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BOBBY PICKETT’S 1962 hit ‘Monster Mash’ is getting its annual airing during Halloween season.
The song is a spoof on the Twist and Mashed Potato dance crazes, which were massively popular at the time.
The novelty number was fortuitously created after Pickett began imitating horror icon Boris Karloff – who starred as Frankenstein’s monster in hit films during the 1930s – with an off-the-cuff monologue that proved popular with audiences.
It’s gone on to become a Halloween classic. But how much do you know about it?
Where was the singer working late one night when his eyes beheld an eerie sight?
The cemetery
The factory
The lab
The pub
What was the eerie sight?
Alamy
The monster from his slab, began to rise
The knife from his hands, he tried to prise
The food on the table, covered in flies
The comedian on the stage, tried to improvise
What did the monster do then?
He did the mash
He did the monster mash
The lyrics say the Monster Mash dance evolved from...?
The Tasmanian tango
The Transylvania twist
The Philadelphia foxtrot
The Bohemian ballet
Who raised concerns about this?
Shutterstock
The zombies
The Crypt-Kicker Five
Frankenstein
Dracula
Where do the Vampires feast?
Alamy
The kitchen
The pantry
The walk-in wardrobe
The master bedroom
What kind of homes do ghouls have?
Wikimedia Commons
Opulent palaces
Humble abodes
Contemporary cottages
Shotgun shacks
Why did the ghouls go to the party?
They were passionate dance fans
They were friends of the band and wanted to show support
They wanted a jolt of electrodes
They were at a loose end
Who wasn’t a guest at the mad scientist’s monster bash (as far as we know)?
Wolfman
Dracula
Dracula's son
Dracula's aunt
Igor
Igor's baying hounds
The coffin-bangers
As mentioned above, Pickett imitates Boris Karloff during the song. But what other horror icon does he impersonate?
Alamy
Aela Korosi
Bela Lugosi
Cruella Morosi
Daniella Nurosi
The BBC bizarrely banned the song when it was first released. Why?
They said it was “too morbid”
They said it was “factually inconsistent”
They said it was “too catchy”
They said it “glamorised dangerous scientific experiments”
Finally, where did the song place in the US charts the year it was released?
Wikimedia Commons
It was number one
It was a graveyard smash
It caught on in a flash
It was the hit of the land
Alamy
You scored out of !
Dracula
You invented the Transylvania twist!
Alamy
You scored out of !
Frankenstein
You did the mash!
Wikimedia Commons
You scored out of !
You are Dracula's son
You might follow in your father's footsteps one day.
Alamy
You scored out of !
Wolfman
Thanks for showing up.
Wikimedia Commons
You scored out of !
You are a Ghoul
Another jolt of electrodes required.
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