Do you want a peek behind the curtain? Code Name Helloween (Roses Are Dead) just went to the editor for final polishing. Meanwhile I have a moment to look back on this BEAST of a book (Almost 97K folks!) and the music that helped inspire the book.
It all started SO innocently with a couple of girl-power witchy songs like those from Dorothy and Pretty Reckless, and then just took a TWIST when I got to Bear’s likes and dislikes.
Ha! Rammstein, Godsmack, Pantera…
So, Roishin had to double down with Rob Zombie, Powerman 5000, and of course Darkher, Halocene, and Otep.
Then came the witchy/paranormal influences from the author’s era.
Can you guess? No?
Well, there’s Dio, which, believe it or not, inspired a whole high fantasy story line about four kids who stepped through a magic portal to save an alternate dimension. That book never quite made it past development stage, but it is one of the first non-fan-fiction stories I dabbled with back in the Eighties.
Then there’s the Lost Boys soundtrack from that same era. Lyric Noel’s remake of Cry Little Sister is especially haunting.
And of course, Buffy the Vampire Slayer hit all sorts of imagination buttons with Transylvanian Concubine, Strong, and Lucky.
At that point, I took a field trip to the gold source of all things dark and witchy music-related… Hot Topic. The clerk there was so generous with his time and music tastes for this old lady.
A few more items slipped in, like Gojira and The HU just because I needed those bangers to kick me in the pants near the end of this book because it was getting SO long. I thought I’d miss the deadline on this one. Yikes!
Oh, and then I’d like to especially thank my youngest for introducing me to Wardruna at one point. From there I gleaned Heilung and Danheim as well as a deep appreciation of bone sticks.
Here’s the full list for “Helloween” https://pandora.app.link/0YnKmjY2AVb
- What’s Coming to Me (Unplugged) – Dorothy
- Rosenrot – Rammstein
- Witches Burn – Pretty Reckless
- Voodoo – Godsmack
- Don’t Talk to Strangers – Dio
- Blood and Sand/Milk and Endless Waters – All Them Witches
- Traust – Heilung
- Boom Boom Boom – Rob Zombie
- Black Lipstick – Powerman 5000
- Vampire Lover – Genitorturers
- Transylvanian Concubine – Rasputina
- Black Magic Woman – Santana
- Son of a Witch – Justin Johnson
- The Dawn Brings a Savior – Darkher
- Cemetery Gates – Pantera
- Silence of the Lambs (main movie theme) – From the Motion Picture Soundtrack
- In the Air Tonight – In This Moment
- Cry Little Sister – Lyric Noel
- The Night – Disturbed
- You Should See Me in a Crown – Otep
- Worship – Magnolia Park, PLVTINUM & Vana
- Rage – Halocene
- Benzin – Rammstein
- Fire – Kittie
- Zombie – The Cranberries
- Paint it Black – Wednesday Addams
- Witch Hunt – Rush
- Wolves at the Door – Bad Seed Rising
- Blood Code – Le Castle Vania
- Devil in a Bottle – Genitorturers
- Lessons in Love – Lords of Acid
- Firestarter – The Prodigy
- Thirteen O’clock – David Bowie
- Can you see me in the dark? – Halestorm & I Prevail
- Godless – Frayle
- American Horror Story (Main Theme) – From the motion picture soundtrack
- Atgeir – Danheim
- Black Thunder – The HU
- Amazonia – Gojira
- Lucky – Bif Naked
- Never Land (a Fragment) – The Sisters Of Mercy
- If I Be Wrong – Wolf Larsen
- Friendship Funeral (Radio Edit) – Milan Gavris
- Strong (The Buffy Mix) – Velvet Chain
- Prayer of St. Francis – Sarah McLachlan
- I’m in Love with a Monster – Fifth Harmony
Top Secret Insider Answers
Do I have any favorites songs in this list?
Of course. Almost all the songs on the list were chosen because I liked them for one reason or another, but here’s my dirtly little secret top 3… Cemetery Gates, Amazonia, and Benzin folks
Why did you pick some of the slower songs?
In particular, If I Be Wrong and Prayer of St. Francis hit the right blend of haunting and poignant which describes Roishin’s reasoning for why she does the awful things she does. Both tap on her past regrets.
Are there any songs that you sing along to?
HECK YEAH… a whole lot of them. But my favorites to sing full out (when no one is listening, that is) are: What’s Coming to Me, Witches Burn, Zombie, and Firestarter.
