Track-Or-Treat
My Mixtape’s A Masterpiece is a weekly feature in which a guest compiles a playlist around some theme. This week, Vito Nusret assembles 13 songs to accompany a tale of a particularly evil Halloween. Read Vito’s thoughts on each song and listen along to the Spotify playlist on top and/or the YouTube playlist at the bottom of the post.
O arrogant humanity! Not all that exists is visible to your mortal eyes! Our world is the realm of humans but indeed our mortal plane is shadowed by the realm of demons. On certain hallowed nights, a rift can be opened granting passage between the duo of discordant dimensions. Tonight is one such night. According to The Gregorian Calendar it is October 31st. All Hallow’s Eve. Samhain. Halloween. The day when the barrier between the realm of the living and the dead is at its thinnest. The curtain opens on our demonic diatribe in the fiery pits of hell itself!
1. “The Number Of The Beast” by Iron Maiden
It’s easy to imagine one sinking endlessly in the oppressive heat and omnipresent stench if not for the coming sounds of marching and metal music. The monstrous military band heralds the arrival of the demon king Beleth and his army with “The Number Of The Beast” as they approach the flaming gate ignited for the holiday to allow access to the human realm. While the gear may be unconventional by human standards—made of flesh, bone, and stretched out organs of the damned—these infernal instrumentalists do indeed shred. Beleth dismounts his pale horse with a heavy thud, the metal of his blackened armor scraping on the smoldering stone underfoot. Removing his obsidian hounskull you can see Beleth’s glistening black horns are not part of his helmet and, after shucking his heavy breastplate and cape, the demon king can stretch his impressive wingspan unrestrained. Beleth disarms his remaining protective plates with a clang, exposing his serpentine skin as he approaches the fiery portal preparing not for warfare but for collection. His 85 legions of demonic soldiers poised at attention in front of scabrous mountains of skulls and crimson rivers of blood as their king strides towards an ablaze archway shaped like a pentagram.
Just before Beleth can reach the transportational flames, one of his lieutenants decides to make a play for the throne and shoots a crossbow bolt at his demon king’s now exposed chest. Beleth puts his hand up to protect himself, but the bolt passes right through it and is left jutting out of his broad chest. Beleth howls and tumbles toward his previously discarded armaments. The demon king unsheathes a scimitar and hurls it at his assailant, cleaving the demon soldier in half. Wounded, but ‘tis but a scratch for Beleth, he uses the blood from the gaping hole in his hand to draw his noble seal on the appointed keystone at the base of the flame, altering the color of the pentagonal pyre from hues of orange to a sickly and unnatural chartreuse. The abysmal autocrat of Abaddon sneers and steps through the fiery portal to the human realm in time with the Mephistophelian metal song reaching its driving denouement as the green flames lap at his demonic flesh and engulf him.
2. “Fall Children” by A.F.I.
A beautiful autumn sunset casts a rusty hue over the small suburban cul-de-sac. The warmth of the waning sun is slowly being replaced by a crisp, fall breeze carrying a slightly scorched still sweet smell of jack-o-lanterns as leaves skitter about the sidewalk. Julie Gillepsie, dressed as Batman, and her husband Will, dressed as Catwoman, are putting the final touches on their Halloween decorations before going out for the evening. Julie is on the ladder replacing the blown down murder of plastic raven skeletons felled by the breeze as Will attempts to relight the candle of the demonic faced jack-o-lantern sitting proudly on their front porch. Julie finishes her more labor-intensive chore and rolls her eyes at Will who’s still clicking away at the lighter, failing to spark the wick. She turns up the volume on their outdoor speakers playing spooky tunes from a playlist they painstakingly crafted and the twangy tones of A.F.I. guitarist Jade Puget’s cut through the dusky twilight. Julie leaps off the ladder and approaches her husband.
“Are you still fucking around with those pumpkins?” Julie says with a derisive chuckle. “I want a divorce.”
Will scoffs at his wife as he ineffectually flicks the lighter a few more times.
“Hey, I am not getting up on a ladder in these heels. Besides, you carved like a dozen of these and bought out half a Spirit Halloween store competing with stupid Marty Argento in a goddamn decorations arms race. I’d be fine with some spray-on spider webs and just putting out a bowl of Circus Peanuts—” Before Will can finish fully saying the name of the much maligned three-ring-themed confection, his lighter finally sparks, igniting a powerful viridescent blast that sends the couple barreling to their front lawn. The pair stagger to their feet to find themselves face to face with an incinerated child in tattered rags. Beleth, now in the form of this charred child, slowly raises his scorched skeletal index finger to his all but burnt off lips to shush the petrified pair who find themselves too scared to scream as the fuzzed-out guitars give way to the macabre notes of a music box as the song emanating from the speaker draws to a close.
3. “I Want Candy” by Bow Wow Wow
Still frozen in fear, the Gillespies barely notice the three neighborhood kids skipping up the path to their porch in tune with the next bouncy beat on their playlist.
“Trick-or-treat! Wow! Great decorations this year, Mrs. Gillepsie!” Ellen Schumacher, dressed as a witch, marvels at the several small fires flickering on Will’s once pristine lawn. Sam Holland, dressed as a jack-o-lantern, leans in to inspect what he believes to be a high-end prop when Beleth turns to face the child, scaring him to the point where he almost trips over his own feet if not for being grabbed by his older brother Michael, dressed as skeleton. Sam stammers and points to the charred child glaring at them but Michael just snags his brother’s sleeve and leads him to the porch to join Ellen in inspecting of Gillespie's confectionary contribution to Halloween. Ellen holds aloft a fun size TWIX® and eyes Julie and Will warily as they’re still gripped in terror cowering on the grass. Ellen shrugs and tosses the candy she was holding along with a fistful she covertly grabbed into her candy bag. “Eh, that’ll do. Better than the crap you usually put out.” Michael and Sam join Ellen at the candy bowl, follow suit filling their bags, and the three skip back down the path to the street. But Sam does so less jovially while keeping one eye fixed on the burned child in rags. With Beleth’s attention drawn to the children, the Gillespies crawl towards the gate to their backyard only to be halted by Ellen shouting to them upon reaching the sidewalk.
“Good work this year, Mr. and Mrs. G, but um,” Ellen produces an egg menacingly, and turns to her neighbors. “No more Circus Peanuts. Got me?” Julie and Will nod enthusiastically as they fumble with the back gate. Beleth rights the candle of the jack-o-lantern he burst from to make sure the green flame still flickers before following after the children. Seeing Will’s Catwoman mask in the grass, the demon king dons it and proceeds to stalk the trio of cavorting children as they sing along with the song emanating from the Gillepsies’ speakers until they're out of earshot.
“I want candy! I want candy! Hey!”
4. “Ghouls Night Out” by The Misfits
Beleth ploddingly pursues the still prancing pre-teens as they go house to house trick-or-treating. Sam keeps trying to warn his friends, but Michael and Ellen are much more concerned with candy and Halloween hijinks until they are stopped by the queen of the cul-de-sac, Roni Romero, only a sophomore but already captain of the varsity volleyball team and the most fearsome teen in town. With her as always are badass middle blocker Marybeth, strategic setter Suzy, and towel boy Todd. Marybeth and Suzy flank the younger kids with Todd hanging right behind Roni as per usual.
“Isn’t it about time all the babies go beddy-bye?” Roni sneers and gives Todd the nod. Todd presses play on his boombox to commence the pounding rhythm of Arthur Googy, soon joined by the fuzzed-out strings of Doyle and Jerry Only, and finally graced by the baleful bellow of Glenn Danzig. Ellen brandishes an egg with the hopes of tossing it at her aggressors, but Roni’s speed and strength catches the younger girl’s hand. She palms Ellen’s hand in hers and applies pressure to cause the egg to break with yolk streaming down the surmounted sixth grader’s arm. Roni leans in close, still holding Ellen’s hand aloft. “You and your stupid cat cost me my driver’s license and now you’re gonna pay.”
“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!” Sam screams as Beleth suddenly appears between the trio of twelve-year-olds and their bullies. The teenagers scoff at the new kid’s “costume” until the scorched demonic child opens his mouth to unleash a plague of flies. The four teens try to swat the bevy of bugs and, with their attention averted, Ellen grabs Beleth by the wrist and turns to flee with Sam and Michael following close behind.
5. “Pet Sematary” by The Ramones
At the end of the block, the kids veer right at the Argento place and, after a short sprint through the darkened canopy of a small, wooded area, the night sky opens up to a small cemetery.
“You can help me!” Ellen finally releases her grip on Beleth’s wrist to duck behind a larger headstone to produce a shoebox sized piece of Tupperware. Beleth looks upon the container with a slight tilt of his head. Ellen somberly kneels to the cool damp earth. Sam and Michael sit on either side of her with an equal amount of reverence. Ellen opens the receptacle to reveal a dead cat. All black with a collar that has a bell on it. “This is…was Jonesy. Stupid Roni ran him over during her driver’s test causing her to fail and make my life a living hell.” Beleth twitches at Ellen’s last sentence and bears his blackened teeth. “You can help him, right?”
Beleth crouches across from Ellen and points at Sam’s smartphone. Sam is visibly flustered.
“Oh, my, um…My parents say it’s only for emergenc—” Beleth snatches the device out of the boy’s hand and in seconds is playing the 1989 classic by The Ramones (as requested by The King Of Horror, himself!). As that familiar arrangement of guitar, bass, and drums, accompanied by keys and Joey Ramone’s signature croon fills the night, so does a cold wind that passes through the youths. The three children eye each other with confusion as the burnt-up boy beast leans to all fours and digs his boney digits into the dirt. Sam opens his mouth to speak but Ellen shushes him quickly. With Beleth’s eyes aglow and mouth agape a sickly green fog hangs low and thick in the cemetery, obscuring the kids' view of the cat in the box or even each other. As the seminal punk rock song slowly fades out, the circle of four sit in the substantial smog silently for several seconds until they hear a gentle rustling and the jingling of a bell.
6. “What’s Behind The Mask?” by The Cramps
“Jonesy is that you?” Ellen calls out through the thickset mist. A low meow and another ring of the bell and Jonesy creeps up to Ellen becoming more visible in the dissipating green fog. As the tomcat tiptoes toward its owner, Beleth shuffles through tracks via Sam’s phone before making a selection. Finally making itself visible, the kitty who recently kicked the bucket ambles up to its owner in step with the jangly guitars now emanating from Sam’s smartphone, revealing its gruesomely flattened midsection. Seeing her pet more clearly, Ellen notices a certain lifeless look in one eye while the other is dangling loosely from the socket. Suddenly Jonesy’s placid expression turns agitated as the creature begins to heave. The three friends eye each other worriedly, unsure of what is about to happen as the dry heaving noises coming from Jonesy abruptly turn wet with a squelch.
“Gross,” Michael’s exclamation cuts the tension. “Is that a hairball?” The trio of trick-or-treaters lean in closer in morbid curiosity wondering just what a cat, dead for a week, just might barf up.
Ellen retches herself but holds it back. “They’re maggots, Michael.” A low growl emanates from the darkness. Jonesy stalks the kids as they stand and back away. Ellen turns to Beleth, now seated and bobbing to the goth-y garage rock playing on Sam’s smartphone. Beleth holds up the hand that was shot by his demon lieutenant to reveal there’s still a huge hole. The demon king peers through the open wound and wiggles his fingers at Ellen with a playful gesture just as Jonesy begins to strike. Ellen’s once tranquil tomcat is now a whirlwind of teeth and claws gnashing and swiping at the kids as they attempt to evade this profane pussycat to the tune of proto psychobilly. Beleth staggers to his feet and views his evil handiwork with vicious vindication as they run screaming amongst the gravestones in a vain attempt to escape the growling grimalkin.
7. “Devil Between” by Jared Gabb
Following the scattered and shrieking children in a slow stalk back to the street, Beleth finds himself drawn in by the strum of acoustic guitar. On a nearby porch Maddie Flanagan is playing a folk ballad beautifully until she receives a call on her cellphone. “No. I told he’s passed out drunk again! No, I don’t. I- I love-” There’s that faint click of disconnection. Beleth is pressed against the porch but Maddie is too upset by the call to notice. “Dammit” she croaks as she attempts to hold back tears but they find their way through anyway. Lips still trembling she starts to play again but this time with more fervor and ferocity nearly breaking the neck of her guitar with every chord change. Then she starts in with the vocals. Not the singsongy Mezzo-soprano from the ballad before but Maddie is really belting out lyrics with a throaty passion. “I don’t bow to no devil, I don’t bow to no god!”
Engrossed with the tune, Maddie doesn’t seem to notice the smash of a glass bottle against the wooden gate leading to her backyard, but Beleth does. The demon king slides along the porch towards the gate but doesn’t want to miss the song. At the crescendo of the canticle Maddie began to stomp along with Beleth slapping his boney hands to the wood in tune, still going unnoticed by the passionate porch performer. “But I cried and cried, there must be devil between us!” And at the “us” Maddie tosses her guitar to the hardwood of the porch with twangy thud, gets up, and storms down the street. For a moment Beleth considered giving chase but thought better of tangling with a woman scorned and chose to investigate the ruckus emanating from Maddie’s backyard instead.
8. “Turkish Song Of The Damned” by The Pogues
The wooden gate lets out a low creak as Beleth slowly opens it. As he steps into Maddie’s yard he’s greeted with the sharp crunch of glass underfoot from the shattered bottle lobbed at the wooden fence. Beleth picks up a larger shard with the label that reads “O'Grady’s Irish Whiskey.” Stepping further into the property and leaving bloody footprints on the concrete stones marking a path to the willow shaded darkness of Flanagan's backyard and leading him to Kale, Maddie’s husband. Splayed out in a small rowboat, Kale has made good headway on a second bottle of O'Grady’s and shouts to Beleth without looking. “Oh bollocks you gobdaw hussy! I told you to quit it with your fuckin’ racket!” Kale’s slurred speech and Irish brogue causes Beleth to tilt his head slightly when approaching the soused supine skiff sailor.
Beleth looks down at the overgrown grass popping through the many holes in the hull. Next to the protruding pasture, Beleth notices a faded photograph of six ragtag militants with berets and gaiters obscuring their noses and mouths. “Either play some Pogues or houl yer wheesht with you!” Beleth nods despite the prone Kale’s failure to even glance in the direction of the ghoul. Toggling through songs on Sam’s smartphone the demon king makes his selection and presses play. Shane MacGowan lyrical lamentation on death coming to collect on the betrayal of one’s friends belied by the jovial tone of tin whistle, banjo, cittern, mandolin, and accordion. Kale grumbles “fuck off” when Beleth grabs the barely conscious man’s wrist and begins to tear up towards the bend with the jagged piece of glass from the shattered bottle of O’Grady’s. Then Beleth grabs the photo and marks an “X” in blood over the face of one soldier. He then places the picture on Kale’s chest and crosses his cold arms around it.
9. “Ghost Town” by The Specials
In folding the limp appendages, Beleth notices the time on Kale’s wristwatch and expels an exasperated sigh. He’s taking too damned long and having too much fun with his unholy undertaking. It’s time to speed things up so he makes another musical selection, stands on the Flanagans’ patio furniture, and scans the cul-de-sac. The haunting Hammond organ keyed by Jerry Dammers coupled with the well-timed pops of trombone from Rico Rodriguez is helping Beleth’s focus. “This town is coming like a ghost town.” From that vantage Beleth can see the big Halloween party now in full swing over at Marty Argento’s, the largest house at the top of the dead end. Will Gillepsie and Maddie Flanagan can be seen arguing on the front lawn as a crowd of party goers circle around Julie Gillepsie who currently has her head submerged in a bucket, bobbing for apples.
Across the street from the party, Beleth observes Roni, Suzy, Marybeth, and Todd shuffle into the Romero garage after casting rueful glances at the reveling adults across the way. A brand new, crimson, Dodge Ram truck sits undriven since Ron failed to secure her license, but the teens are using its top-of-the-line sound system to listen to music. Aside from the vehicle, Beleth makes a quick scan of the garage taking stock of the various implements and cleaning products. Roni’s mother, Clarice Romero, pops out the door from the garage leading to the kitchen.
“Sweetie,” Clarice tries to meekly raise her voice over the tunes. “Do you mind turning it down a smidge? We can’t hear the movie.” Roni rolls her eyes and turns the music down slightly. “Thank you, cupcake! There’s kettle corn for you and your friends if you want.”
Roni tilts her head back and groans in exasperations. “God! We’ll get it if we want, mom, fuck! Now leave us alone!” Clarice submits and backs herself into the kitchen, receiving a barrage of middle fingers from the bratty teens as the door shuts behind her.
“Can’t go on no more, the people getting angry.”
10. “Mind’s Playing Tricks On Me” by Geto Boys
“Shit,” Todd attempts to sound tough to gain favor with his vivacious volleyball loving gal pals. “You weren’t even to 7 on the volume. Most of the noise was coming from the WILD HOGS reunion across the street.” Todd motions derisively at the party raging over at the Argento abode.
“No duh!?” Roni retorts unimpressed as she closes the garage door via the remote clipped to her sun visor. “These old people suck donkey dick!” She hammers her point home by turning the volume on her car stereo all the way to ten and blasting “Mind’s Playing Tricks On Me” and the four teens begin to bop a bit to the sample from "Hung Up On My Baby" by Isaac Hayes that ties the track together.
“At night I can't sleep, I toss and turn, candle sticks in the dark, visions of bodies being burned.”
If any of the four had been paying attention they would have seen the charred child Beleth tumble under the door and hide himself amongst the various garage bric-a-brac. “Now everybody get in the truck if we’re gonna spark this j.” Roni sprays a cloud of Febreze out her driver’s side window. “My damn dad is like a bloodhound for bud.” The teens all cackle as they pile in the truck, closing the doors, windows, and lighting the joint. The cab of the truck slowly fills with smoke. Beneath it Beleth is cutting the brake line. He slides out from under the vehicle and makes his way to a shelving unit grabbing a box of Death To Danger Mouse brand rat poison. At the base of the shelf sits two full 5-gallon gas cans. Beleth tips one over, causing the caustic contents to begin guzzling out on the garage’s concrete floor. He grabs the other can and makes his way through the door to the kitchen. Roni perks up at the sound of the door. “Did you guys hear something?”
“God damn, homie, my mind is playing tricks on me.”
11. “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder
“Damn, that girl has no respect!” Charlie Romero mutes HOCUS POCUS and stands up with every intention of giving his daughter an earful for playing her early ‘90s hip hop so loud.
“Ah leave her be, Charlie. She’s got a big game next week and it’s been rough lately with the license and all. Let her have fun with her friends. I can use your help in the kitchen.” Charlie grumbles at Clarice’s singsongy entreating but she tries to entice her husband further by turning on the radio and doing a little dance. “We can have our own little dance party right here.”
The combination of Stevie Wonder’s fingers on the keys of the Hohner Clavinet and Clarice’s feet on the linoleum tickles Charlie out of his grumpiness and he joins her with a chuckle grabbing a fistful of warm kettle corn from the pot atop the range. In doing so Charlie knocks over the saltshaker sending a dusting and some pop kernels to the tiled floor. As the couple stoop to clean, Beleth shakes a generous coating of rat poison on the kettle corn and sneaks away. “Hey,” Charlie interrupts the cleaning to toss some salt over his left shoulder “Just in case, right?”
Clarice chuckles, calling him a silly goose, and resumes cleaning. They both stand up, each grabbing heaping handfuls of kettle corn as they make their way back to the living room to resume watching their seasonally appropriate Bette Midler vehicle. Beleth turns the burner under the pot of kettle corn on full blast before dashing out the door, sloshing gasoline out of the gas can with every step.
12. “Dead Man’s Party” by Oingo Boingo
With the party at Marty Argento’s house escalating to a full-blown rager, nobody seems to notice Beleth crisscrossing through the cul-de-sac spilling propellant—but hey, it’s a dead man’s party. Beleth goes from the Romero’s to the Hill’s. From the Hill’s to the Carpenter’s. From the Carpenters’ back to the Gillepsies’ splashing gas almost to the blown-out face of the jack-o-lantern. Finally, from the Gillepsies’ to the front lawn of the Argentos’ unbeknownst to the oblivious partygoers. Inside the Agento’s Mediterranean style suburban home, Maddie is leading Will around by the sleeve of his Catwoman costume through Marty’s lavish and labyrinthian layout trying to find a private place to talk until Gillepsie finally shrugs her off and says he’s going back to bobbing for apples with his wife. When Maddie attempts to give chase, Beleth appears in her path. The demon king puts his hands up and then points a shaky singed digit to the back door. Maddie tries to navigate around the cauterized child when Beleth grabs her wrist and pulls her close. The creature removes his mask, fully revealing his burnt and blistered visage and whispers “run.” Beleth does this just as Danny Elfman belts out the post-chorus of “Don't run away, it's only me, only me” on the track playing on Argento’s state of the art sound system and points forebodingly at the back door once more. Maddie nods and begins to move to the backdoor when suddenly she hears a massive exploding blaring over the bombastic horns of Oingo Boingo.
13. “Every Day Is Halloween” by Ministry
The Romeros’ house fills with smoke and flames as their fire alarm falls on deaf ears with Clarice and Charlie sitting motionless, slumped in their chairs. When flames reach the garage and the gas can erupts, Roni panics, slams on the accelerator causing the truck to bust through the garage door, and leaving a trail of fire behind it. Unable to stop the vehicle, Roni barrels into countless neighbors including Julie and Will Gillepsie, who both have apples in their mouths as they find themselves splattered against the windshield. The trail of gasoline left by Beleth, like some kind of horrifying Hansel & Gretel, ignites into a giant flaming pentagram engulfing the entire cul-de-sac. Ablaze, Argento’s speakers still play the haunting tones of Al Jourgensen gothic industrial opus in chorus with the cacophony of screams that fill the night. Just feet from the back of Argento’s property, Maddie turns to look upon the inferno, taken aback by the sheer carnage. Beleth saunters proudly out the front door into the heat and havoc of his own machinations and gazes about his wicked workmanship as Ministry’s fading outro distorts into indiscernibility. Satisfied, Beleth follows his scintillating pyre to the Gillepsies’ front yard and conjures the green flames to take him back to the abyss but looks back at the blaze once more and utters in his horrifying rasp “'Cause to me every day is Halloween…”
