We compared October US search interest for 25 Halloween songs over five years, each measured against "Monster Mash" as a fixed benchmark (=100). The closest Halloween-only song is "this is halloween" at 79% of Monster Mash; after that it falls off fast, with "spooky scary skeletons" at 35% and "time warp" at 20%. "Thriller" and "Ghostbusters" out-search it, but both words also cover a famous film and album. In the 2004–2025 monthly record, Monster Mash's October level hardly moves, while Ghostbusters jumps in film-release years such as 2016 and 2021.
October search interest vs "Monster Mash" (=100), US, 2021–2025 avg
| Song query | Index (Monster Mash = 100) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ghostbusters | 343 | ambiguous (film/album/other meaning) |
| thriller | 316 | ambiguous (film/album/other meaning) |
| halloween songs | 113 | generic term, not a song |
| this is halloween | 79 | |
| superstition | 66 | ambiguous (film/album/other meaning) |
| spooky scary skeletons | 35 | |
| disturbia | 29 | ambiguous (film/album/other meaning) |
| season of the witch | 27 | ambiguous (film/album/other meaning) |
| time warp | 20 | |
| i put a spell on you | 20 | ambiguous (film/album/other meaning) |
| purple people eater | 14 | |
| zombie cranberries | 11 | ambiguous (film/album/other meaning) |
| werewolves of london | 10 | |
| highway to hell | 10 | ambiguous (film/album/other meaning) |
| witchy woman | 6 | |
| black magic woman | 6 | ambiguous (film/album/other meaning) |
| bury a friend | 2 | |
| the addams family theme | 2 | |
| dead mans party | 1 | |
| somebodys watching me | 0 |
What it means
Holiday playlists recycle the same songs every year. Anyone who needs the sound and not the song can make it with an AI sound effect generator. For a soundtrack to your own day, an AI music generator can score it to whatever mood you need.
Method
- Google search interest, US, web search, weekly, past 5 years; plus monthly since 2004. Songs were queried in five batches, each including "monster mash" as an anchor; each song's October average is expressed relative to Monster Mash in its own batch.
- Ambiguous titles are kept in the table but flagged and not used for the headline.
Cite and download
Free to use and cite with a link back to this page.
aisong.lol Research. (2026). Halloween's real anthem: 'Monster Mash' vs 'Thriller' vs 'Ghostbusters' in 20 years of search. aisong.lol. https://aisong.lol/research/halloweens-real-anthem-monster-mash-vs-thriller-vs-ghostbusters-in-20
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