When Halloween rolls around, it also marks the time for some ghoulie songs like Thriller to come on the radio. Toss in the classic Monster Mash and Ray Parker Jr.’s smash hit Ghostbusters and you’ve got a pretty good time lined up. These three songs found themselves back on the Billboard Hot 100 due to the spooky season.

Billboard indicates that Thriller, the classic song and video combination from Michael Jackson, is the highest Halloween-based reentry into the chart. It smacked right at No. 21 with 14.5 million U.S. streams (up 163%), 10.9 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 464%), and 5,000 downloads (up 102%) for Oct. 27-Nov. 2. That’s according to Luminate. In fact, this marks the sixth straight year for Thriller to find its way back into the Hot 100. When it first hit the chats in 1984, it only reached the No. 4 position.

Now, we take a turn way back to 1962 with Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers’ Monster Mash. It sits at No. 38 with 11.9 million streams (up 213%), 4.4 million radio impressions (up 1,923%), and 4,000 sold (up 82%). This marks the third straight season for the graveyard smash to find its way back into the chart.

Halloween Hits Sparked By ‘Monster Mash’

During its original run back in 1962, Monster Mash spent two weeks at the No. 1 spot. This also marks the sixth time that Monster Mash has ranked on the Hot 100 overall. It debuted on the chart in September 1962. Then it popped back up in 1970 and 1973. It now returned in 2021, 2022, and 2023 for Halloween.

What about Ghostbusters? Before you say “I ain’t afraid of no ghost,” the Parker song reached No. 45 with 11.1 million streams (up 168%), 5.9 million radio impressions (up 1,484%), and 4,000 sold (up 97%). This marks the third straight year that Ghostbusters returned to the survey. That’s due to the Halloween gains. Back in 1984, the theme to the big blockbuster movie spent three weeks at No. 1 in its original run.

Now, let’s take a look at some other Halloween songs. The Citizens of Halloween’s This Is Halloween from the Tim Burton 1993 movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, debuts at No. 41 on the Hot 100. It’s the first Hot 100 appearance for the act and the first song from the soundtrack to reach the Hot 100. The song debuts with 12.4 million streams (up 152%), 511,000 in airplay audience (up 815%), and 3,000 sold (up 58%).

Then, The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack happens to jump from No. 54 to No. 25 on the Billboard 200. It did so by selling 25,000 equivalent album units (up 61%). The record collection hit at No. 22 last year, which is a new high for it. As for the Soundtracks chart, it rebounds for a fourth total week at No. 1.