"This Is Halloween" Meaning: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Danny Elfman's "This Is Halloween" is more than a parade of monsters. The opening song from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" introduces Halloween Town as a place where being frightening is completely normal. The residents may terrify outsiders, but they do not see themselves as evil. For them, Halloween is home.
What is "This Is Halloween" actually about?
"This Is Halloween" introduces Halloween Town through the creatures who live there.
Instead of following one narrator, the song jumps between ghosts, vampires, witches and monsters hiding under beds and stairs. Each gets a few seconds to show what makes them frightening.
But one lyric changes how we should see them:
"That's our job, but we're not mean"
Scaring people is almost a profession in Halloween Town. The residents are not apologizing for who they are, but they are telling us that frightening and evil are not necessarily the same thing.
Another line makes their attitude even clearer:
"Life's no fun without a good scare"
They do not just accept Halloween. They enjoy it.
So the title becomes more than the name of a holiday. "This Is Halloween" is an entire community proudly announcing its identity.
Watch "This Is Halloween" from "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
Why do so many characters sing "This Is Halloween"?
Because Halloween Town itself is almost the main character of the song.
The number works like a musical roll call. Different residents introduce themselves, show us their particular kind of horror and then return to the same shared celebration.
That ensemble structure lets the movie explain an entire world without stopping for exposition.
Eventually, all that attention turns toward one resident:
"Everyone, hail to the Pumpkin King now"
Jack Skellington is introduced as the person who represents Halloween Town better than anyone.
Why is "This Is Halloween" important to Jack Skellington's story?
Halloween Town knows exactly what it is. Jack does not know whether that identity is still enough for him.
"This Is Halloween" first shows us a community delighted by its traditions. Its residents are excited about scares, surprises and another successful Halloween. Jack is even celebrated as their Pumpkin King.
Then comes "Jack's Lament", where the character at the center of this confident community reveals his dissatisfaction.
That contrast is deliberate. Disney's official history confirms Danny Elfman provided Jack's singing voice, while D23 notes that Elfman had already composed the film's songs before there was even a finished script. Elfman later explained that he personally related to Jack's desire to leave behind a world in which he had become successful.
Before the movie can show Jack wanting something different, it first shows us exactly what he is thinking about leaving behind.
What do the "This Is Halloween" lyrics mean?
One small word captures much of the song's deeper meaning:
"This, our town of Halloween"
"Our" matters.
Halloween is not an event these characters celebrate once a year. It defines their home, their work and their community.
To us, a creature hiding under the bed is a nightmare. In Halloween Town, he is simply another resident introducing himself.
Halloween Town turns the qualities that would make these creatures outsiders somewhere else into the very things that make them belong.
What song is "This Is Halloween" based on?
"This Is Halloween" is not an adaptation of an older Halloween song. Danny Elfman created it for "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Sources on the film's production confirm that Elfman composed the songs as Tim Burton developed the story and showed him sketches and ideas for scenes.
The song can feel like an old Halloween standard because it draws on familiar imagery such as ghosts, witches, vampires and creatures hiding in the dark.
Elfman's clever move was to take those familiar Halloween figures and make them neighbors.
Who wrote "This Is Halloween"?
Danny Elfman wrote the songs and score for "The Nightmare Before Christmas", including "This Is Halloween". He also provided Jack Skellington's singing voice.
Elfman later described an unusually direct creative process. Tim Burton would show him drawings and describe parts of the story, and Elfman would turn those ideas into songs. He recalled that on some occasions he could return with a song only three days later.
The songs were not simply added after the story was finished. They were part of building that story.
Who sings "This Is Halloween"?
"This Is Halloween" is a group number, credited to an ensemble billed as the Citizens of Halloween Town. That cast includes voice actors like Susan McBride, Greg Proops, Kerry Katz, Debi Durst, Randy Crenshaw, Sherwood Ball, Carmen Twillie and Glenn Walters, and Danny Elfman is part of that same ensemble, voicing characters like Barrel and the Clown with the Tear Away Face within the song itself.
The real distinction isn't "Elfman vs. the ensemble." It's format. Elfman gets his own spotlight elsewhere as Jack Skellington's singing voice on songs like "Jack's Lament." "This Is Halloween" does the opposite: it builds a chorus of voices, Elfman's included, without making one character the narrator.
This isn't Jack telling us what Halloween means. It's an entire town telling us.
What film is "This Is Halloween" from?
"This Is Halloween" comes from the 1993 stop-motion film "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
Henry Selick directed the film, while Tim Burton created its story and characters. Danny Elfman wrote the original score and songs. The film initially opened in New York on October 13, 1993, before expanding later that month.
"This Is Halloween" appears near the beginning, establishing Jack's world before his fascination with Christmas sends the story in a completely different direction.
Why did "This Is Halloween" become a Halloween classic?
The song does something unusually useful for a seasonal favorite: it turns Halloween into a place listeners can immediately recognize. Ghosts, witches and monsters are not just decorations around the song. They are the community singing it.
It has also continued reaching new audiences. Marilyn Manson and Panic! at the Disco both recorded versions for the 2006 special edition of the soundtrack, with Manson's recording later appearing on "Nightmare Revisited".
The movie itself has also had an unusually long Halloween afterlife. Disney notes that it became a cult classic, received recurring Halloween theatrical rereleases and inspired the seasonal "Nightmare Before Christmas" transformation of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.
But the song's biggest advantage may be simpler.
"This Is Halloween" does not merely mention Halloween. It sounds like an entire town celebrating it.
More Halloween classics: Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" turns Halloween fear into paranoia, while Andrew Gold's "Spooky Scary Skeletons" makes its supposedly frightening creatures playful and misunderstood. "This Is Halloween" takes a third approach: its monsters really do want to scare you, and they are proud of it.
FAQ
What is "This Is Halloween" about?
It introduces Halloween Town, where monsters treat frightening people as their job, entertainment and shared tradition. The song is ultimately about the town's identity and pride in what makes it different.
What song is "This Is Halloween" based on?
It is not based on an older song. Danny Elfman wrote it specifically for "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
Who wrote the song "This Is Halloween"?
Danny Elfman wrote "This Is Halloween" and composed the songs and score for "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
Who originally sang "This Is Halloween"?
The original soundtrack performance is credited to the Citizens of Halloween Town, an ensemble that includes Danny Elfman among several other voice actors. It's a group number, not a Jack Skellington solo.
What film is "This Is Halloween" from?
It comes from the 1993 film "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
A town that knows what it is, and a king who doesn't
"This Is Halloween" works because its monsters are not pretending to be normal. In Halloween Town, frightening people is normal.
Halloween Town has found where it belongs. Jack still has to decide whether he belongs there too.
Further Reading