While short-lived and now mostly the stuff of music legend, the Misfits inspired many future bands during their brief tenure. According to Last FM, the group formed in New Jersey in 1977 and, over the course of their six years together, became known for their annual Halloween shows. They also invented the genre of horror punk. By 1979, the Misfits had taken a skull face logo from a 1946 serial called "The Crimson Ghost," started wearing makeup and skeleton garb, and created the now-infamous hairstyle the "devilock."

Appropriately, the Misfits released "Halloween," a song that perfectly encompasses the darker aspects of the American holiday, as a single on October 31, 1981. On the peppy punk song, a young Glenn Danzig sings of "pumpkin faces in the night," "burning bodies hanging from poles," and "candy apples and razor blades" over a distorted guitar riff. "Halloween" and its even spookier Latin-versed B-side, "Halloween II," were both recorded during the summer of 1981 as part of what the band intended to be a full-length release (per Last FM).

But by 1983, the group had disbanded with primary songwriter and frontman Danzig going on to form Samhain and, later, his self-titled solo act. Still, "Halloween" remains a seasonal anthem, and many bands, including AFI and Dropkick Murphys, have covered it over the years (via Music Times). Danzig, meanwhile, continues to be a fan of the holiday, telling Revolver Magazine in 2010: "Man, every day is Halloween for me."

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