Music For Haunters

We all know Haunters are some of the hardest working people out there. Whether it’s building your next big animatronic to scare visitors or making sure your tombstone lighting is perfect, below is a listing of musicals you may find to help mix-up your regular soundtrack you put on while working. Each show was selected because of its subject matter. I’ve also included a very quick synopsis with each title to give you some more info on the show; some of these shows are well known by all [Little Shop of Horrors anyone?] to very obscure Fringe shows that may never be heard from again.

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder	A comic operetta telling the tale of Monty, whose mother was spurned by her wealthy heirs for marrying outside the family. How does he avenge her? Why, by killing all the family members who stand in his way in becoming the next Earl of Highhurst!
American Psycho	The stage musical adaption of the movie where investment banker Patrick Bateman explores his “killer” fantasies
Assassins	If anyone can write a musical about Assassins in US History it would be Stephen Sondheim. By providing songs to famous killers (and some failed ones, too) you may get a chill realizing they were just following the American Dream. And what’s so wrong with that?
Beetlejuice \ Beetlejuice the Demos	A Broadway musical adaption that tells the story of the Ghost With the Most. Most of the same characters but with some story changes. There is also an album full of songs not used in the musical.
Carrie	A musical version of the famous Stephen King book? How could they go wrong? It ran only 16 performances on Broadway before closing. But with a huge following, it has survived the years and actually was brought back off-Broadway. The official recording you can buy is the later version. It tries to be a serious musical but just comes off cheesy.
Chicago	The classic, long-running Broadway show about women, murder, and show-biz.
Disaster! The Musical	A musical comedy that is a take-off on those cheesy Irwin Allen disaster films all told with some of the catchiest 70’s songs. A floating casino is holding its grand opening but the attendees are in for a wild ride as they face an earthquake, fire, sharks and more! Don’t try and make sense of it, just sing along!
Evil Dead the Musical	A musical version of Sam Raimi’s famous horror film. But putting it on stage with a singing hero and demons makes this show even funnier. Bonus points if you can locate a copy of the stage show that is out there on the Internet.
Ghost	A musical version of the Patrick Swayze movie about a dead man helping his wife.
Hadestown	2019’s winner for Best Musical is a retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Orpheus goes to the underworld to rescue his fiancée.
Halloween the Musical	Comic retelling of the classic Halloween movie but all played for laughs. This was a Fringe show so recordings are very tough to find.
Heathers the Musical	This classic black comedy movie is on stage now and it’s pretty good.
Into the Woods	Stephen Sondheim’s show that takes several fairy tales and weaves them together. Act 1 is pretty straight forward, but it’s Act 2 where it takes a dark turn.
Jekyll and Hyde	Arguably Frank Wildhorn’s most popular musical, it is about the infamous Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If you are lucky enough, you may be able to find a copy of the filmed version starring David Hasselhoff (Yes, that David Hasselhoff!).
Little Shop of Horrors	Who hasn’t heard of Ashmen & Menkin’s Faustian musical about a giant plant that grants a nerdy guy’s wishes but then reveals those wishes come with nasty consequences? There are three professional recordings available (two Off-Broadway, and one Broadway).
Lucky Stiff	The word Stiff gives away the dark bit of this musical. A loser shoe salesman gets left a fortune by a dead uncle…but only if he takes his dead uncle’s body on a vacation to Monte Carlo. The movie version was recently available on Amazon Prime for free.
Matilda	The Roald Dahl story makes it to the stage. A strange little girl learns to overcome her mean parents and an even meaner school headmistress. A filmed version is coming to Netflix for Christmas 2022 that is getting very good reviews.
Monster Makers	This musical tells the true stories about people involved in three classic monster movies: director F.W. Murnau, makeup artist Jack Pierce, and actor Peter Cushing.
Murder Ballad	A young woman falls in love with one man, leaves him for another, then has second thoughts.
Musical of the Living Dead	Survivors of the zombie apocalypse are holed up in an old barn. Will they escape the singing, dancing zombies?
Next to Normal	A rock-musical dealing with a woman’s mental health problems and how it affects her family. Watch out for the twist at the end of Act 1 that gives the show its creepy edge.
Reefer Madness	A musical version of the 1936 exploitation film about the dangers of “reefer”. Played for laughs and a lot of fun. Check out the 2005 film adaption by ShowTime for a tour-de-force production that includes Alan Cumming, Kristin Bell, John Kasir, and more. The soundtrack version is actually better than the stage version.
Return to the Forbidden Planet	The classic sci-fi film told with 60’s rock music.
Ride the Cyclone – The Musical	A group of teenagers ride the rollercoaster at the fair and the train breaks an axel killing everyone on board. Now all their souls have been brought back for one night inside the warehouse where the carnival items are now stored. You can find a recording of this show on YouTube.
Ruthless	A send-up of musicals like Gypsy along with movies like the Bad Seed.
Sharknami	A show that premiered at the Orlando Fringe Festival where instead of a Sharknado, it’s a Sharknami.
Silence! The Musical	Someone made a musical of Silence of the Lambs (done for laughs).
Spring Awakening	Based on the 1891 German play Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind. A dark story about suicide, sexual abuse, and other things teens face in their lives.
Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Stephen Sondheim has written a frightening opera telling the story of Sweeney, a vengeful barber, and his accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, who finds a creative way to hide the bodies.
The Addams Family	Wednesday Addams has fallen in love with a young man that the parents do not approve of. How will they save her? This musical is a lot of fun . I dare you not to dance during the opening number.
The Key of E	About one man facing a post apocalyptic world.
The Phantom of the Opera	Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s magnum opus about a disfigured genius who lives in the bowels of the Paris Opera House and falls in love with the ingénue he is teaching. Broadway’s longest running musical is based on the famous French novel of the same name.
The Rocky Horror Show	This musical, by Richard O’Brien, is a take off of sci-fi movies where a young couple on a trip find themselves in a castle full of very strange people. You will find several recorded versions available. If you know the movie (and who doesn’t?) you’ll find the musical is a bit more rock-n-roll.
The Toxic Avenger Musical	The mutated hero comes to the rescue. A recorded version of the show can be found on Roku TV.
The Visit	A dark musical about a rich and famous woman returning to her home town to exact revenge on the men who ruined her life.
Wicked	Stephen Schwartz’s loose adaption of the Gregory McGuire book that tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West. Another long running Broadway musical with themes of friendship, identity, and standing up for one’s beliefs.
Young Frankenstein	The 2nd Mel Brooks movie turned into a musical. It’s not as funny as the Producers but some great numbers. The last known Frankenstein returns to his grandfather’s castle and tries his hand at reanimating the dead.
Zombie Prom	Girl meets boy. Girl loses boy when he commits suicide in a nuclear reactor. Girl gets boy back in a slightly different form. Goofy but a lot of fun with great songs. A short film-version of this show was made starring RuPaul as the principal.

Last updated: 10/25/2022