Domingo 31 Oct 2010, 19:53

I wanted to write about Halloween, because lately it has catapulted itself into the position of my favorite holiday, narrowly beating out "no holidays." Unfortunately, due to extensive mental tangents and entanglements, I am finding myself needing to preface this with an apology for its hideously long exposition. Sorry, Halloween music is going to have to wait momentarily. I blame this on not having a clear thesis. And on Woodrow Wilson.

Being raised in a nonreligious household gave holidays a different meaning to me than for most people, I suppose. The value and import of a holiday centered around two things: the number of days off school it generated, and the fun of its associated rituals. This prioritization is true for all children, of course, but it carried with it no guilt that later was compensated for (or worse, was not compensated for, and continued existing as guilt.)

Since I am no longer a child- this was not my decision- those priorities are no longer applicable for me. Even before recent family-scale complexities, Christmas has fallen hard from top dog to sub-Arbor Day levels, for reasons that everyone eventually develops to varying degrees about Christmas. Passover has become an irrelevancy since I'm still away at school when it comes around. I find birthdays to be a bit of a puzzling congratulation for something done to you rather than by you, or at least an arbitrary celebration. The festivities involved for New Years and Independence Day never appealed to me. Thanksgiving, you carry such dark commentaries…

But Halloween. What did Halloween ever do to anybody? First of all, it is occurs during the best month of the year, at least for the northeast U.S., when I am happiest about being alive anyway. What I like about it is that it is its own end. Every other holiday has some dumb thing we're meant to remember- remember infant Jesus, remember tortured Jesus, remember James Madison, remember the fortuitous energy density of olive oil, remember the Alamo, remember the Lusitania, etc., etc. But Halloween isn't about anything but itself, and if it ever was, then it isn't true anymore. It's all the fun of ceremony minus the weight of actually honoring something. It's about giving kids a chance to be creative, meet their neighbors, and get some exercise before enjoying a universally beloved creation of mankind- well, maybe except mallow cups and necco wafers. It's about bringing us together through a delightful case of the shivers (please see Lobel's Days with Frog and Toad for more information on the shivers,) and since this is how we react instead of how we're told we should feel like on Christmas, it's for real.

So I'm good with Halloween. What promotes it from "approval and toleration" to something I actively think about is mostly thanks to external forces, such as i-mockery, convincing me it is a good way to share your love of horror.

Well, holy shit, I guess I'm supposed to have mentioned something musical by now. Halloween hasn't quite accumulated a set of classics the way Christmas has, like Deck Us All with Boston Charlie or the McKenzie brother's The Twelve Days of Christmas, but there's no reason it should be left out of musical list-making fun.

This is not meant to be a definitive collection of Halloween tunes in any way, or even a value claim about this particular set of songs. Such pseudo-standardized lists are a pinkboy construction that empowers those who "know more" and disenfranchises those who don't, creates an in-group/out-group dynamic based on these knowledge divisions, turns everything into a competition, and makes us hate each other. Just look at every Rolling Stone list ever. I regret labeling previous lists in this format, though I did try to qualify them with words like "my top x list."

So what I'm trying to say is that I like my lists to be a discussion on music, life and the world in general, and in this case Halloween, rather than a posturing display of "knowledge" and "taste" or a pointless reciprocation of a subjective opinion with the like-minded. So if there is any dreadful omission, just add it yourself, that's part of the fun. Or if some travesty was included, just ignore it. My list is the way it's supposed to be.

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach - Yes, a shatteringly awesome and deep, deeep piece, this is the best Halloween has to offer, whether Bach would have liked that or not! I actually think it is kind of joyful but context is everything, and in October its passionate creepiness reigns. It is transformed into an expression of dark and biting wallowing. That is the power of Halloween- think of the music in Night of the Living Dead (my favorite horror movie, in tight competition with Alien, which cheats by also being sci-fi.) It was used to brilliant effect in that film, but it was also briefly used in The Teenagers from Outer Space to no effect. Most people think of The Phantom of the Opera when they hear this, but I think of Tales from the Crypt, where it was used wonderfully in the very opening scene. There's original, there's cliched, and then there's so fucking cliched that you can't stop smiling, and Tales from the Crypt hit that last one squarely on the head. It was a real treat to watch, and especially listen to, on the big screen, particularly while drinking a delicious Natrona Red Ribbon Cherry Soda. Boy I love this season.

Thriller - Michael Jackson - Obvious choice is obvious, I suppose, but that's because it really does deserve it. Everything about it was executed perfectly- the song is catchy without being peppy, the parody of the innocent 50's Suzie-Q icons in the video is a real treat, and Vincent Price never sounded so good. It also has some of the best scenes of the undead ever on film- I'm serious about this, it's a lot better than many zombie movies. The actors look and act like they truly are mindless, rotting automatons (until they start dancing, that is, which is brilliant itself.) Also, the campy "plot twists" in the video managed to actually be better than what M. Night Shyamalan has produced, so there's that as well.

This is Halloween - Danny Elfman - Also covered by Marilyn Manson, although his style of music was never my cup of tea, so I prefer the original. Of course practically the entire soundtrack to the Nightmare Before Christmas could belong on a list of Halloween songs, but this one is a fantastic anthem for the holiday. It expresses the silliness that comes from fear, or better yet, the fun overlaying the dark chill, because the creepiness and terror are still there. Yeah, it's for kids, but kids are quite drawn to the macabre and wonderfully horrific too, just ask Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell.

Mad Monster Mansion - Grant Kirkhope - This track from Banjo-Kazooie is some more kid-oriented goofiness. Grant Kirhope's work is kind of like the music equivalent of a cartoon.

Halloween Blues - Peter Lang - I'm referring to the version on Back to the Wall. I freaking love this song. The mix of slide guitar and fiddle makes a really fun, but somehow off tune, and you know what? That's what Halloween is about. Fun that's allowed to be a little more demented than usual.

Dracula - Gorillaz - A delightfully weird song that I haven't developed a full explanation for yet. But hell, Dracula is Halloween-related, am I right? And it's a good song, am I right? So let's include it.

Cannibal Holocaust (Main Theme) - Riz Ortolani - Cannibal Holocaust isn't really a "Halloween-y" horror movie at all, because the shock and horror in isn't playing around. However, I'm putting it on here because I think it has the best theme of any horror movie I've seen. It's a gorgeous and sad piece, and the irony of using it in "Cannibal Holocaust" made the footage that much more powerful. It's a hard to say if this was a good film, and for a lot of people it's hard to say that this should ever have been made at all. Personally, I think the fact that it pushes us to think about these difficult questions regarding the boundaries and merits of art makes it worthwhile alone, and its theme song helps legitimize it.

Mind's Playing Tricks on Me - Atom & his Package - Ahh, Halloween breeds delinquency, but it's good to shake up the order once in a while. It's all in the name of fun.

The Time Warp - Richard O'Brien - How do you even describe The Rocky Horror Picture Show, even in terms of Halloween. Maybe that older folks can get in on the fun too, even if it is a bit less… innocent.

Halloween - Dead Kennedys - Not really "about" Halloween, this song mocks the pinkboys who really wish they had the courage to be different. Still, since it is Halloween and I am in a good mood, I'm happy that these people get to be misfits for a day.

Zombi 2 Theme - Lucio Fulci - This is also one of my all-time favorite horror movie themes. The minimalist beat at the beginning (supposedly created by Fulci just hitting the microphone with his hand,) is reminiscent of a lot of creepy things: a heartbeat, the wind knocking a loose shutter, footsteps, the undead pounding against the confines of a coffin…

1895 Notre Dame - Graeme Norgate - Wow! I nearly forgot this one! From one of the (many) creepy levels in Timesplitters 2, words cannot describe how much I love this. Somehow choral music and techno combine to form one hell of a sweet gothic track.

Halloween Theme - John Carpenter (I guess) - I'll end this list with a great, iconic track that feels like a tingling, hair-standing-up sensation… it let's you know that something evil is out there, and it's coming for you! But here's a confession: Somehow I've managed to see Rabid Grannies, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, and The Snakehead Terror before I've seen Halloween, and I call myself a horror fan!! I will work on rectifying this as soon as possible.

That's my Halloween good-times list! I'm going to finish celebrating tonight by watching Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and then A Nightmare on Elm Street. Good night and HAPPY HALLOWEEN! >:D