Proving their own kind of immortality, hits from the 1970s and 1980s dominated Xperi’s ranking of the top 20 most listened-to Halloween songs in-vehicle this season, led by “Thriller.” The oldest song on the list, “I Put a Spell on You,” was first released 70 years ago, while only one song from this century, “Heads Will Roll,” cracked the top 20.
Based on data gathered by the AutoStage Broadcaster Portal, the top 20 Halloween songs were determined by the number of in-car listening sessions during the week of Oct. 25-31, 2026, across 550 U.S. markets.
A quintessential Halloween mainstay
It was no surprise that Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was the most listened-to Halloween song in-vehicle in nearly every market measured. First released more than 40 years ago, the disco/funk hit reached #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in March 1984 and has been a fixture on the radio every year during the Halloween season, helped in large part by its accompanying video. In the week leading up to Halloween 2026, “Thriller” had over 343,000 listens in cars across the U.S., which was more than double the number of listens of the #2 song.
1970s and ’80s classics are Halloween favorites
The top 3 most listened-to Halloween songs in-vehicle on Xperi’s list were originally released in the 1980s:
#1 – “Thriller” by Michael Jackson (1982)
#2 – “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. (1984)
#3 – “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell (1984)
Interestingly, the #3 song features uncredited guest vocals by Michael Jackson, making him one of two artists to sing in two songs from the top 20 list. The other is Danny Elfman, who provides lead vocals for the song “Dead Man’s Party” by Oingo Boingo (#8), as well as for “This Is Halloween” from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (#12).
Thirteen of the top 20 songs were first released 40 to 50-plus years ago. In addition to the top 3, other ’80s songs on the list include: “A Nightmare on My Street” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (#7), “Dead Man’s Party” by Oingo Boingo (#8), “Abracadabra” by the Steve Miller Band (#9), “Devil Inside” by INXS (#11) and “Freaks Come Out at Night” by Whodini (#13).
Five songs from the ’70s made the top 20, including: “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon (#5), “Witchy Woman” by the Eagles (#6), “The Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (#10), “Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads (#14) and “Black Magic Woman” by Santana (#15).
The oldest song on the list turned 70 years old this year — 1956’s “I Put a Spell on You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, which placed #18. Other oldies but goodies on the list from the 1960s include: “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett from 1962 (#4), “Season of the Witch” by Donovan released in 1966 (#20), as well as 1967’s “Spooky” by Dusty Springfield (#16). The newest song in the top 20, and the only one released in the 21st century, is “Heads Will Roll” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, from 2009.
The anatomy of a Halloween song
In line with Halloween, the top 20 songs feature ghosts, witches, werewolves, monsters, freaks and more.
Three songs on the list include “magic” in the title, or as a theme: “Abracadabra” by the Steve Miller Band (#9), “Black Magic Woman” by Santana (#15) and “I Put a Spell on You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (#18).
Songs that include core words to Halloween were likely to make the top 20. Two songs with the word “witch” in the title, and two songs including the word “spooky” made the list: “Witchy Woman” by the Eagles (#6) and “Season of the Witch” by Donovan (#20), as well as “Spooky” by Dusty Springfield (#16) and “Spooky Scary Skeletons” by Andrew Gold (#17).
Three of the top 20 songs were prominently featured in movies: “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. (#2) from the film of the same name, “The Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (#10), and “This Is Halloween” from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (#12), which is also the only song on the list that uses the word “Halloween” in its title and lyrics. Additionally, the song “A Nightmare on My Street” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (#7) is directly inspired by the horror flick “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”
DTS AutoStage delivers scary-fast data across 550 U.S. markets
Radio stations across the nation understand the importance of including Halloween songs in their programming in October, and the AutoStage Broadcaster Portal has the data to prove it. Premium subscribers gain access to weekly top 100 song rankings by total listening sessions, with spins, average sessions per spin and week-over-week chart movement. And analytics from the Broadcaster Portal are provided from the prior day’s listening, published every day, from 550 markets across the U.S. This is just another way the AutoStage data can show broadcasters the significance of seasonal songs in near real time, with granular, connected-car insights to measure the impact of radio in the modern vehicle dashboard.
