Halloween

Formed in the early '80s in Detroit, MI, Halloween are one of America's most obscure, yet somehow simultaneously enduring, underground heavy metal bands. The bandmembers were inspired to don costumes and pen songs about their favorite holiday by a combined influence of Alice Cooper's shock rock antics and the dress-up and makeup shenanigans of Kiss, eventually recording a string of independent albums that have nurtured their cult, yet they remain comparatively invisible to most mainstream music fans. Halloween's original lineup consisted of vocalist Brian Thomas, guitarist Rick Craig, bassist George Neal, and drummer Bill Whyte, who recorded 1984's "Trick or Treat" single (big surprise on that title!) before completing the following year's full-length Don't Metal with Evil album. This featured classic American '80s metal not unlike that of Metal Church or very early Mötley Crüe — before the glam and pop exaggerations took over.

A second album, entitled Victims of the Night, was completed in 1986, but remained unreleased for over a decade because Halloween had lost their record deal, and subsequent inner-band squabbling brought all activities to a temporary halt. Thomas and Neal, plus new members Donny Allen (guitar) and Billy Adams (drums), did reemerge with a new Halloween album, No One Gets Out, in 1991, and the 2000s have seen additional efforts recorded by ever-changing lineups (including 2003's Tricks, Treats, and Other Tales from the Crypt and 2006's Horror Fire), but there's no indication that Halloween will ever escape their station as an underground and regional Detroit cult.