The Billboard Hot 100 is decorated with both spiderwebs and mistletoe, thanks to hits central to Halloween and Christmas.
As previously reported, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” hunts down a new No. 2 Hot 100 peak, more than 42 years after it first made the chart. It previously peaked at No. 4 in March 1984.
Five Halloween classics — plus Tame Impala and JENNIE’s modern entry into the creepy song canon, “Dracula” — and two Christmas favorites scale the Nov. 14-dated Hot 100, which reflects data in the United States Oct. 30-Nov. 5, according to Luminate. The tracking week, thus, encompassed Halloween and, the following day, Mariah Carey’s annual proclamation that once again it’s ti-ime for the yuletide season.
Here’s a rundown of the Halloween and Christmas-themed songs on the latest Hot 100 and their chart-eligible streams and week-over-week gains.
No. 2, “Thriller,” Michael Jackson (up from No. 20)
17.4 million streams (up 87%)
The song, released on the late King of Pop’s Thriller, also drew 11.3 million in radio airplay audience (up 172%) and sold 4,000 (up 48%).
No. 3, “Dracula,” Tame Impala & JENNIE (up from No. 5)
9.4 million streams (up 31%)
The 2025 release, which hovers at a new Hot 100 high, also totaled 62.6 million in airplay reach, as it leads Radio Songs for an eighth week.
No. 12, “Ghostbusters,” Ray Parker Jr. (reentry)
11 million streams (up 87%)
The theme to the blockbuster movie of the same name was No. 1 on the Hot 100 for three weeks in 1984. Parker Jr. has his highest placement since the song wrapped its run in the top 10 that September.
No. 13, “Monster Mash,” Bobby “Boris” Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers (reentry)
11 million streams (up 87%)
The graveyard, and above-ground, smash topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in October 1962. It’s back in the top 15 for the first time since 1973, when — that August, not around Halloween — It crawled its way back to the top 10.
No. 14, “Somebody’s Watching Me,” Rockwell (up from No. 39)
11.4 million streams (up 81%)
The song — with backing vocals by Jackson — hit No. 2 in March 1984; it shared space in the top 10 with “Thriller” for three weeks that month.
No. 21, “This Is Halloween,” The Citizens of Halloween (up from No. 41)
9.8 million streams (up 60%)
The Danny Elfman-written song, which surpasses its previous No. 26 high set last year, is from 1993’s animated hit movie The Nightmare Before Christmas (which mirrors the mix of Halloween- and Christmas-themed music on the chart).
No. 35, “Spooky, Scary Skeletons (Undead Tombstone Remix),” Andrew Gold (debut)
7.2 million streams (up 77%)
The long-viral hit, released in 1996, returns the late artist to the Hot 100’s top 40, where he last ranked in 1978 with “Thank You for Being a Friend” — a cover of which would subsequently serve as the theme to the beloved NBC sitcom Golden Girls.
No. 37, “Last Christmas,” Wham! (reentry)
7.4 million streams (up 228%)
Andrew Ridgeley and the late George Michael’s chestnut, from 1984, takes the early lead among winter holiday hits. It rose to a new No. 2 best last holiday season.
No. 39, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey (reentry)
7.1 million streams (up 295%)
Carey’s soloist-record 19th No. 1, released in 1994, has ruled for 22 weeks to date, the second-longest command in the Hot 100’s history, after current leader “Choosin’ Texas” by Ella Langley. It also ranks as the top hit on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs retrospective. The song, like Wham!’s, will soon benefit from notable radio play as stations amp up holiday rotations.
