TOPTOBER - Top 5 Unexpected Jams for a Halloween Mix Tape

As a celebration of all things October, BGH asked each of our writers to submit a Top 5 list of their choosing. Stay tuned all throughout October to see what these demented folks come up with!

 The making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do's and don'ts. First of all you're using someone else's poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing.

- Rob Gordon, High Fidelity

For this October, I offer up five songs that make for a solid Halloween Mix, as decided by me!  I've opted to stay away from the obvious once such as "Monster Mash" or "Werewolves of London," and instead went with a mix to create a solid party attitude.  After all, it's Halloween time, and if you're one of us chances are you want your Halloween to be up beat and fun! 

5. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Peek A Boo

I wasn't a full blown Goth in high school, but I was close enough to know that Siouxsie Sioux was about the best thing to come around in patent leather and corpse paint in the late 80's and early 90's.  Halloween parties are all about dressing up and letting loose pretending to be someone you're not, and "Peek A Boo" is the one song that regularly makes me want to dance. That alone makes it a pretty terrifying entry at number five! 

4. The Violent Femmes - Country Death Song

As Eric has said many times on the podcast, I fancy myself a writer and a storyteller.  "Country Death Song" takes a terrifying story and mixes it with the syncopated awesomeness that is The Violent Femmes. It's a clear winner. 

3.  Harley Poe - I'm a Killer

I didn't discover Harley Poe until later in my Halloween People years, but they're one of my favorites at this point.  Horrorhound Weekend regulars can see them reguarly performing their excellent horror themed homages all around Indiana and Ohio.  Plus, they're local (to me at least).  Listen to those lyrics, they're fantastic!

2.  Elvira and the B-52's - The Bride of Frankenstein

It features Elvira.  I LOVE ELVIRA!  It features The Bride of Frankenstein.  I LOVE THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN!  It features the B-52's.  I LOVE THE B-52's!  If this tune doesn't make you crack a smile on the 31st, you may be dead inside, and not the good kind of dead either. 

1. Blind Melon - Skinned

I'll admit; I've always been a pretty big Blind Melon fan.  When their second album "Soup" came out, I was too sure what to make of it at first.  Then I came across this Ed Gein inspired ditty dedicated to skin and I fell in love with it.  It's gory, it's morbid and it's a blast to sing along to!  Plus, it scares the people next to you stop lights if you roll your windows down and crank it up.