Monster Mash

"Monster Mash"
Side A of the 7-inch U.S. vinyl single (1962)
Single by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers
from the album The Original Monster Mash
B-side	"Monster Mash Party"
Released	August 25, 1962
Format	7" vinyl
Recorded	May 1962
Genre	Novelty, pop
Length	2:57
Label	Garpax (US) London (UK)
Writer(s)	Bobby Pickett and Leonard L. Capizzi
Producer(s)	Gary S. Paxton
Music sample Monster Mash This sample demonstrates Pickett's Boris Karloff impression, which was the inspiration for the song, as well as the chorus.

"Monster Mash"
The cover features an image of Boris Karloff's character from Mad Monster Party.
Single by the Misfits
Released	October 31, 1999
Format	7" vinyl, CD
Recorded	1997
Genre	Horror punk
Length	5:03
Label	Misfits
Writer(s)	Bobby Pickett, Leonard L. Capizzi
Producer(s)	Misfits
Misfits singles chronology
"Scream!" (1999) "Monster Mash" (1999) "Day the Earth Caught Fire" (2002)
Music sample "Monster Mash" The 1997 recording was the first time Jerry Only had performed lead vocals for the Misfits Music sample "Monster Mash" Only called the 2003 recording from Project 1950 "the hardest hitting version of them all."

"Monster Mash" is a 1962 novelty song and the best-known song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. The song was released as a single on Gary S. Paxton's Garpax Records label in August 1962 along with a full-length LP called The Original Monster Mash, which contained several other monster-themed tunes. The "Monster Mash" single was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on October 20–27 of that year, just before Halloween. It has been a perennial holiday favorite ever since.

Pickett was an aspiring actor who sang with a band called the Cordials at night while going to auditions during the day. One night, while performing with his band, Pickett did a monologue in imitation of horror movie actor Boris Karloff while performing the Diamonds' "Little Darlin'". The audience loved it, and fellow band member Lenny Capizzi encouraged Pickett to do more with the Karloff imitation.

Pickett and Capizzi composed "Monster Mash" and recorded it with Gary S. Paxton, pianist Leon Russell, Johnny MacRae, Rickie Page, and Terry Berg, credited as "The Crypt-Kickers". (Mel Taylor, drummer for the Ventures, is sometimes credited with playing on the record as well, while Russell, who arrived late for the session, appears on the single's B-side, "Monster Mash Party".) The song was partially inspired by Paxton's earlier novelty hit "Alley Oop", as well as by the Mashed Potato dance craze of the era. A variation on the Mashed Potato was danced to "Monster Mash", in which the footwork was the same but Frankenstein-style monster gestures were made with the arms and hands.