Nothing gets you more in the Halloween spirit (or is it the Spirit Halloween?) than the song “Monster Mash.” This song combines a great groove with a classic Halloween aesthetic, and it is personally my favorite song of the season. The original Monster Mash came out in 1962, performed by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, and is an unbeatable classic. It’s loved by many kids because it really makes many people want to dance to the music—and yes, there is an actual dance called the Monster Mash that people dance to with this song! There’s steps! This song is so popular that, when it came out in 1962, it peaked at No. 1 on the charts for two weeks. It’s lasted a long time, too: for the last 61 years, it rises from the grave around every Halloween . . .
Song
“Monster Mash” is about a monster that gets up from a mad scientist’s table [Ed. Note—did you know Frankenstein wasn’t the name of the monster?] and starts to dance around, doing the titular mash. This song is not only catchy, but it is also comedic, in that it has funny elements throughout the song, like references to other classic monsters (the Wolf Man, Dracula, etc.). This song was made to combine dances of the time and give them a Halloween spin, and people loved it. Moves like the Twist and the Mashed Potato gave the song its name. (The dance for the Monster Mash is just the Mashed Potato, but people would add Frankenstein’s-monster-type movements to make it more Hallowenish.) This song was part of an album that had many other Halloween dance songs included as well, such as the Transylvania Twist. You know that funny moment when Dracula asks “whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist?” That must be his favorite song, and it’s on the same album. Fun fact is that this song was actually banned in the UK, because BBC executives considered it too morbid and therefore did not want it to play on the radio. When Bobby Pickett did this song, he did it in his famous impression of Boris Karloff, which made his voice much creepier. Boris Karloff (you may know him from the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas) has that deep voice with a classic spooky tone, which helped the song’s Halloween feel.
Impact
This song has been covered so many times, not only because it was popular, but because it pushed some boundaries of the time. It used sound effects that later influenced bands like the Beatles, who used various sound effects in their song “Yellow Submarine.” No matter how silly the event in the song, it was still very influential on other artists as well as giving us all a great Halloween song to dance and listen too. This song will be so timeless that even now, 60 years after this song has been released, it entered the US Billboard 100 at #37. That shows you how a song can still persevere in the popular imagination after a long time. Influence can last forever.
Review
I love this song, and though it is not really being sung by Pickett so much as spoken, the beat is still very catchy, and the voice that Pickett utilizes reinforces the spooky feel of the song. There is no other song I would rather listen to on Halloween than the “Monster Mash.” How can it get any better? All these Halloween characters and their interactions in the song are hilarious, and the lyrics are easy for anyone to sing. You do not need to be a pro to sing (or speak) “Monster Mash,” but it definitely sounds great.
When Halloween rolls around, what other song do people really think about? I can’t really think of many other good Halloween songs. When October rolls around, we all watch our scary movies, buy candy for trick-or-treaters, get Halloween costumes, and we listen to the Monster Mash.
In conclusion, the “Monster Mash” is, in my opinion, the greatest Halloween song of all time and I hope you agree. This song influenced other artists and been covered by so many (the Misfits, Mannheim Steamroller, the Beach Boys—the Beach Boys!) have covered it when Halloween is coming. You will surely laugh when you listen to this song, so if you haven’t yet, give it a listen.