Musicals That Are Perfect For Trick Or Treat Season

When it comes to the holiday season nothing bops harder than the music, but since Christmas dominates most holiday music I want to shout out the alternatives to Halloween music rather than the usual The Devil Went Down To Georgia, Thriller, and Monster Mash. Here are 12 musicals that are perfect for spooky season. 

12: Rocky Horror Picture Show

I wouldn't be a part-time theater blogger if I didn't have this iconic Halloween staple on this list. Everyone knows the story and knows Tim Curry's iconic portrayal of Dr. Frankenfurter. The Time Warp is synonymous with Halloween, in fact, I believe it plays on the radio. Another great version is the NBC live studio audience version with Laverne Cox as Dr. Frankenfurter and Victoria Justice and Ryan McCartan as Janet and Brad. It's pretty cool.

11: The Addams Family

They're creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky in this neat and sweet musical. Opening on Broadway in 2010, The Addams Family waltzed their way into audiences' hearts and revived the love for the creepy family in the mansion. When Wednesday falls in love and invites her boyfriend and his stuck-up and normal parents to meet the family it turns into a tension-filled, secret-spilling evening for the ages. The songs are amazing for the Halloween season. From the first song to the last, it's perfect.

10: Evil Dead

Who thought Evil Dead would be a successful musical? Well, it is and its chaotic to be sure. With the first act adapting the first Evil Dead and the second act adapting the second, five college students spend a weekend in an abandoned cabin and accidentally unleash an evil terror named Ash. This rock musical is perfect for the Halloween season, and the vocals from everyone in this musical are great. No wonder it got a 3D experience.

9: Jekyll and Hyde

If you had told me that David Hasselhoff played Jekyll and Hyde in a musical I would have balled over with laughter...and I still did, but the original with Robert Cuccioli made my jaw drop. Following the story of Dr. Jekyll and his obsession with why man is both good and evil following his father's death, and the road he takes to find it which turns him into Hyde, the musical is a fantastic piece of not only theater but Halloween theatre.

8: Dracula 

Another Frank Wildhorn musical (J&H was the first on this list), Dracula follows three people who come into Dracula's mist and how their lives are affected by him especially when he falls in love with one of the women that sleepwalked into his life. The music is haunting from the first chord, and though not a beloved staple I can see people playing this musical at least once during the spooky season. 

7: Lizzie

Inspired by the acquitted murderer Lizzie Borden, Lizzie The Musical delves into Lizzie's mysterious psychology and speculates on her motives while using characters like her sister Emma, their maid Bridget, and Lizzie's neighbor Alice. Another rock musical with creaky and unsettling underscoring that is perfect for the Halloween season.

6: Little Shop of Horrors

Another Halloween cult classic Little Shop of Horrors follows a flower shop worker who finds a talking man-eating plant and its promises of success come with a price that Seymour Krelborn repays with not only the love of his life but his own. This musical is having a great time off-Broadway at the moment, and there's no wonder why. The musical has campy music that explores dark themes of the price we pay for fame and adoration. It's perfect for spooky season.

5: Carrie

If you wanted The King of Horror, Stephen King to have a book to musical adaptation you have one! Carrie the Musical is a fantastic Halloween musical. Following the story of the book, bullied and abused Carrie White has powers that she uses to protect herself, but it goes awry when it kills all her classmates at prom. The story of not messing with the quiet kid is an unimaginably good story to turn into a musical, and the eeriness of the underscoring under certain songs and the themes it delves into is a great one for the Halloween season.

4: Coraline

Did you know a Neil Gaiman book was turned into a musical? Coraline was turned into a musical in 2009 around the same time as the movie came out globally. The musical is eerie and creepy all throughout especially the children's song. The unsettledness in each song is amped up in every song and is just creepy enough for Halloween night.

3: Beetlejuice

Let's fall through the floor or get electrocuted and follow the ghost with the most, Beetlejuice! The musical follows the Maitland couple who die in their home (the Broadway version was falling through a creaky floorboard, the tour is the Maitlands getting electrocuted by a faulty wall plug) and their mission to kick out the new family, a land-property businessman, his new girlfriend and spiritual guru, and a grieving teenage girl named Lydia. When Lydia calls upon the help of Beetlejuice to get to her dead mom, well...it gets spookily chaotic. This musical should have won Best Musical but I digress. Just like the movie, Beetlejuice is a Spooktacular Halloween spectacle. BJ is THE moment. If you haven't listened to this I highly recommend it.

2: Sweeney Todd and The Barber of Fleet Street

Another Halloween mainstay, Sweeney Todd and the Barber of Fleet Street is also having a fantastic run and moment on Broadway at the moment. (Go see it guys! Please! I beg of you! You won't regret it!). Following a man who was falsely charged and sent to Australia, Benjamin Barker, or Sweeney Todd as he aliases himself, returns to 19th century Victorian England in search of a place to stay and his family that was ripped away from him. Upon finding nothing but a pie owner who doesn't bake pies well, his old barber tools, and the story of what happened to his wife and daughter, he descends on his revenge path on the man who ruined his life and took his daughter for himself. This musical since its opening in 1979 has been spoken of in the sense of Halloween musicals. It was as if it was created for the Halloween season. Spooky, dreary, creaky, creepy, and chilling, Sweeney Todd does very well in pumpkin season.

1: Goosebumps

Even though I'm sure all of you are screaming at the screen about why Sweeney or Beetlejuice isn't number 1, I have a good reason. Because Goosebumps might just be the newest Halloween musical. Following two kids auditioning for their school musical, a phantom is haunting their vicinity and when the lead is taken out, the kids who got the part realize that it may have something to do with the long-forgotten student who died years ago. This musical is on Spotify right now guys, please listen to it. It's perfect for the Halloween season and a great spooky family musical. Sure, it's a play on Phantom of the Opera and High School Musical, but it's amazing in its own right, and I couldn't gush about it more. Check it out.

Happy Halloween Season, Everyone! Get ready for next week's Halloween Nostalgia Blog!