It’s 10 November – what better time to cover the Hallowe’en singles chart?

1. Jamie Miller – “Babydoll”

Three weeks, and it’s number 1 by a mile. It does seem to have slightly passed its peak, but it’s so far ahead of everything else that it’s likely to stay here for a while to come.

This is the chart that came out on Friday 6 November, and it covers the chart week from Friday 30 October to Thursday 5 November. That means it has the peak of the Hallowe’en streaming, which is enough to get a bunch of tracks into the top 40, even though there are almost no worthwhile Hallowe’en tracks. (Join us again next week when the first signs of the Christmas influx arrive.) The top placed is “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, which climbs to an all-time peak of number 5, but it was already in the charts. Let’s run down the others, all of which will be making one-week stays.

12. Ray Parker Jr – “Ghostbusters”

This peaked at number 2 in September 1984, when it spent three weeks stuck behind “I Just Called To Say I Love You”. It reached number 17 last year. He’s not a one hit wonder, though his other hit “I Don’t Think That Man Should Sleep Alone” (number 13 in 1987) is barely remembered.

14. Rockwell – “Somebody’s Watching Me”

Number 6 in February 1984. It reached number 19 last year. This is a one-hit wonder, though the bit people actually remember from the track is sung by Michael Jackson anyway.

15. Tame Impala – “Dracula”

If you think this is stretching a bit for a Hallowe’en playlist, at least it mentions Dracula. And it had the decency to be released in October! It peaked at number 2 earlier in the year.

19. Bobby “Boris” Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers – “Monster Mash”

Another one-hit wonder. The track was recorded in 1962 but didn’t chart in the UK until 1973, when it reached number 3. It got to number 20 last year.

22. Danny Elfman – “This Is Halloween”

Yes it is. It comes from the 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas, and first charted in 2023, when it got to number 14.

23. Andrew Gold – “Spooky Scary Skeletons”

This charted for the first time last year, when it got to number 30.

To be fair, these tracks can’t be charting solely because they’re on a Hallowe’en streaming playlist somewhere, because… well, if people were just streaming the whole playlist, there’d be more of these tracks in the chart. But there are only two other Hallowe’en tracks in the top 100. One is “Zombie” by the Cranberries at number 83 (one place below “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, god help us). And the other is this one.

39. Rihanna – “Disturbia”

Number 3 in September 2008. It’s been four years now since Rihanna had a top 40 hit with new material.

Given the number of Hallowe’en tracks pushing everything else down, the only climbers in the top 40 (other than dead cat bounces, which I never bother to list) are:

• “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, as already mentioned.
• “My Body Isn’t Ready” by Sombr, which finally makes it to number 9 after six weeks oscillating between numbers 10 and 13.
• “Coming Up Roses” by Harry Styles, climbing 35-34.

The seven tracks leaving the top 40 are:

• “Movin’ to the Sun” by Hugel, Imael Angel & Ultra Naté, after an 18 week run that peaked at number 2.
• “Mi Chico” by DJ Goja, Jason Derulo & Melody, with five weeks and a peak of 25.
• “Sure Thing” by Miguel, after an eight week back catalogue run that peaked at number 26.
• “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn, which re-entered at 38 last week.
• “Where Is My Husband” by Raye, which re-entered at 40 last week.
• “Hey Everybody (Back in the Dance)” by Kolter, which managed four weeks and a peak of 29.
• “Mimesis” by Fontaines DC after a single week at 34.

On the album chart:

1. Queens of the Stone Age – “Perfecth”

Not a typo. It’s their ninth album and only their second number 1 – the other was “Villains” in 2017.

4. The Snuts – “Joy in Short Moments”

It’s their fourth studio album, all of which have charted between 1 and 4.

6. Nickelback – “Everything Under The Sun”

Isn’t this a bit heavy for Nickelback? Number 6 is a fairly standard position for a Nickelback album at this point, anyway.

7. Editors – “Surface Echo & Sound”

Similar deal here, really. The lower half of the top 10 seems to be fairly normal Editors territory.

20. MK – “In The Night Again”

MK hasn’t released a studio album since 1993, and that one didn’t chart in the UK. This includes last year’s number one single “Dior”.

30. Nines – “Young Nina”

Mixtape of unreleased material, much of which was recorded when he was a teenager. Apparently he’s now retired as an active musician.

31. The Who – “The Who By Numbers”

Juggernaut special edition reissue of their 1975 album, which reached number 7. Even the version on Apple Music runs to 74 songs and over five hours.