"This Is Halloween" is a song from the 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas composed and written by Danny Elfman. In the film it is performed by the residents of the fictional "Halloween Town", which is the film's main setting, and introduces the town's Halloween-centered lifestyle.
Background and release
"This Is Halloween" was created by Danny Elfman, the main composer for The Nightmare Before Christmas.[1] In the film, it serves as the opening song as the characters of the film introduce themselves and the setting of the film is established.[2]
On the 2011 album V-Rock Disney, which features visual kei artists covering Disney songs, Sadie covered this song.[5]
The Swiss/German symphonic metal band Ad Infinitum did a cover in 2020.
The song was performed as part of a virtual Broadway benefit concert hosted by the Disney Music Group on Halloween 2020. Money from the concert was donated to the Lymphoma Research Foundation and the Actors Fund.[6]
In October 2023, the song was added to the soundtrack of the video game Rocket League as part of a Halloween event.[7]
"This Is Halloween" is performed by an orchestra, consisting of a piano, a string section, woodwind and brass instruments, cowbells, tambourines, a xylophone, and a banjo.[1][8] The residents of the film's fictional Halloween Town sing the vocal parts.[4] Discussing the song, PopMatters contributors noted various "vocal inflections and character impressions", which make the song "spooky yet magically appropriate".[9] Writer David Ventura highlighted the fact that despite multiple artists often singing simultaneously, their voice lines don't overlap, as they're always at least two octaves apart.[8]
"This Is Halloween" starts in the key of C minor, a moderate tempo and a 4 4time signature, with every second beat accentuated. According to the journalist Helena Asprou, it "[gives] the music a commanding, march-like quality", with the off-beat emphasis giving it a sense of unpredictability.[1] Rob LeDonne of Billboard magazine described the song as "anthemic".[10] The song's intro, performed by a string orchestra, is built upon the use of staccato eighth and sixteenth notes. According to Asprou, the short, separated notes played in quick succession help establish an eerie atmosphere that persists throughout the composition.[1] The song's chorus follows the intro. It features the "This is Halloween" chant.[11] The chorus is performed in the key of G minor, ending 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 signature, further emphasizing a sense of uneasiness.[1]
Throughout the song Danny Elfman utilized repetition, both in lyrics and, more subtly, in music. The main melody is based on a series of three descending notes. Similar to the intro, the main melody features staccato. During the vampire parts, the pace of the song slows down with the use of a contrasting rhythmic pattern of two eighth notes followed by a longer quarter note. The flute and brass instruments on "This Is Halloween" are played in broken arpeggios, which, according to Asprou, allows the song to "portray the destructive nature of witches and corpses". The thrilling atmosphere is then further intensified with the use of crescendos.[1]
Reception
The song was received positively by fans and critics. Mary Sollosi from Entertainment Weekly ranked it as the second best song in The Nightmare Before Christmas,[12] while Darren Franich from the same website described it as a "rousing hymn" and "the October anthem".[2]
Elfman later expressed happiness with the song's longevity, commenting in 2021, "When [Nightmare] came out, I did a two-day press junket and virtually every interview started with: 'Too scary for kids, right?' ... So to come back years later and to see families out there, and to be getting recordings of people's kids who are 4 years old singing 'What's This' or 'This is Halloween,' makes me really feel blessed. It's like a second life and proving them wrong."[13]
