Mood music ties every event together, and when it comes to Halloween the spookier the better. Michael Jackson’s legendary “Thriller” and “Ghost” music videos are perfect choices to set the scene – the ideal mix of creepy and iconic.

Last weekend, for the upcoming Halloween holiday, a group of Highline students sat down together to choose a horror music video suitable for a Halloween party that they planned to host on Oct. 28th. They chose the classic horror videos Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Ghost,” among many other horror music videos.

Asked why they chose Michael Jackson’s music videos, Franky Lin explained, “Michael Jackson is a well-known musician, who would say no to his music?”

“I still remember the first time I watched ‘Thriller,’ [it] was in elementary school. It was Halloween and our homeroom teacher played this video on the screen for us and scares the whole classroom like hell,” Reo Tanaka said.

“Thriller,” released in 1982, was Michael Jackson’s second album as an adult. “Thriller,” the single of the same name, was an incredible combination of rhythmic funk music and the most popular disco and soul music of the time, which formed Michael Jackson’s unique soul + rock music style. The whole song style is high pitched and is well suited for Michael Jackson’s voice.

The famous dance sequence is only about two minutes in total, which is not a long time, but it is iconic none-the-less. This so-called zombie dance gained worldwide popularity after the release of “Thriller” – despite the fact that zombies have always been portrayed as slow and uncoordinated. This dance is highly choreographed and uniform, which is why it is instantly recognizable and historic. Since the release of “Thriller” there have been numerous parodies and tributes made to it.

“After many years, I finally know where the zombie image of the dance king came from,” Amy Zhou said.

The video for “Thriller” completely changed the world’s concept of music videos. Before “Thriller,” music videos were mostly simple, with the singer singing and posing for the camera, but Michael Jackson was the first musician to incorporate music videos into a story into a mini-film.

“I think the choreography and arrangement of ‘Thriller’ is very interesting and it doesn’t feel dated at all. It’s dynamic and powerful,” Daisy Lin said.

“This music video could totally be seen as a movie,” said Vicky Husn.

“Ghost” was written by Stephen King and Michael Jackson and directed by Stan Winston. The piece was originally released as a short film to accompany the adaptation of Stephen King’s “Thinner.”

In the film, Michael plays six roles. The story tells of a mysterious prankster who has a deep friendship with children and performs magic, sings, and dances for them, but the mayor is determined to drive “abnormal” Michael out of town.

The two sides finally clash and have a betting match: whoever scares the other first must leave. Michael Jackson then calles in a group of ghosts to help perform the “demonic dance” in front of the people, finally winning the town’s favor, and driving away the evil mayor. The film could be seen as a sequel to “Thriller,” but the stunts and choreography were superior.

Before watching “Ghost,” several students said it was their first time seeing the music video.

“I feel this music video is supposed to be about ‘don’t judge a person before you know them,’ but it ends up being a Hollywood-style doozy,” Franky Lin commented.

“To the eye-catching choreography and stunts, the classic and Gothic costumes and sets are also worthy of praise,” Daisy Lin added.

Sharing her opinion, Zhuo said, “As a music video, it’s something fans will collect to, but as a music film, it’s more like Michael Jackson’s very personal one-man show.”

“Michael Jackson’s powerful dance moves are combined with the screams of ghosts, and the whole scene is grotesque and crazy. But I like it!” said Husn.

After a heated discussion, the five students decided to play “Thriller” at the beginning of the party and “Ghost” at the end of the party, because both films were wonderful and perfectly suited to the Halloween atmosphere, there was no reason to give up either of them.