It’s that time of year again. The time where people dress up like heroes/villains and other characters. And, depending on your age, get sick from candy or get sick from alcohol. I’m talking about everyone’s favorite, Halloween. And if you’re ever short on ideas on what to be for Halloween, here’s a few suggestions. Some of the best characters in all of hard rock/metal. Which, as everyone knows, is the greatest genre for the metal holiday.
KISS
Obviously KISS is going to be on this list. Since their breakthrough album ‘Alive’ in 1975, their characters have dominated the Halloween scene. Every year you can bet on it. There’s going to be a ton of Demons, Spacemen, Starchildren or Cats. Even of people who don’t even listen to KISS dress up as the characters. It’s simple, easy fun. Well, it’s easy to choose. Actually applying the make-up to look authentic is very difficult. I suggest finding someone who’s good at make-up to help out if you decided to get KISSed this Halloween. And not only do they have a great image for Halloween, there are also some great tracks in their catalog that fit the spooky night bill. No, not ‘Beth’ or ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You.’ But tracks like ‘God of Thunder’, ‘Watchin’ You’, ‘War Machine’ and ‘Unholy’ are all tailor made for October 31st.
Alice Cooper
You can’t have a hard rock Halloween without the original rock villain, Alice Cooper. His entire personal is evil incarnate. In fact, he created the character as the anti rock hero. He felt there were too many heroes, and not enough rock villains. So he created this creepy, kind of corpse like character. Who’s also an incredible hedonist. Not only that but Cooper created one hell of a show. And I mean hell in a literal sense. Scene of decapitation, hanging, torture, sexual torture, zombies, autopsies, other monsters and the like have all been a part of the Alice Cooper show at one point. He’s still going at it too. Chopping his head off, hanging himself, a trip to the electric chair. It’s all a part of the Alice Cooper experience. Not a lot of rockers in their 70’s can say that. Still going strong with all the fixins. Oh, and all his songs are basically Halloween themed rockers.
White/Rob Zombie
While I certainly prefer White Zombie to Rob Zombie’s solo career. I can’t deny how both are extremely appropriate for Halloween. And it is true that Rob Zombie has always been the show of White Zombie. I just think their songs were better than the solo material of Rob(the two major label albums that is). Either way what they did and what Rob still does today is most deserving of a Halloween celebration. I mean, when Rob flies out of the coffin in the beginning of his shows it’s hair raising. Not to mention the killer tunes that go along with the imagery and show. In fact, Rob is one of those guys who can actually just bring his energy in jeans and a t-shirt and still have as an effective of a show. The songs are there for sure. Tracks like ‘More Human Than Human’, ‘I Zombie’, ‘American Witch’, ‘Living Dead Girl’ and ‘Feed the Gods’ there’s hardly anything more purely metal as fuck for Halloween. Not to mention all the mega-intense horror films Rob Zombie has directed over the years.
Warlock
This choice is isn’t so much about the band itself as it is about the front woman Doro Pesch. She’s a real character, and a perfect Halloween metal figure to be for the ladies. She’s a former model turned metal icon in Germany. The band also has a large cult following internationally. And what made her unique was that she wasn’t just any other gal in rock and metal. There were and are plenty other women doing hard rock: the Wilson sisters, Girlschool and Lita Ford to name a few. But what made Pesch different was that she came out of the Dio/Halford school of singing and thought. Singing about the same kinds of wizards, demons, zombies and other metal tropes in that realm. And she can belt with the best of the them. Coming from more of a power metal vibe vocally and image wise. She really pulls of the bad ass, done up, leather look. Perfect Halloween persona and lyrical subjects. With album titles such as ‘Burning the Witches’ and ‘Hellbound’ you know it’s a perfect choice.
Marilyn Manson
Finally, for those of you who want to get a little more freaky for Halloween, you can always be one of Marilyn Manson’s many characters. If you want to be really freaky you can wear the ‘Mechanical Animals’ trans body suit. Oh how we miss you 90’s. Manson is basically a more extreme, updated version of Alice Cooper. Bloodier, edgier, heavier and all around crazier. And he’s made a fortune off of it. Whether or not it was good press or bad press, Brain Warner was always in the tabloids. For one instance or another. How many parents blamed their kids’ problems on Marilyn Manson? His empire is built on the premise of ‘you can’t have this. It’s inappropriate.’ So that makes him even more appropriate for Halloween. A holiday tailor made for breaking the rules and getting into trouble. The top ten smash album ‘Antichrist Superstar’ is a top to bottom album of Halloween madness. Not to mention it’s predecessor ‘Smells Like Children.’ One of the creepiest album titles ever.
So there it is. Five ideas of excellent Halloween character ideas. And the jams to boot. Each their own unique character, or multiple ones in some cases. So there’s plenty of ideas to pick from if you need any help. Have a safe a fun Halloween people!
