For Everything But...'s October 2020 issue, I designed and lead the whole publication, while also writing a piece about "Monster Mash". The story in original format can be found here.
One of the staples of the spooky season has to be Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash.” It’s played at basically every Halloween party ever, over the radio, and in my head almost year-round — but what exactly is it?
It all started with Bobby “Boris” Pickett who figured out that he could do a pretty decent impression of Boris Karloff’s iconic Frankenstein voice. So, he literally decided to make a whole song based on this one skill — honestly, very impressive. After adding some foley sound effects with probably unpaid interns blowing bubbles through a straw to create a cauldron bubbling effect, the song was released in August of 1962. It quickly rose to the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October, beating out The 4 Seasons, Nat King Cole, and Elvis Presley.
We all know “Monster Mash.” We all love “Monster Mash,” unless you’re Pam Halpert. But a closer look at the lyrics raises several questions.
Here’s what we know: A scientist — potentially Frankenstein — is working in a lab late one night when his monster rises and begins doing the ‘monster mash.’ It’s unclear if this was Frankenstein’s intention or if he’s just a shitty scientist who had seen too many Charli D'Amelio videos and was like ‘I can work with this.’ The dance quickly becomes a “graveyard smash” and “ca[tches] on in a flash.” Here’s the problem: Creatures apparently can’t just learn the dance/song with a standard TikTok tutorial or a Just Dance game because they physically have to visit the scientist to get “a jolt from [his] electrodes,” which also seems vaguely dirty. So my question is how exactly did this craze catch on in a flash if everyone has to first schedule a doctor’s visit before they can do the dance? It’s hard to get people to just go get a flu shot; why was the ‘monster mash’ enough of an initiative?
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