Before Mariah fully unthaws to begin the Christmas music season, lets see just how big of a holiday Halloween has become, based on the songs we’re playing on Spotify.
For this analysis, I’ve examined the Spotify 200 chart for the day of October 31st for 2024, 2025, and 2026. I’ve identified each song as a “Halloween” song if it only makes the Spotify 200 chart on October 31st and in the days leading up to it, OR if the song sees a substantial boost in streams on October 31st that subsequently decline once November starts. (Michael Jackson’s “Thriller and Tame Impala’s “Dracula” meet this criterion, since both songs were already receiving non-Halloween related streaming.)
Halloween is steadily growing
From 2024 through 2026, Spotify streams on October 31st for Halloween songs grew by about 2.8 million streams, from 41.5 million to 44.3 million streams for the day. That’s seven percent growth during the last two years.
The number of songs people are playing for Halloween also grew from 49 of Spotify’s top 200 songs two years ago to 54 songs today.
On the day of Halloween 2026, 42% of the streams in the Spotify 200 were for Halloween songs’ streams.
Not Just A Day
Halloween has become a season, not merely a day. “Monster Mash” first re-entered the daily Spotify 200 on Friday, October 23rd, over a week before Halloween.
Veteran radio consultant Gary Berkowitz recently suggested stations become “The Halloween Station” during the week leading up to Trick ‘r’ Treating, just as stations now become The Christmas Station during December.
Spotify data supports this move.
What is a Halloween Song?
The criteria is important here. The majority of songs listeners add to their Halloween playlists aren’t inherently related to Halloween. In some cases, the connection is clear. Consider Blue Öyster Cult’s Don’t Fear) The Reaper or The Cranberries’ Zombie. Others aren’t so obvious, such as Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat (Day-O)” from Beetlejuice or the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back), the video for which features a haunted house with band members dressed as monsters, or Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon,” spotlighting Stevie Nicks’ Welch Witch weirdness.
For a deeper look into the origins of Halloween songs, check out America’s Halloween Playlist, where we discuss how movies and an astute 70s two-hit wonder give us much of our spooky soundtrack.
And if you’re ready to move on to Mariah Carey, review my exploration on how Christmas music has become a two-month long phenomenon in We (Apparently) Need a Little Christmas Right This Very Minute
Data source for this post:
Spotify Charts (days of 10/31/2024, 10/31/2025, and 10/31/2026 for the USA): https://charts.spotify.com/charts/overview/us