Since we're already, what, almost a whole week into the fall season, it's about time to start girding ourselves for the annual Christmas onslaught. Earlier each passing year, we're hit with that familiar blitz of shopping mall Santas, cheesy window decorations and worst of all -- six thousand different versions of "Jingle Bell Rock" oozing from unseen speakers planted all over creation. |

Well, the folks at Rhino Records have just fired a small salvo to help stave off Frosty, Rudolph and their pals -- for a few weeks at least -- with a healthy dose of scary monsters and super creepy sounds. New Wave Halloween, which has arrived just in time for planning all those dark rituals (like our fave -- a combination of apple-bobbing, strip poker and Twister) is packed with occult favorites from across the fringes of rock.

The disc has its share of outright silliness -- like the B-52s' "Devil in my Car" and the Comateens' take on "The Munsters' Theme" -- but you'd be surprised how many genuine chill-inducers made it on as well. We've yet to make it through MX-80 Sound's rendition of the theme from John Carpenter's "Halloween" with the lights out.

And if you're a compulsive list-maker -- a show of hands, please -- you'll no doubt be tickled orange and black at the inclusion of no less than seven separate songs titled "Halloween." The best? The Dream Syndicate. The scariest? Why, the Misfits, of course.

We're a bit baffled as to why the Rhino folks didn't include the scariest song of all time on the disc: Our best guess is that Celine Dion and James Cameron are planning their own house of horrors and need to save it for later.

DAVID SPRAGUE(September 28, 1998)