Perhaps the most famous “Halloween” lick known to man, The Mysterioso Pizzicato, or The Villian’s Theme, has been used, reused and abused since it’s earliest known printing in 1914.

Originally it was conceived as a piece of incidental music published in The Remick Folio of Moving Picture Music. Time was, movie theaters had catalogs of sheet music known as photoplay music that was specifically for pianists or orchestras to accompany the silent pictures of the day.

Many films came to the theaters with cue sheets that indicated when music was needed and what type of music might be appropriate for those moments. If no specific piece was called out by name, or if the theater didn’t have it on hand, the catalogs would serve as a guide. Was someone sneaking? Perhaps a generic Mysterioso would do.

Now, how exactly this one came to be most associated with Halloween is anyone’s guess, but you’ve heard this thing a bunch of times on The Shindig, cause people making novelty monster and Halloween songs can’t seem to get enough of it.

Collected here, for no other reason than I think it’s kinda interesting to have them together in one place, are all the appearances of Mysterioso Pizzicato (or variations thereof) from the playlist.

The Mysterioso Pizzicato can be sneaky though! If you hear it creeping around in a sound I haven’t added here yet, let me know!

Enjoy Villians!