Halloween Grab Bag of Treats

[To help set a spooky mood for this year's fright fest, here's a small collection of previously posted suggestions for Halloween party music. They're from different genres, and each is scary in its own way. —Ed.]
 

Spooky Blues: Napster Playlist
Does it get any scarier than a six-foot-six, three hundred pound man literally moaning at the moon at midnight? Yes, believe it or not, it does, and when a tormented guitar player who, legend has it, actually made a deal with the devil in exchange for instrumental skill, details his torment by hellhounds, you might want to count your blessings. For some, Halloween comes around more than just once a year -- just listen to Bessie Smith or Son House for proof. So if tonight you find yourself dancing with a demon in the wee hours or shaking hands with a ghoul over some misguided wager, remember... the sun will rise tomorrow.
 

Various Artists, This is Crucial Reggae: Halloween
Halloween isn't really celebrated in Jamaica, except at the big resorts full of Americans hopped up on jerk chicken and beef patties, among other things. That said, the good people at RAS Records have taken the liberty of putting together a compilation of dub tracks that fit in nicely with the spooky theme of the holiday. This Is Crucial Reggae: Halloween is a special edition in the Crucial Reggae series. The tripped-out soundscapes created by Lee "Scratch" Perry, his band The Upsetters, and the legendary Augustus Pablo are a great choice for party hosts looking for something a little less obvious than Michael Jackson's "Thriller" or "Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And with tracks like "Dracula Prince of Darkness," "Doctor Satan Echo Chamber," and "Bells of Death," you'll be feeling irie and eerie at the same time.
 

Halloween Metal: Napster Playlist
With fright night fast approaching, it's time to line up the scary music to make this year's gathering of ghouls truly terrifying. Submitted for your approval: What's more horrifying than a seething batch of metal? Black metal, death metal, doom metal, grindcore, speed metal, power metal, sludge metal... metal metal metal metal metal!!! Featuring such catchy numbers as "Dead by Dawn," "Blood on My Hands," and "Coffin Fodder" by such upstanding organizations as Deicide, Morbid Angel, and Cradle of Filth, Napster's "Halloween Metal" playlist is not for children, but for metalheads with sufficient maturity to handle the heaviness. You'll also encounter numbers by Anthrax, Pantera, Lamb of God, and Slayer, so if outrageous, bone-rattling horror-noise is on your list of treats this year, this playlist may just do the trick.
 

Mannheim Steamroller, Halloween
Mannheim Steamroller, aka composer Chip Davis, struck again in 2003 with Halloween, a collection of silly, fun versions of classic songs you'd expect to hear come October (or is that July now?). The group has been primarily known for their New-Age take on Christmas and holiday music, but Halloween is its own complete holiday offering, with all the usual Steamroller hallmarks: neoclassical arrangements, drum machines, and a lively synthesized orchestra. All the major spooky classical pieces are covered: Bach's famous "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" starts us off, followed by Grieg's eerie "Hall of the Mountain King." Some of Davis' own compositions are placed between other famous musical pieces by Wagner ("The Flying Dutchman," "Ride of the Valkyries") and Mussorgsky ("Night on Bald Mountain"). He also adds a bizarre spacey element to the mix with "Z-Row Gravity," "Crystal," and his own rendition of the Twilight Zone theme. A few more easily identifiable favorites include  "Funeral March of a Marionette" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." The second half of the album is made up of sound effect-oriented numbers that are meant to be shuffled with the first half. Perfect for the whole family, Halloween provides prime background music that's playful enough for all to enjoy.