Over the years there has been more than a few great spooky albums with a distinctly Halloween feel to them. These range from gothic rockers to haunted movie soundtracks. There’s a brilliant interwoven connection between Halloween and music and it’s for this reason that Halloween parties are always so epic. Here’s a review of ten of the best Halloween album releases ever to grace the ectoplasmic airwaves around All Hollows Eve.

10. Alice Cooper Trash & Hey Stoopid

Ok, so this entry is officially 2 albums, but they came out back to back with a ramped up gothic feel. Alice Cooper’s Trash contains the classic Halloween track Poison and Hey Stupid followed that up with Feed My Frankenstein just two years later. With other track titles including Snakebite, Dangerous Tonight, House of Fire and Bed of Nails, these two albums are about as Halloween as rock ever got.

9. The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

The psychedelic drippings on The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are perfect for Halloween. With tracks like Fire and a reworking of I Put a Spell on You by Screemin’ Jay Hawkins, along with a scary rainbow clown front cover, this is an album that was made to be played in the darker side of late October. Its opening song is Prelude/Nightmare and it even has a track that makes a great backdrop to a game of bobbing for apples in Spontaneous Apple Creation.

8. The Original Monster Mash

This sixteen track, big beast of an album by Bobby (Boris) Picket and the Crypt-Kickers, is another classic album for Halloween. Along with the song of the same name, it’s also got tracks entitled, Rabian – The Fiendish Idol, Blood Bank Blues, Graveyard Shift, Transylvania Twist and Monster’s Holiday. It was literally made for Halloween.

7. Tubular Bells

Created by Mike Oldfield, Tubular Bells contains the title track from the film The Exorcist. It’s eerie, spectral and chimed with foreboding, which makes it just plain scary.

6. The Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack

The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack wasn’t much of a hit when it was first released, but it has stayed the test of time by becoming a cult Halloween sing along. With tracks like The Time Warp and Over at the Frankenstein Place, it’s got enough tongue in cheek horror melodrama to give Alice Cooper a run for his money.

5. The Addams Family Soundtrack

The Addams Family Soundtrack isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste. To start with it hasn’t got the sing along brilliance of the original TV show on it. It’s mainly the full original film score by Marc Shaiman, with a little MC Hammer, Addams Groove thrown in for good measure, so unless you’re a big Addams Family movie fan, this might not be the best album for you.

4. Ghostbusters Soundtrack

Again, apart from the amazing Ghostbusters track by Ray Parker Jr., this is pretty much the film score. However, if you combine it with the soundtrack from the second film too, which includes a Ghostbusters rap from Run DMC, On Our Own by Bobby Brown and versions of Higher and Higher, then you’ve got more than enough to add to your Halloween collection.

3. Monster Halloween Hits

All of the other albums are great, but if you want pretty much every single Halloween song ever in one place, you can’t go wrong with Monster Halloween Hits. Its got songs from most of the other albums in the top ten, including the likes of Thriller, Ghostbusters, The Time Warp, Feed My Frankenstein, Ghost Town by the Specials and Psycho Killer by Talking Heads. It’s about as definitive as it gets.

2. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

Looking like an early drawing for Joker in Batman The Dark Knight on the album front cover, David Bowie went fairly macabre for Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). The title song on its own is enough to make the album a great Halloween record, but with the addition of Ashes to Ashes, Fashion and Scream Like a Baby it is more than just a novelty entry.

1. Thriller

Can there really be a top ten Halloween album list without Michael Jackson’s Thriller heading it up. Cueing it up for a Halloween party starter would add a bit of life to a morgue. In fact, if the video is anything to go by that’s exactly what it did. Other than the song Thriller, there’s not much that’s actually all that fiendish about the album, apart from maybe the beginnings of MJ’s morphing madness. Although, Beat It, Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ are all a lot of fun to dance to wearing a shower curtain costume.

This guest blog post was written by Tuppence Magazine, dedicated to the best album reviews online.

Almost everyone recognizes that science fiction and horror are frequently used as tools for social commentary. We have all seen many issues argued in distant times and places with a variety of alien and human solutions or non-solutions. Sometimes though, stories are written that can be re-interpreted in ways not intended by the author (or perhaps it is, and that is the joke on us!)

Let us explore, for example, the movie Alien. When I first saw it at the drive-in as a young teen I had nightmares. Here is our hero Ripley trapped on a spaceship with a virtually invulnerable opponent with a rather disturbing life cycle. It was horrifying and claustrophobic, but after the movie I knew nothing like that would happen in real life.

Or so I thought…

As years went by I re-analyzed what I had seen in that movie. I had come to the realization that it was a mere exaggeration of something very familiar to most of us.

Something Disturbingly Familiar About Alien and Other “Horror” Science Fiction Movies…

What tripped me to this conclusion was actually another movie called Species. Many will remember the scene where the child of the creature is sitting in a cavern and sees a rat. The child’s tongue shoots out like a frog’s, seizes the rat and then the child contentedly starts chowing down on its prey.

I remember looking around the theatre at that point and realizing that there was a split in the reactions to what had occurred. About half the audience, younger singles on dates and teens, were ‘grossed out’ by the child eating the rat.

But the other half … oh, the other half …

They consisted of parents with younger kids, and were somewhat amused and glanced knowingly at each other as if to say “Oh yeah, we caught junior doing that just the other day.”

Hmmm …

The Plot Sounds Vaguely Familiar …

Alien begins when our intrepid heroes first arrive on the alien planet. John Hurt is intrigued by the eggs that they find and is drawn closer as they open enticingly …

Sound familiar?

Think back to the first time you fell in love. Young people are enticed or seduced by the opposite sex, aroused by mysteries that they have never experienced and to which they are almost helplessly drawn. For many, the suddenness of what happens next is frequently frightening, shocking, unexpected, and ultimately all too predictable. Something’s got you by the head and is ramming something down your throat!

Following the disappointing and shocking introduction to sex, many discover after a while that now they are pregnant, despite whatever precautions they may have taken (such as environmental suits). The pregnancy now progresses at an astonishing pace – one minute you are eating your salad, the next you are on your back giving birth. You never got a chance to really prepare yourself, never mind the fact that the baby’s room wasn’t painted yet!

The birthing experience to the uninitiated appears to occur much as it did with Mr. Hurt. There are sudden pangs, followed by the urge to push, there are people rushing every which way and everyone is trying to have a hand in taking charge. Then, despite all that everyone has done or said, the baby comes out in its own way.

I will admit however that babies tend not to perform their own Caesareans! But, then there is some blood, some screaming, and the next thing you know the baby has been rushed from the room.

The Life Cycle of an ‘Alien’

We have all heard how quickly children grow up, and our little alien is no different. It seems like in no time at all you have a sulky teenager on your hands. Also, other things have occurred during the raising of the child. Think about the plot of Alien versus your life with kids:

• Many of your pre-pregnancy friends have simply vanished into the darkness, never to be seen again.
• Others around you offer much advice that is simply ridiculous, especially since they obviously have not been through the same experiences as you have.
• As infants, they leave drool all over the place
• You spend a lot of time worrying about where exactly junior is and what he or she is up to.
• (Insert your own comparison in the comments below!)

Before you are really ready, of course, it is time to send junior on his way in the world. He has practically eaten you out of house and home. With all your friends gone he has become the sole focus of your life. But you realize that if you want to save that little nest egg you call your retirement you are going to have to get him out of the house.

Some parents actually decide to leave their homes to their children and move on to smaller more manageable places. Of course, many children reject this as the home can become overwhelming for them and can quickly depreciate beyond their ability to maintain. Some children will in fact attempt to continue living with their parents and this can lead to an unhealthy relationship in some cases.

In the end, of course, you are forced to ‘space’ the child, and after some grieving over how you could have done things better, you realize that you will probably still worry about them.

However, when you finally have the place to yourself for the first time in what feels like years, you can get some much needed, if fitful, sleep.

So, the next time you watch Alien with your partner, look at each other every now and then, and nod knowingly to each other!

By Curtis Heinrichs. Curtis is a proud Dad of two rambuntious teenage sons, and he’s always worrying just what they could be up to next …

If you enter a class to see a disheveled professor teaching you the proper way to cut into bodies with a blood-stained chainsaw, chances are you are an employee of Universal Studios Hollywood. (If not, run!) Along with calls for zombie go-go dancers, Chucky puppeteers and zombie dancers, you know you are in for more than a trick or treat come October 5th at Universal Studios Hollywood. Freddy, Jason and Leatherface are joining in the carnage known as “Halloween Horror Nights.”

From Universal’s press release:

This year’s “Halloween Horror Nights” will feature four new mazes and a new edition of the “Terror Tram,” allowing guests to venture on foot through Universal’s legendary back lot.

“Halloween Horror Nights” will be held on Friday and Saturday nights, beginning on October 5 and extending to Sunday, October 28, culminating on Halloween, October 31. The event dates are: October 5-6, 12-13, 19-20, 26-28 and 31. The event will begin nightly at 7:00 p.m.; closing hours vary by night throughout the event.

Freddy, Jason and Leatherface will each be featured within his own labyrinth of carnage, elevating the “Halloween Horror Nights” experience to appalling levels of madness and mayhem, levels that could only be realized by fiends as grisly as Jason, Leatherface and Freddy.

Each of the mazes will capture the gruesome tone of the notorious films to catapult horror fans to an excruciating level of intimacy often kept at a safe distance by virtue of the movie screen.

The popular “Terror Tram” experience– unique to Universal Studios Hollywood—allows guests to disembark from Studio Tour trams and walk among the historic sets of the Universal backlot, birthplace of the horror genre. The backlot experience—incorporating such Hollywood landmarks as Psycho House, Bates Motel and the “War of the Worlds” airplane crash disaster scene—will play a pivotal role in the reemergence of Freddy, Jason and Leatherface where guests-victims will weave through the debauchery and fall prey to their tortured, sadistic minds.

Universal Studios Hollywood’s “Halloween Horror Nights” will also feature a series of specially-created, spine-tingling entertainment adding an alarming element to the overall Halloween experience. Highlights include the new “House of Horrors” maze where Universal’s most notorious monsters will descend upon guests as they navigate the creepy confines of vampire lairs, cannibal caves and psycho film slashers.

Universal Studios Hollywood’s favorite attractions will remain open for the nighttime Halloween Horror Nights experience, but many will feature a menacing twist. The standing sets and themed streets of the theme park will be transformed into a bloodbath, as if scenes from horror films that were left on cutting room floor exploded to life. A transformed “WaterWorld,” “Jurassic Park—In the Dark,” the “Revenge of the Mummy” psychological thrill ride roller coaster and “Terminator 2:3D” will all seem like tranquil respites from Jason, Freddy and Leatherface’s bedlam.

“Chucky’s Insult Emporium” will provide a mix of menace and humor to the event, and the ingenious sleight-of-sight performances by two internationally renowned stunt magicians, Kevin James and Brian Bushwood, will feature an original mix of unusual feats from risky fire-eating stunts to tactfully hammering nails into eyeballs and sawing people in half before literally re-attaching them before guests’ very eyes.

For more information on “Halloween Horror Nights” and to purchase advance tickets, including the popular combo-day-and-“Halloween Horror Nights” ticket, please access www.UniversalStudiosHollywood.com, call 818-622-3801 or visit the Universal Studios Hollywood ticket booths.

By John Pearson

It was more than 20 years ago that Bob Burns and his crew of Hollywood FX masters magically transformed his quaint home in Burbank, California, into a haunter’s paradise. This past Halloween, they resurrected the tradition one last time hoping to dazzle guests once again with a final show based on the 1951 film “The Thing.”

Bob began haunting his home 1967. Tired of hearing true horror stories of razor blades in apples and poisoned candy, he and his wife Kathy, decided to dress up the house for the neighborhood kids. Some of those kids soon started hanging out around Bob’s house more. As Bob puts it, “They were excited to find a grown up that was into the same things they were and basically a big kid himself.” Together Bob and the kids worked on props and ideas for bigger shows. Among the kids were people like Dennis Muren, visual effects supervisor for Industrial Light and Magic, and make-up effects wizard Rick Baker.

Each year the shows got bigger and better. As the haunt grew so did the audiences and the event became almost a cult phenomenon. Bob and his crew did shows based on films like the Exorcist, Alien, War of the Worlds and more. In 1982, Bob did his last show The Creature, which was based off of the old film classic, The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Realizing that most of his crew was now taking off on their own careers, Bob decided it was a good time to stop. This was to the disappointment of loyal followers who had been attending shows since the first.

Fast forward 20 years later and we now find Bob back at it again. But getting this show going wasn’t as easy as it had been in 1982. Bob and Kathy discovered they now needed permits to pull off such an event. But with the caliber of talent Bob had at his disposal and the portfolio of past shows, the city of Burbank graciously handed him the permits he needed. And so “The Thing” would have a home for Halloween.

I was fortunate enough to visit Bob during construction of his haunt. I arrived with my wife, Renee and co-worker to Bob’s home only to find a crew of workers scrambling about to construct the walls of the haunt. Most of these people are top Hollywood FX guys and it makes you think to yourself, “How can someone get these top guys to give up their own free time?” The answer is simple, Bob Burns. When you meet Bob for the first time you notice he is like a long lost friend. You instantly feel connected to him. And even though you’re only meeting him for the first time you feel as if you know him. Bob has the ability to bring people together. Think about it, the average person doesn’t just give up his or her weekend for anybody. It takes someone that people care about. Bob is that guy.

Bob took us on a walkthrough of the skeletal structure of the haunt, similar to the way we would on opening night. With each section he explained how things would be played out. You can tell he loves this stuff. You can see his excitement in his body language. It’s like watching a kid at Christmas. Bob showed of the work of his crew like a proud grandpa. It was easy to envision the haunt from his descriptions. After the initial interview, Bob invited us in to his home to check out his amazing collection of movie memorabilia. Bob has acquired most of his pieces through his friends in the industry. He collects things for the joy of it and not for profit. As Bob would tell you he sees himself simply as the curator of his treasures and would like to see them in a museum. You can see some most of these amazing items in Bob’s book, “It Came From Bob’s Basement.” I highly recommend it to learn more about Bob. Before we departed Kathy invited us to share lunch with the crew. We felt a little bad about it since we hadn’t done any work on the haunt, but we broke bread with the crew and enjoyed Kathy’s very tasty ziti.

We returned to the Burns’ home Halloween night. The show was originally scheduled to only run two nights, Halloween night itself and the following day. Realizing the crowds were going to be twice as big as his 1982 show, which had 4000 people attend, Bob extended the show so it would run four evenings. When we arrived to a large crowd of people surrounding the house I wasn’t surprised. The line of waiting guests extended down several houses. In the end we waited two hours to see the show.

The anticipation of seeing “The Thing” show was nothing compared to the haunt itself. The front yard had been completely transformed. This was no longer Bob Burn’s home, but instead a remote arctic base. Icicles hung from the gutters of remote facility, Rusty barrels were stacked along the walls, the windows were frosted with ice, and there was snow surrounding the structure. In front of it all was a large rock with “The Thing” carved into it and the letters had a green eerie glow to them.

Universal Studios, an industry leader in creating horror films, celebrated the anniversary of several Universal classics horror classics in 2001. In a landmark relationship, Universal Studios Home Video (USHV) joined Tussaud’s Group of London and Madame Tussaud’s worldwide attractions to pay tribute to Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Development of the Dracula, Frankenstein and Mummy characters for Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museums coincides with USHV’s 2001 national campaign for a new Golden Era of Horror, celebrating several “monstrumental” anniversaries that have defined Halloween entertainment for generations. And, this is the first time Madame Tussaud’s has created wax figures of celebrities in costume and character makeup.

Madame Tussaud’s artisans created lifelike wax figures of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula persona to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Dracula (1931). The film combined gothic and supernatural elements to create an eerie, unforgettable story of the undead. Dracula established horror as a viable genre in the emerging era of talking pictures and was one of the most influential films of its day.

Larry King checks out eyeballs for his wax figure.

Boris Karloff’s portrayals of Frankenstein and The Mummy are immortalized in wax alongside Dracula. Also celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2001, Frankenstein is considered by many critics to be the greatest horror film of all time. Based on Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, the film, directed by James Whale, was a milestone in the genre. This film expanded the use of special effects, while Karloff’s nuanced performance made the creature both oddly affecting and deeply terrifying. The Mummy (1932) remains a monster movie classic. A high priest, the Mummy, was embalmed alive for trying to revive a vestal virgin after being sacrificed. The Mummy is accidentally revived after 3,700 years by a team of British archaeologists and he sets out to find his lost love. Seventy years after initial release this brooding, dream-like film remains a masterpiece.

The three classic monster wax figures are featured in Madame Tussaud’s New York. “For more than 200 years, Madame Tussaud’s has created incredibly lifelike figures of the world’s most recognizable individuals,” said Robert Roger, acting CEO for The Tussaud’s Group. “With enthusiastic support of Universal and the Karloff and Lugosi families, we have the unique opportunity to pay tribute to two renowned actors and their contributions to the early success of the horror genre on film.”

Madame Tussaud’s New York displays nearly 200 celebrities along with Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy. The New York facility opened on November 15, 2000. It is a prestigious, $50 million, 85,000 square foot, five-story interactive attraction located at 234 West 42nd Street in New York, The museum is open Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For information online visit their website at www.madame-tussauds.com or contact them by phone at 800.246.8872.

The name Houdini is inextricably linked with Halloween because of his death on October 31, 1926 at Grace Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. The Official Houdini Séance, held each year since his death, has its roots in Houdini’s efforts to expose fraudulent mediums. He claimed if there was truly a way to contact the living after one’s death, he would do so. He set up a code with his wife, Bess, who faithfully attended the annual seances awaiting his return for 10 years, after which time she gave up. The séance, currently organized by Sidney H. Radner, is held each year in a location of significant connection to Houdini’s life. While we wait for Houdini’s return, a visit to the Houdini Historical Center (HHC) is in order.

Photo: Magician Harry Houdini

Located in the Outagamie County Museum, the Houdini! exhibit recounts Houdini’s life and career from his boyhood to his worldwide fame and tragic death. The exhibit is filled with personal photos and letters, posters and handbills. Of course, escape apparatus – handcuffs, leg irons and straightjackets – even his Iron Maiden vividly bring his exploits to life. Visitors can see video footage of Houdini performing escapes and acting in silent films, hear the only known recording of his voice, and try on handcuffs and restraints similar to those used by Houdini.

HHC is caretaker of the Sidney H. Radner Collection of Houdini memorabilia, the world’s finest collection of artifacts and performing apparatus once owned and used by Houdini. At his death Houdini passed his secrets to his brother Theodore Hardeen who was also a performer and escape artists. Years later, Hardeen passed the collection and its secrets on to his protégé, Sidney H. Radner of Holyoke, Massachusetts. This magnificent collection remained hidden in Mr. Radner’s basement until 1988 when he placed it in the care of HHC. Subsequent to Radner’s contribution, other donors have come forward and contributed their Houdini collections to HHC to be enjoyed by the public.

Houdini – illusionist, escape artist, and debunker of occult fraud – grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin. His family emigrated from Budapest, Hungary when his father, Samuel Mayer Weiss, accepted a job as Appleton’s first rabbi. The Houdini Historic Walking Tour map is available at the center. The map guides you to the places in downtown Appleton where the man who mystified millions once stood, played and dreamed of the astounding feats he would one day perform. The tour adds an invigorating dimension to the Houdini! exhibit.

HHC is a non-profit organization dedicated to gathering, interpreting and disseminating information and artifacts related to the life and career of Harry Houdini. It is open year-round and offers annual events including summer magic shows and Halloween with Houdini. HHC is located at 330 East College Avenue, Appleton, WI 54911. For online information visit their website or reach them by phone at 920.733.8445.