EAR CANDY: While calendars show Halloween as occurring solely on Oct. 31, the holiday is hardly a one-day celebration.

From choosing the most fun and creative costume to plotting the trick-or-treating route that will yield the greatest confectionary bounty, Halloween decisions abound. (You don't, after all, want a wrong one to come back and ... haunt you ...)

Radio stations, too, stretch the holiday beyond a single day, traditionally playing Halloween-themed music in the week leading up to the hallowed eve.

As in previous years, Nielsen BDS has compiled a list of 2010's most-popular Halloween-themed songs. Here, then, are this year's most-played tracks related to Halloween on all U.S. and Canadian radio stations, networks and channels electronically monitored by BDS between Oct. 25 and 31. (Special thanks to BDS director of data services Adam Foster).

Witch song is No. 1? Let's count down, boos and ghouls, this year's most monster Halloween hits, beginning at No. 20.


No. 20 "Dead Man's Party" Oingo Boingo

No. 19 "Zombie" the Cranberries

No. 18 "Freaks Come Out at Night" Whodini

No. 17 "Spooky" Classics IV Feat. Dennis Yost

No. 16 "Bark at the Moon" Ozzy Osbourne

No. 15 "Living Dead Girl" Rob Zombie

No. 14 "Frankenstein" Edgar Winter Group

No. 13 "The Time Warp" "Rocky Horror Picture Show" Cast

No. 12 "Dragula" Rob Zombie

No. 11 "Witchy Woman" Eagles

No. 10 "Monster" Skillet

No. 9 "Runnin' With the Devil" Van Halen

No. 8 "A Nightmare on My Street" D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

No. 7 "Don't Fear the Reaper" Blue Oyster Cult

No. 6 "Somebody's Watching Me" Rockwell

No. 5 "Highway to Hell" AC/DC

No. 4 "Werewolves of London" Warren Zevon

No. 3 "Ghostbusters" Ray Parker, Jr.

No. 2 "Monster Mash" Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers

No. 1 "Thriller" Michael Jackson