewitched"

36. B.O.B. & Rivers Cuomo —"Magic"

37. Kate Bush —"Coffee Homeground"

38. Scooby Doo Theme

39. Rocky Horror Picture Show —"Time Warp"

40. Sugababes —"Freak Like Me"

41. Mike Oldfield —"Tubular Bells" (The Exorcist)

42. Biffy Clyro —"Many of Horror"

43. The Cranberries —"Zombie"

44. Danny Elfman —"Bonus Theme Montage" (Nightmare Before Christmas) no video available

45. Alice Cooper —"Poison"

46. Oh Land —"Voodoo"

47. Stevie Wonder —"Superstition"

48. Camile Saint-Saens —"Aquarium"(Carnival of the Animals)

49. Danny Elfman —"This is Halloween" (Nightmare Before Christmas)

50. Kate Bush —"Wuthering Heights"

51. Rockabye Baby! —"Lithium" (Nirvana Cover)

52. Alice Cooper —"Feed My Frankenstein"

53. Danny Elfman —"Remains of the Day" (Corpse Bride)

54. Disney —"Higitus Figitus" (Sword in the Stone)

55. Disney —"Poor Unfortunate Souls" (Little Mermaid)

56. Jen Titus/Ralph Stanley —"O Death"

57. Kate Bush —"The Wedding List"

58. Meatloaf —"Bat Out of Hell"

59. The Munsters' Theme

60. Spiderman Theme

61. Disney —"Substitutiary Locomotion" (Bedknobs and Broomsticks)

62. The Specials —"Ghost Town"

63. Danny Elfman —"End Title" (Nightmare Before Christmas)

64. Bing Crosby/Disney —"The Headless Horseman"

65. Tom Waits —"Little Drop of Poison"

66. The Black Ghosts —"Full Moon"

67. Disney —"Opening Titles" (Gargoyles)

68. Lady Gaga —"Monster"

69. Ray parker Jr. —"Ghostbusters"

70. John Carpenter —"Halloween Theme" (Halloween)

Well, that was exhausting. 

Rock/Pop Songs

There are a great number of pop and rock songs on this list, some of them are stretching the premise a wee bit, but hey, if you've got a party it won't really matter, Lady Gaga repeatedly saying "Monster" or Marina chanting out "Dead, Dead, Dead!" will do the trick I'm sure. Kate Bush has lots of sinister/haunting songs, so she gets a few slots. "Spooky" is in there a couple of times, as well as classics like "Thriller", "Bat Out of Hell", "Superstition" and a few Alice Cooper bits. Queen also get a look in because, well, QUEEN. "Devil Doll"is slightly less well know but SUCH a good song that should listen to it. There's lots of songs to pick from. HOORAY!

TV Themes/Kids Songs

Scooby Doo, Munsters, Addams Family, Casper. Classics, all. I threw in the Gargoyles theme just because I love it so very much. And Gargoyles would make very interesting costumes... They're all just quick little gems that make you go "Oh my God! I remember that programme!". Can't really go wrong. A few Disney villain songs don't go amiss, especially "Friend on the Other Side" from Princess and the Frog. Non-Villain Disney songs are also there, from Sword and the Stone, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Basically these songs are more to appease those who don't look out of place trick or treating.

Instrumental/Soundtracks

Classic Halloween bits, like "Tubular Bells"from the Exorcist and John Carpenter's "Halloween theme". "Aquarium" from Carnival of the Animals is a very haunted house style piece, and Emilie Autumn's "4 o'clock" is lovely and dark spirited. You can't have a Halloween soundtrack without the Ghostbuster song. It's like, illegal I think. "La Valse des Monstres" from Amelie is there purely for the name. That, and it sounds really cute. 

I hope that this playlist is enjoyable and/or helpful to someone out there. 

Don't go too crazy, guys. 

NOTE: All of these songs were purchased by me via itunes or various cds, collected over time or bought specifically for this list. The only songs not purchased are things such as the Munsters or Scooby Doo themes, which weren't available for me to purchase. I don't condone nicking music, so please don't so it. :)

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BIG absence from the blog, I'm afraid. Though no one reads this anyway Very sorry. But unfortunately we've lost three grandparents in just over a week (Bad luck, I know). But I'll post something good soon hopefully. Right now, I'll just leave you with a really great peom by Edna St. Vincent Millay. It sums up everything, pretty much.


Dirge without Music

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains, --- but the best is lost.

The answers quick & keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,
They are gone. They have gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

—Enda St. Vincent Millay

It's Peanut Butter Telly time! (I'm so sorry)

I haven't blogged in a wee while, but here's my excuse: It's been haaaaaaaaaaaard to think of something I could write about at length. But I suppose it takes practice to write regularly and well. It doesn't help that I've just decided to let this blog be about anything and everything, instead of giving myself some healthy 'artistic' boundaries, like music or beauty or books or sumfink.

But I have rediscovered telly in the past while, which I had neglected for my college years. And while that might not seem like a bad thing -TV often being a tool used to scrape thoughts out of heads -I had forgotten how good and not mind-numbing television CAN be. That's not to say I've been stocking up on Attenborough and QI only, and I do like my fair share of tosh like anyone else. What reconnected me with TV was ultimately Sherlock, the most gloriously well written, well acted and well executed programme that has been made in a veeeeeeery long time, but also Downton Abbey, which despite it's sentimentality is also beautifully performed and written. Don't like Downton? Well, then get off my train, I say. I like that show more than I do most people. Let me have my Downton and I'll let you have The Wire, ok?

Oh yeah, baby. That's the stuff.

Yeah, yeah, I know. The Wire is amazing and I'd totally love it if I watched it. Fair enough, that's probably true, but I don't have time to make that commitment, guys. I don't stream or download series, I watch them on TV or DVD like a pleb. Unless I can't find them and must resort to Youtube.

I am no saint.

But here are a few shows I've discovered/re-discovered, and think you'd like. (Downton and Sherlock aren't mentioned here because I literally could not express how much I love them. It is an achey type of love.) :

Dead Like Me
This series originally came out in 2003, when I was but a young, impressionable lass and it has coloured my life ever since. I think it was the first 'grown-up' tv show I really liked. After Sabrina the Teenage Witch came Dead Like Me, basically. I re-discovered this quite randomly on Youtube and watched both seasons of it in a week. The basic premise is that an eighteen year old girl named George is killed by a falling toilet seat from a space station (Hilariously dark, no) only to learn that after her death she is joining the ranks of the undead as a Grim Reaper of the souls of those about to die. It's quite a dark premise, but the series is actually a comedy with occasional dramatic bits. It's just so good, that I'm quite proud that thirteen year old me liked it. Go mini-me! The best part of the series of the cast, especially the lead actress Ellen Muth (despite being a bit... anorexic-y) and Callum Blue as Mason. Mason is one of those wonderful characters that just isn't pulled off well enough that often. He's a hilarious fuck up. Sweet, but a bit of a shit too. Callum Blue should have done A LOT better off of this character. What a wonderful, wonderful show whose time with us was all to brief.

Mason, Mason, Mason. 

Moone Boy
Everyone likes this show. It's just come out and everyone seems to love it. And they're right. It's a comedy that's not only funny, but it's also warm and life-affirming for reasons you can't quite understand. This show just makes you feel good. Everyone is nuts in their own special way, and life is much better because of it. It has that silliness rooted in real life that Father Ted had, which is probably why it's been hailed as the Second Coming of Ted. Chris O'Dowd is the man, pure and simple. Have I RAVED ENOUGH YET?! The second episode about the Mary Robinson election campaign is pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen. And the character of Padraig, best friend to the lead character Martin, is the most beautiful little lad I've ever seen. What a legend. You will struggle to find anything quite as delightful as his Pat Shortt shtick as he gets his hair cut in episode two. Lad! God bless us Irish.  We are simply mad craic.

Hunderby
Julia Davis. Where have you been all this time, you mad 'wan? Anyone anywhere ever who says women can't be funny needs to be pointed swiftly in the direction of Ms Davis. She's dark and twisted and utterly hilarious. Basically this show is a fairly brutal satire of po-faced BBC period dramas (which I also love madly, by the way). A young woman named Helene with a dodgy past arrives in a puritanical village called Hunderby and promptly marries the truly awful vicar. She inconveniently then falls in love with the local doctor Graham. Julia Davis plays an amazingly evil housekeeper too. The whole this takes the piss fantastically of period dramas that always take themselves so seriously; gurning angst, gasping passion, jaw-dropping insults towards women said in a blasé way. You feel so guilty about laughing at so much of this, that you get quite the thrill of being naughty somehow.

Bad Sugar
Again, Julia Davis. Oh Julia, you wicked woman, you. This was just a pilot, again a pisstake of certain tv series, but by God, I really would love to more. This time poking fun at Dynasty-style rich family intrigue shows. I can't say too much about it, as it was only a pilot episode, but even the castlist would probably convince you to watch it: Julia Davis, Peter Serafinowicz, Sharon Horgan, Olivia Colman, Reece Shearsmith. Guys, that is a funny bunch. A really funny bunch.

The Tudors
Yeah, it was trashy, but God I do love a sleazy period drama. In my defense, it's mainly the first two series that I enjoy, particularly Natalie Dormer's Anne Boleyn. She is a frighteningly good actress with a totally hypnotic-looking face. This is the most in-depth and multi-faceted version of Anne Boleyn I've ever seen. Natalie Portman's Other Boleyn Girl can bugger right off. And for all it's trash, there's tons of politic and religious upheaval to prevent it from being all about wench-bothering. There is always a sense of momentum and direction, and I'll admit I looked up way more about the Tudor dynasty than I probably would have otherwise. As much of an idiot Jonathan Rhys-Meyer's seems to be, he is just the right person to play a fairly awful man, but with some redeeming qualities. I've only really bothered with the first two seasons, as I said, but I caved and got the boxset and will investigate the Dormer-less seasons with a fair eye.

So there you have it: The TV I've been loving lately.

Honourable mentions go to: Sinbad, Castle, Friends and the Big Bang Theory.

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