Halloween Mood

As an Australian, Halloween is nowhere near as big an event as it is in the U.S, but man I wish it was. What I would give to be able to travel over to celebrate Halloween in America. I reckon it would be an absolute blast! Fingers crossed that I'll get to do it one of these days.

Having said that, some Australians do celebrate, and it seems to be getting bigger every year, which puts a smile on my face. I certainly have been known to celebrate with friends over the years, and hopefully we'll be able to again sometime in the near future. It's not likely to happen this year because being from Melbourne means we're still currently under strict lockdown rules; but that's a whole other story; back to Halloween...

So, if I was hosting a Halloween party, what kind of music would I select? The answer to that is it depends. There are a couple of reasons; one being that I have a number of friends from all walks of life; all with their own style and taste, some of another generation as well, so it would depend on who I'm sharing the celebration with - maybe all of them, maybe some of them, who knows. The other would be dependent on what mood I'm in; I love all kinds of music and it really depends on what I feel like listening to at the time. It could be anything from Vivaldi, Mozart or Bach to total glitchy Dubstep and pretty much anything in between. It also depends on what kind of style I want the party to be; the theme within the theme as it were.

Now that I've reached mid-life, the kinds of parties I like to hold these days have changed and are usually either dinner or cocktail style, so let's start there.

I'm a big fan of the classic silver screen era of the 40's and 50's, so I would likely run with a vintage style Halloween cocktail party; full of glitz and glamour, but also with some of the best-worst horror movies around. I'm also a big fan of Tim Burton films, so my theme would likely be around his film, 'Ed Wood'. I'd invite my guests to come dressed as one of their favourite characters from the movie, as well as any other B-grade Horror film character of the early 50's; and of course I would include the soundtrack with the wonderful sounds of the bongo, xylophone, string and brass instruments, not to mention the classic spooky sound of the theremin.

That's one idea, but what else?

As a younger person, I was heavily involved in the Goth and Punk scenes; you'd often find me at a bar or club that housed their style of music. My taste varied, but I guess you could say that I preferred some of the more classic styles of those genres. If it was anything from artists such as 'The Birthday Party', 'Sisters of Mercy', 'Bauhaus', 'The Cure' or 'The Cramps', you'd definitely find me on the dancefloor trying my best to be super cool. Goth especially goes hand in hand with Halloween, so as another party idea, I would definitely consider breaking out my black mesh top, knee high socks and tease my hair again to look like Robert Smith’s, for sure, all whilst playing some classics for Halloween; I wouldn't stay up as late as I used to, though.

To be honest with you, I could go on for days about the different music that I'd choose for various types of Halloween parties. From the good ol' 'Monster Mash' through to Aphex Twin's, 'Come to Daddy', I love it all.

Hmmm, maybe I should become a Halloween party planner? If nothing else, I hope I've given some inspiration to others when planning their own party.

Cheers!