Image “Thriller!” by uriel valentin on Flickr.com.

It is almost Halloween, so let’s look at something scary to get us in the mood. Do you remember Michael Jackson’s famous song and music video Thriller? If you don’t know this early 1980’s hit song – here is your chance to learn all about it. Beware though, this music video has some scary scenes involving zombies and werewolves!

Below I have a link to the Thriller music video and the lyrics for the song.  Before you check these out, let me tell you a little more about this song and go over some of the vocabulary in it.

Thriller, by Michael Jackson, is a music video based on a film called American Werewolf in London. This story is about a man who, after being attacked by a werewolf, becomes a werewolf himself. A werewolf is a mythical creature that is half-man and half-wolf. Werewolves are said to turn from man to wolf when there is a full moon in the sky at night.  Zombies, or the walking dead, also make an appearance in this video. Zombies are also mythical creatures; they look like humans, but are actually dead, and are said to eat human flesh.

Vocabulary to know before watching Thriller:

a thriller – something with an exciting story or plot
to thrill – to experience a sudden feeling of excitement and/or fear

to lurk (lurking) – to be hidden and waiting to jump out and hurt someone
paralyzed – unable to move; like being frozen in place
to creep (creepin’) – to move slowly with the body close to the ground, like a lizard
masquerade – dressed in a way to conceal the truth of what one looks like
demons – evil spirits; a bad or scary creatures
to cuddle – to hold someone close for warmth or comfort
y’awl’s (you all’s) – a southern way of saying ‘your’
hounds – hunting dogs
corpse – a dead body
foulest – a very bad or disgusting smell or taste
grizzly – scary or hideous
ghouls – evil spirits; like ghosts
tomb – a large underground area for burying dead bodies
mere mortal – a normal person, as opposed to a person with special powers or a God

Here are the lyrics for Thriller by Michael Jackson:

It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking
In the dark
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops
Your heart
You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before
You make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between
The eyes
You’re paralyzed

‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to
Strike
You know it’s thriller, thriller night
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer
Thriller tonight

You hear the door slam and realize there’s nowhere
Left to run
You feel the cold hand and wonder if you’ll ever see
The sun
You close your eyes and hope that this is just
Imagination
But all the while you hear the creature creepin’ up
Behind
You’re out of time

‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night
There ain’t no second chance against the thing with
Forty eyes
You know it’s thriller, thriller night
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer
Thriller tonight

Night creatures call
And the dead start to walk in their masquerade
There’s no escapin’ the jaws of the alien this time
(They’re open wide)
This is the end of your life

They’re out to get you; there’s demons closing in on
Every side
They will possess you unless you change the number on
Your dial
Now is the time for you and I to cuddle close
Together
All through the night I’ll save you from the terrors on
The screen
I’ll make you see

That it’s a thriller, thriller night
‘Cause I can thrill you more than any ghost
Would ever dare try
Girl, this is thriller, thriller night
So let me hold you tight and share a killer,
Chiller
Thriller here tonight

That it’s a thriller, thriller night
‘Cause I can thrill you more than any ghost
Would ever dare try
Girl, this is thriller, thriller night
So let me hold you tight and share a killer

Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y’awl’s neighborhood
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse’s shell

The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller