Mixtape Reflections ~ Halloween Havoc

Halloween is a unique holiday. A holiday where being dark and spooky and wearing costumes is normal. It forces Americans to go against all of their beloved cultural norms. It’s a night where children and their parents are allowed to trespass on someone’s property to be handed candy for free from strangers. Sure we still get the typical fear mongering about razor blades in candy or someone handing out expensive marijuana gummies (which never actually happens), not to mention whining from the ultra-religious who believe the holiday to be satanic, but that still isn’t enough to stop it. I guess the one thing that’s stronger than America’s territorialism, paranoid fear of strangers, religious misgivings and hatred of free handouts, is its stubborn adherence to tradition. Can you imagine if someone tried to start this holiday in the modern age? It would never happen. It’s only around because it’s been going on for generations. Like public libraries, that’s another thing that would never happen if they tried to invent it today. 

I’ve had a working Halloween playlist that I’ve been adding to and subtracting from for close to twenty years. It started as a mixtape, titled Halloween Havoc; admittedly, I got the name from an old WCW pay per view. Later on I made a CD mix version so it could be played in the car, and this version has gone through two remakes, after the disc got too scratched up. Such an impermanent medium, sadly. But as a result it is much more up to date than the old mixtape I made in High School, particularly benefiting from the ease of finding music through the internet compared to back then when I relied on CD purchases and the radio. 

But now, I can make online playlists with no time limits. So I will share the version of the mix that I would make if time weren’t an issue as it is on CDs and cassettes, trying my best of course to make sure the songs flow together and don’t energetically clash. It’s a subtle science, mix-making. This will be a combination of songs from both the mixtape and CD mix versions, along with a couple new acquisitions such as Slow Danse with the Dead and The Long Losts. Some bands appear multiple times, but I spaced them out. Also, this way you get to enjoy the music videos that go with some of the songs. Particularly important with songs like “Anything Can Happen on Halloween” by Tim Curry and “Blue” by The Birthday Massacre. 

Halloween Havoc - YouTube Playlist

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUzP1Twau7QKOtPGxZDV-VU6Ak5p_7af4

Halloween Havoc: The Ultimate Edition ~ Track Listing

1. Danny Elfman - Tales from the Crypt theme
2. This is Halloween from The Nightmare Before Christmas
3. Tim Curry - Anything Can Happen on Halloween
4. Aurelio Voltaire - Oh My Goth
5. The Long Losts - Sam
6. Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hell
7. Type O Negative- Black No. 1
8. Howling Syn - Black Moon (note: I was unable to find a video of just this song, so the song is lumped with other songs in the video which you may skip)
9. Zombie Girl - Bleeder
10. Rob Zombie - Living Dead Girl
11. Alien Sex Fiend - Now I’m Feeling Zombified
12. Insane Clown Posse - Every Halloween 
13. Ministry - Everyday is Halloween 
14. Aurelio Voltaire - The Masquerade 
15. Fear Condition - Halloween 
16. White Zombie - I’m Your Boogie Man
17. Type O Negative - Halloween in Heaven
18. Troll - Trollberg
19. Zombie Girl - Dance of the Headless Corpse
20. Switchblade Symphony - Gutter Glitter
21. Bahaus - Bela Lugosi’s Dead
22. Slow Danse with the Dead - Devils Night
23. Type O Negative - All Hallow’s Eve
24. The Birthday Massacre - Blue
25. Zombie Girl - Halloween’09
26. Of Blood and Wine - It’s Not Halloween