12 best Halloween songs according to YouTube

Michael Jackson, “Thriller”, 1982

On Halloween, “Thriller” receives more than 14x the views it gets every other day. I’m actually kind of surprised it’s not higher on the list, but I guess 4th place isn’t so bad when you have “Monster Mash” and “This is Halloween” as contenders.

"It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking In the dark Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops Your heart You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before You make it You start to freeze as horror looks you right between The eyes You’re paralyzed ‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night And no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to Strike You know it’s thriller, thriller night You’re fighting for your life inside a killer Thriller tonight"

“Thriller” the song is a single off of the Thriller album, which was released in November 1982, well after Halloween. It’s the best selling album of all time, though, and scary enough to be a Halloween hit. With Thriller, Jackson was able to solidify his position as the Prince of Pop, and helped break down racial barriers in music and pop culture.

As a kid, back when MTV actually played music all the way through and showed videos and those seemed important, “Thriller” scared the living daylights out of me. My parents probably thought this was funny, but it scarred me. Even to this day, I have creepy crawlies when the song’s intro comes on. Thanks Mom.