THE BATTLE OF EPPING FOREST

THE MONSTER MASH

Bobby (Boris) Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers

(1962)

It’s shifted millions of copies since its first release in 1962, but thanks to an initial ban by the BBC for being too morbid, it took eleven years to make the UK charts. Elvis Presley dismissed it as “the dumbest thing I’ve heard”. Bob Dylan, on the other hand, is a fan, featuring the crypt-kicking classic in his Theme Time Radio Hour. If Halloween has an official anthem, surely it’s “The Monster Mash”, one of the bestselling novelty singles of all time.

“The Monster Mash” was written by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, who died in 2007. Back in 1960, Pickett had been part of a covers band, the Cordials, who played Los Angeles and even cut a couple of flop singles. One of their favourite live numbers had been a rendition of “Little Darlin’”, a 1957 hit for the vocal harmony act the Diamonds. In an effort to stamp his own personality on the song, Pickett took to ad-libbing through the spoken bridge in the style of Bela Lugosi, hamming it up for the barfly audience, who loved the comedy twist.

Pickett left the Cordials in 1961, with his sights on a TV or film role. Offers didn’t come flooding in, so the following summer he took a shot at songwriting with a former bandmate, Leonard Capizzi. Recalling how well the Bela Lugosi trick had gone down, they looked for a style to work around. The “Mashed Potato” was a popular dance in the clubs of the day, and so Pickett and Capizzi came up with “The Monster Mashed Potato”, taking the idea to Gary Paxton, who had produced their earlier single releases. Paxton brought in some backing musicians, including Johnny McCrae and the “super-sideman”, Leon Russell and added some suitable sound effects. The gurgling was created with a straw and water; the creaking coffin lid was the squeak of pliers and nails.

The humorous, Frankenstein-inspired story of monsters rising from the slab in the lab to start a dance craze was delivered in the voice of a Hollywood horror star. The chorus and title were quickly shortened to “The Monster Mash”. With the help of some carefully targeted DJs, the single was an unlikely Billboard No.1. In the wake of Pickett’s success, a number of horror-themed songs appeared each October, many on independent doo-wop and rockabilly labels. Some are now collected together on a Halloween compilation, These Goulish Things, which includes the Sonny Bono-produced theme for the 1964 hit television show, The Addams Family.

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band covered “The Monster Mash” in 1967, although the hit was Pickett’s original, which haunted the Top 10 in the run up to Halloween 1973, perhaps helped along by The Rocky Horror Show, which opened in London that year. In 2005, Pickett re-recorded his ghoulish perennial as “Climate Mash”, a protest on global warming.

Halloween songs have long fallen by the wayside of B-movie pop, but here are ten modern classics for the witching hour.

“Halloween Parade” 

Lou Reed (1988)

New York was something of a return to form for the former Velvet Undergrounder. It includes this tale of the dark corners of NYC, “where the docks and the badlands meet”. It’s 31 October and Reed is mourning the friends he has lost to AIDS. “This Halloween is something to be sure / Especially to be here without you,” he drawls, recalling how the illness hung like a spectre over the city in the mid 80s.

“Halloween”

The Dead Kennedys (1982)

“Saturday Night Holocaust” was the swansong seven-inch from these Americans punks. On the B-side was this Sex Pistols-style thrash. A weekend goth has been planning all month for a Halloween costume party. The following morning, he’s back at the day job in collar and tie, his eyeliner smudged, haunted by the previous night: “Remember what I did / Remember what I was / Back on Halloween.”

“Halloween” 

Kirsty MacColl (1991)

An upbeat tale of knocking at the door and spirits having flown, penned by MacColl and Mark Nevin for the singer’s third album. “Was it all a dream?” muses MacColl. A cracking tune but too jolly by half to scare the pants of anyone, with its Celtic fiddle solo, brazen horn stabs and Steely Dan-like jazz guitar shuffle.

“Frankenstein”

The Edgar Winter Group (1973)

As forbidding as Mary Shelley’s Creature itself and so named, by the band’s drummer, after it was pieced together from scraps of recording tape. Originally a B-side, it became a surprise hit single when DJs flipped it over, preferring its lumbering tempo, double drum solo and heavy synthesiser riff. Perhaps better known these days from appearances on the soundtrack to Wayne’s World 2 and more than one episode of The Simpsons.

“This is Halloween”

Marilyn Manson (2006)

Tim Burton’s 1993 animated musical, The Nightmare Before Christmas, follows the adventures of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, in Halloween Town. When it was rereleased in 3D in 2006, the new soundtrack featured a version of Danny Elfman’s opening theme sung by Marilyn Manson. It’s a perfect match from the pasty-faced one, who once received a death threat on Halloween. Manson describes his version as “the vampire national anthem”.

“Thriller”

Michael Jackson (1982)

“Thriller” was virtually Jacko’s signature song, famous as much its groundbreaking, and very expensive, “zombie” video as it is for being amongst the bestselling singles of all time. It was written by the former Heatwave frontman, Rod “Boogie Nights” Temperton and originally titled “Starlight Love”. It features a rap voiceover by the Hollywood star Vincent Price, who also hammed it up on Alice Cooper’s shock-horror classic, Welcome to my Nightmare.

“Tam Lin”

Fairport Convention (1969)

A maiden named Janet travels through the forest of Carterhaugh and picks a rose. Tam Lin appears, claiming her virginity. The apparition explains how he must be sacrificed to Hell as part of a fairy tithe. Janet can save him if she undergoes a trial on Halloween night. This version of the sinister Borders ballad, first published in the eighteenth century, became a folk-rock standard. Sandy Denny, the band’s singer, later cut the delicate and far less frightening “After Halloween”.

“Halloween”

Siouxsie and the Banshees (1981)

A swirling, gothic tale of murder in the nursery, committed to the spine-chilling chant of “tick or treat, trick or treat”. The night is still and the frost bites her face: “I wear my silence like a mask”. Just don’t put your hand in the treats bag. It’s from the Banshees’ fourth album, Juju, hailed as a graveyard masterpiece and reissued on CD this year. Other goth rockers who have embraced the Halloween spirit include Tom Waits, the Cramps and Nick Cave.

“There’s a Ghost in My House”

R. Dean Taylor (1967)

Famous for being the only white artist to chart on Motown, R. Dean Taylor’s big hit (actually on the Motown subsidiary VIP) was made in the soul clubs of Northern England. His lover is gone and the house feels mighty empty. Sitting in his easy chair, he feels her fingers running through his hair. When he looks into his coffee mug, her face is gazing up. Also covered with spine-tingling aplomb by The Fall. Great in the dark, on any dancefloor.

“Halloween”

Sonic Youth (1985)

New York No-Wavers Sonic Youth turn pumpkin carving and apple bobbing into something more like Halloween, the movie, than your average children’s party. Written by the band’s bassist, Kim Gordon, it was later covered by grunge champions Mudhoney. It’s a hair-raising delight, nonetheless. Part Velvet Underground, part Can, part run for the hills.