What ingredients make up a great Halloween song? Does one focus on creepy sounds and keys, ghoulish vocals, evil guitars, or disturbing lyrics? Here is a list of the five best rock songs for Halloween that incorporate at least several of the qualities listed above…

Top 5 Halloween Tunes

1. “Children of the Grave” by Black Sabbath [Master of Reality 1971]—This track contains the ghoulish vocals, heavy and evil guitars, haunting but thunderous drums, and troubling lyrics, making it the #1 Halloween song. Sure, we could easily have placed the song “Black Sabbath” here, but the thoughts of “children” + “graves” equates to ultra disturbing evil. White Zombie’s cover is pretty sick too.

2. “Black #1 (Little Miss Scare-All)” by Type-o-Negative [Bloody Kisses 1993]—Very rarely can a band get away with making a dark 11-minute masterpiece about Halloween and hair dye. Fully equipped with the ultra creepy keyboards and Gothic vocals, this tune is forever a favorite treat.

3. “Welcome to my Nightmare” by Alice Cooper [Welcome to my Nightmare 1975]—Obviously, any Alice song will hold up just fine on this list. Actually, you can insert this entire record on your playlist.

4. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by The Eurythmics as performed by Marilyn Manson [Smells Like Children 1996]—In the 90s, Manson made the scariest music videos, often leaving the viewer with plenty of nightmarish material for bedtime. He even managed to turn this somewhat happy track into a horror show.

4. “Living Dead Girl” by Rob Zombie [Hellbilly Deluxe 1998]—Not only is this tune ghoulish, it makes you want to dance. Rob Zombie still carries the torch as rock’s supreme horror performer.

5. “Die, Die My Darling” by The Misfits [Die, Die My Darling 1984]—There was a toss up between this tune and “Last Caress.” Glenn Danzig and The Misfits still rule.

What songs make your top 5?