Myrna Loy conjures spirits at home

In case I haven’t made it clear by my year-round lifestyle, it goes without saying that Halloween is my favorite holiday. Part of why I love it so much is the abundance of weird, wild and wacky music that celebrates the spookiest season of the year. Since 2011, I’ve been digging into my personal music crypt for some of these tricks and treats and, to paraphrase The Nightmare Before Christmas, I believe this year’s was my most horrible yet!

Have a listen to the full show, which includes many non-musical scares as well as creepy tunes new and old.

XPN Halloween Spooktacular 2018

One minor addendum: In the second hour, you’ll hear me talk about a song that I’m playing for the first time called “I Was a Teenage Brain Surgeon.” While the collection from which I sourced the track (unhelpfully) lists the artist as ‘Jack the Ripper,’ it is in fact legendary voice actor (and “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” singer) Thurl Ravenscroft performing with novelty music pioneer Spike Jones. Check out the full playlist below…

8pm
Ronnie Cook & The Gaylads – Goo Goo Muck
The Raveonettes – Apparitions
Beach House – Black Car
Marlon Williams – Vampire Again
Dorothea Fleming – The Devil is Mad
The White Stripes – Little Ghost
Southern Culture On The Skids – Torture
Bauhaus – In Fear of Fear
Joan Jett And The Blackhearts – Science Fiction/Double Feature
R. Dean Taylor – There’s A Ghost In My House
The Black Angels – At Night
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll
Joy Division – Isolation
The Courtneys – Lost Boys
Pete Drake – Spook
Screaming Lord Sutch – ‘Til The Following Night

9pm
Suicide – Ghost Rider
La Luz – The Creature
Spike Jones and his Slickniks – I Was a Teenage Brain Surgeon
Deerhoof – Midnight, the Stars and You
Chromatics – Shadow
The Bird And The Bee – Witch
October Country – My Girlfriend is a Witch
The Cramps – Beautiful Gardens
Stan Ridgway – What Fear Can Make You Do
Siouxsie & The Banshees – The Staircase (Mystery)
The Smiths – Cemetry Gates
Huey “Piano” Smith – Bury Me Dead (Deep In My Grave)
Vic Mizzy – The Addams House
Andrés Pajares – Drúcula “Ye-Yé”
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Death Is Not The End