Putting together a good mixtape can be tough, and this Halloween mixtape is no different.

Hours were spent sifting through songs with scary subject matter, songs with scary titles and songs that are actually about Halloween. Making a mixtape is an art, and it takes time to get it right. Some rules needed to be implemented for this one.

The first decision was to exclude any compositions from popular horror movies. However, I recommend listening to the theme from Mulholland Drive by Angelo Badalamenti -- or any of Badalamenti's work for that matter -- before listening to this playlist, just to get in the Halloween spirit.

With compositions excluded, this became a mixtape of pop music, and there's certainly enough eerie pop to fill it out. The list of possibilities still included more than 50 songs, and surely some were missed. Also left out: anything that seemed too cliché. So, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash" are absent. Feel free to add them to the list if you're a traditionalist.

This list represents many different genres of music: R&B, soul, proto-punk and hip-hop. And since hard rock and heavy metal were built for scary subject matter, a few representing those styles also find a place on the list.

The resulting mixtape is spooky indeed. Burn a CD with this track list and spice up any Halloween party. The 12 songs are divided into two sides, like a real tape. Side A starts slow and easy, but the terror is in full swing by Side B.

Side A: Melloween

1. The Classics IV: "Spooky" (1968)

This is the calm before the storm. As sexy as it is spooky, this track goes well with all the provocative Halloween costumes that'll be out in the streets of State College this weekend. "Just like a ghost, you've been a-hauntin' my dreams/So I'll propose ... On Halloween."

2. Screamin' Jay Hawkins: "I Put a Spell On You" (1957)

I'm not even sure this song was originally meant to be scary, but it definitely ended up that way. Screamin' Jay sounds horrifyingly insane, and with a little spellcasting thrown in, this track fits well with the Halloween theme.

3. Gnarls Barkley: "The Boogie Monster" (2006)

Cee-Lo starts this song out with a "muahaha" that would make Bela Lugosi proud and builds on it with lyrics about monsters in his closet and under his bed. "I'd kill it, but it's already dead," he sings. Only Cee-Lo can make the living dead sound so groovy.

4. The Stooges: "Fun House" (1970)

A fun house isn't necessarily related to Halloween, but the circuses and clowns that come with them are scary as hell. Imagine Iggy Pop as a clown and be very afraid. He reaches deep down and brings out his inner demon for this one.

5. Alice Cooper: "The Black Widow" (1975)

Cooper's live performances over the years have made it very clear he wants every day to be Halloween. He's also the shock rock torchbearer, so it was required he make an appearance on this list. Horror movie master Vincent Price's guest spot as a narrator at the beginning of "The Black Widow" clinched it.

6. Three 6 Mafia: "Long Nite" (1995)

Though Insane Clown Posse has built a reputation on horrorcore rap, Three 6 Mafia is a thousand times less cheesy. So, the group formerly known as Triple 6 Mafia (get it?) was the obvious choice. The beat on "Long Nite," from the overtly Satanic 1995 Mystic Stylez, is downright menacing. This definitely isn't for the faint of heart or the easily offended.

Side B: Helloween

7. Black Sabbath: "Black Sabbath" (1970)

Sabbath's eponymous song opens with thunderstorm and tolling church bells, which will also act as an intro for the far more brutal side B. Frontman Ozzy Osbourne has gotten tamer over the years, but in 1970, there was no musician more terrifying.

8. Mobb Deep: "Horror Flick" (2006)

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" back in the early 1700s, and since then its hellish organ figures have come to define the holiday. Mobb Deep's appropriately titled "Horror Flick" samples the song, and the combination of ultra-violent lyrics with Bach's "Toccata" make a fearsome combo that's sure to spook.

9. Rob Zombie: "Dragula" (1998)

Rob Zombie is all about the risen dead, plus he's a horror movie director. The only question here was which Zombie song to include. "Dragula" fits in here with its creepy intro.

10. Marilyn Manson: "This Is Halloween" (2006)

Manson is all about evoking fear, especially in the parents of impressionable preteens. So when he covers "This Is Halloween" from Tim Burton's classic The Nightmare Before Christmas his croaking vocals make the song that much spookier.

11. Ozzy Osbourne: "Mr. Crowley" (1980)

This song, about famous occultist Aleister Crowley, opens with a full minute of terrifying synth and organ solo, straight from the Church of Ozz. Ozzy already made one appearance earlier on this list, as the singer for Black Sabbath, but he's earned it. After all, he's the Prince of F------ Darkness.

12. Helloween: "Halloween" (1987)

All the songs named simply "Halloween" would have fit on this mix, but this particular "Halloween" made the cut for one major reason: The band's called Helloween. It couldn't be more perfect. The song itself is a 13-minute heavy metal odyssey through the holiday, which is why it closes out the list. Also considered for this spot was Nightwish's rendition of "Phantom of the Opera" or pretty much anything by Iron Maiden.