This Is Halloween

Facts from the original

• This Is Halloween is a song from the 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas.
• Danny Elfman composed and wrote the song for The Nightmare Before Christmas.
• In the film, the residents of the fictional Halloween Town perform the song.
• The song introduces Halloween Town's Halloween-centered lifestyle.
• It was included on the film's soundtrack.
• Danny Elfman was the main composer for The Nightmare Before Christmas.
• In the film, the song serves as the opening number as characters introduce themselves and establish the setting.
• Marilyn Manson and Panic! at the Disco covered the song in 2006 for the special edition of the film's soundtrack.
• That cover later appeared on the 2008 cover album Nightmare Revisited.
• On the 2011 album V-Rock Disney, the visual kei band Sadie covered the song.
• Leetspeak Monsters, a Halloween-themed visual kei band, covered the song in 2018.
• The Swiss/German symphonic metal band Ad Infinitum covered the song in 2020.
• The song was performed at a virtual Broadway benefit concert hosted by the Disney Music Group on Halloween 2020.
• Proceeds from that concert went to the Lymphoma Research Foundation and the Actors Fund.
• In October 2023, the song was added to the Rocket League soundtrack as part of a Halloween event.
• The song is performed by an orchestra comprising piano, string section, woodwind and brass instruments, cowbells, tambourines, xylophone, and banjo.
• The residents of Halloween Town sing the vocal parts.
• PopMatters contributors noted various vocal inflections and character impressions that make the song spooky yet magically appropriate.
• Writer David Ventura highlighted that multiple singers often perform simultaneously but their voice lines do not overlap because they are always at least two octaves apart.
• The song starts in C minor at a moderate tempo in 4/4 time, with every second beat accentuated.
• Journalist Helena Asprou said this gives the music a commanding, march-like quality and that the off-beat emphasis adds unpredictability.
• Rob LeDonne of Billboard described the song as anthemic.
• The intro is performed by a string orchestra and is built on staccato eighth and sixteenth notes.
• Asprou said the short, separated notes played in quick succession establish an eerie atmosphere that persists throughout the composition.
• The chorus follows the intro and features the This Is Halloween chant.
• The chorus is performed in G minor and ends in A-flat minor.
• Asprou described this ascending chord progression as the critters preparing to scare.
• At the end of the chorus, the song temporarily switches to 3/4 time, further emphasizing uneasiness.
• Danny Elfman used repetition in the lyrics and, more subtly, in the music.
• The main melody is based on a series of three descending notes.
• Like the intro, the main melody features staccato.
• During the vampire parts, the pace slows with a contrasting rhythmic pattern of two eighth notes followed by a longer quarter note.
• The flute and brass instruments play broken arpeggios, which Asprou said allows the song to portray the destructive nature of witches and corpses.
• The thrilling atmosphere is further intensified with crescendos.
• The song received positive responses from fans and critics.
• Mary Sollosi of Entertainment Weekly ranked it as the second best song in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
• Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly described it as a rousing hymn and the October anthem.
• Danny Elfman expressed happiness with the song's longevity in 2021.
• Elfman recalled that when Nightmare came out, press interviews often asked if it was too scary for kids, and he felt blessed that years later families and 4-year-olds were singing What's This or This Is Halloween, giving the song a second life and proving those critics wrong.
• Credits adapted from Tidal list Danny Elfman as producer, composer, and lyricist; Bob Bodami as associate producer and editor; Richard Kraft as associate producer; Chris Boardman as conductor; Andy Bass, Bill Easystone, Mike Piersante, and Sharon Rice as assistant recording engineers.
• The soundtrack recording, credited to the Citizens of Halloween, first appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated November 11, 2023.
• Its Hot 100 debut reflected streaming, airplay, and sales for the week including Halloween that year.
• Chart peaks include Canada 28, Global 200 49, Hungary 36, Ireland 37, Sweden 94, UK 14, and US Billboard Hot 100 26.
• The song has BPI Silver certification for 200,000 certified units in the UK.
• The song has RIAA 2× Platinum certification for 2,000,000 certified units in the US.