It’s every teenage girl’s fear – your boyfriend might actually be a vampire. Bill Buchanan was keenly aware of this fear and wrote a great Halloween PSA, “Beware”, to draw more attention to this all-too-common occurrence.
Bill Buchanan first tasted fame with his hit “The Flying Saucer” in 1956, which hit #3 on the charts and sold over a million copies. He knew his calling – silly Halloween songs. His next single was a cover of “The Thing“, which didn’t sell a million, but was another great song.
Then in 1962, he released “The Night Before Halloween“, which had “Beware” as its b-side. Beware starts off letting us know to listen closely as he describes how to clearly tell if your sweet boyfriend is actually an undead bloodsucking fiend!
“When your boyfriend takes you out at night
What does he like to do?
Go to dark and scary places?
Or see a monster show or two?”

Classic vampire seduction technique. Monster shows and dark places. Tsk tsk. The best part of this song is the background vocals. Typical of 60s “death songs”, the chorus sounds like a host of ghosts warning us from beyond. The descending chord progression has a dreadful quality that kicks the spooky factor to another level.
Buchanan’s vocal delivery is… well, just awful, but befits a song about dating a vampire. It’s that weird “Bela Lugosi” voice that every 50s/60s Halloween song tried to put on, some with more success than others. I’m not sure why every vampire has to be from Eastern Europe, but I guess it sets the mood.
Buchanan went on to produce many many more novelty records, including records by the Three Stooges, and many Christmas records. His frequent songwriting partner was Dickie Goodman, who was Jon Goodman’s dad! Unfortunately, it’s not that John Goodman. Oh well, that woud’ve brought things full circle, for me.
