Song thrills and breaks records

Although Halloween hasn't inspired as many songs as Christmas, there is one song that is played nearly every October 31st.

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" has become a perennial favorite on Halloween. With its infectious dance beat, catchy lyrics and spooky narration at the end of the song, it's easy to see why "Thriller" has been a Halloween staple for the last 30 years.

There are many facts surrounding both the song and album it appears on that may surprise even diehard fans of the late King of Pop. Here is some of the trivia surrounding both the album and its eponymous hit.

* "Thriller" was released in November of 1982. However, it was not the only album released by Michael Jackson at that time. Jackson also put out an album on which he read the story of "E.T.: The Extraterrestrial" and sang the title song. Both albums won Grammy awards the following year.

* "Thriller" the song was composed by Rod Temperton, an English songwriter who also penned other songs for Jackson.

* "Thriller" would become the best-selling album of all time. It was the sixth studio release for Jackson and featured the hit songs, "Beat It," "Wanna Be Startin' Somthin,'" "The Girl is Mine" (with Paul McCartney) and "Billie Jean." It was produced by Quincy Jones.

* The song is considered a funk disco song set in the key of C#.

* The video for "Thriller" was one of the first mini-movie videos that Jackson would become famous for. It is nearly 14 minutes in duration and ties together the story of a boy (Jackson) and a girl (actress Ola Ray) in a setting inspired by 1950s horror movies.

* John Landis directed the "Thriller" video. The makeup and special effects were the responsibility of Rick Baker, who also did makeup for the movie "An American Werewolf in London." Baker appears in the video. He is a zombie stumbling out of the mausoleum.

* The music video was played in a Westwood, California theater for one week in 1983 to qualify it for an Oscar nomination. It opened for Disney's "Fantasia."

* Jackson was a Jehovah's Witness at the time the music video was created. He placed a disclaimer at the beginning of the video in which he said he discounted any belief in the occult.

* "Thriller" the song was originally intended to be called "Starlight."

* At the height of its popularity, the video for "Thriller" would often run twice per hour on MTV.

* The "Thriller" album made history as the only American top-selling album two years in a row for 1983 and 1984.

* The actors who played the zombies and other creepy stars of the video were hired after the special effects team began creating costumes, masks and prosthetics. These items would later be custom-fit.

* Vincent Price, an American actor known for his distinctive voice and prolific work in many comic-horror films, voiced the narration in the "Thriller" song.

* "Thriller: dance moves have been recreated by flash mobs as a rite of Halloween passage across the country. Others have created Halloween light shows accompanying the song.