Halloween Listenable Digs Up a Guitar-Rattling Little Dance Delight
Fall is here! Get your theme music of the season lined up because Halloween Listenable is officially creeping back in. Next up: Jackie Morningstar’s “Rockin’ in the Graveyard” — an up-tempo rock ’n’ roll little dance delight ready for all the freaks and ghouls this spooky 2026.
And this one has been rattling around the crypt for quite a while. “Rockin’ in the Graveyard” was originally released in 1959 on the Sandy label, backed with “No Date.” Jackie Morningstar was the stage name used by Florida-born singer Willie Morrell Sr., who wrote the song.
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Halloween Listenable: Jackie Morningstar
A 1959 rockabilly graveyard stomper that still sounds built for a spooky-season dance floor.
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A 1959 Graveyard Stomper That Refuses to Stay Buried
The original Sandy 45 lists “No Date” on one side and “Rockin’ in the Graveyard” on the other, with the record arriving in April 1959. It was exactly the sort of novelty-minded rockabilly cut the era did so well: fast, lean and built around a spooky premise without sacrificing the beat.
Even Billboard gave the record a brief nod at the time, describing it as a “ghoulish rocker” delivered in lively rockabilly fashion. Decades later, the track has continued resurfacing on Halloween, rockabilly and novelty compilations — which feels right for a song whose entire job is refusing to stay dead.
Morningstar’s recording may be a deep cut now, but that is exactly what makes it useful in a Halloween playlist overloaded with the same handful of standards. “Rockin’ in the Graveyard” sounds like somebody kicked open the crypt door, plugged in the guitar and decided everybody inside was dancing tonight.
Jackie Morningstar — “Rockin’ in the Graveyard” (1959)
Dig out Jackie Morningstar’s spooky-season rockabilly burner below.
Sources: 45cat; NTS; Rockin’ Bandit / YouTube.
