Every Halloween, when it comes to entertainment, most people immediately think of horror films…but what about music? Over the years many artists have attempted to bring the “shock” back into rock.

So, if you are hosting a Halloween party this year, here are some performers that will help you turn it into a heavy metal Halloween.

Original KISS members Ace Frehley* and Peter Criss performed together this week for the first time in 13 years at the 30th anniversary celebration for radio host and TV’s That Metal Host star Eddie Trunk.

The Spaceman and The Catman, both of whom originally left KISS in the early 80s, but returned to the group for the 1996 reunion tour and subsequent album Psycho Circus, jammed together at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City on Wednesday, October 23, 2013, along with Anthrax members, bassist Frank Bello and guitarist Scott Ian; former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal.

With Frehley on lead guitar and Criss on drums, along with a combination of the aforementioned musicians, the former bandmates rocked out on KISS tunes “Parasite,” “Got To Choose,” “Hooligan,” “Love Her All I Can,” and “Rock And Roll All Night” — the latter three performances can be seen here below in a fan video that was taken.

The latest roll call of the 2014 nominees for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was announced earlier this week, and as usual, the list is full of some names that are questionable, and ultimately some that are long overdue for possible inclusion in the triangular edifice, like Kiss, Deep Purple, and Yes.

Nirvana seems to be the forerunner here and the absolute shoe-in to the Hall. The defunct grunge trio, which disbanded almost 20 years ago after the death of their front man, flanneled-laden Kurt Cobain, was on the apex of the entire Grunge sound movement which shot large bullet holes through the hair metal and pop music that permeated radios and CD players coast to coast when it first burst onto the scene in the early 1990s. More than just a success story, Nirvana opened an entire new lifestyle for teens in subdivisions, urban societies and pretty much every other demographic with their hard edged, yet simplistic post punk attack.

KISS Kids #1
Written by Chris Ryall and Tom Waltz
Art by Jeremy Colwell and Jose Holder
Covers by Jeremy Colwell, Luis Antonio Delgado, Rom Fajardo, Jose Holder, Dan Schoening, Bruce Timm
IDW Publishing
Release Date: August 21, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

You wanted the best, and you got the best”¦
“¦but this ain’t it.

If you’re an adult, KISS Kids is terrible. If you’re under the age of 7, KISS Kids is ok. The End.

If I could leave the review at just that, I would. But I won’t. Being a KISS fan, upon hearing that KISS Kids was going to be a comic book series – an announcement made on April Fool’s Day – I honestly thought it was just a gag, a joke, a laugh. I played along with the joke, and we even posted another KISS-related April Fool’s post that day, too.

But then I found out IDW and Gene Simmons were sincere about it. I couldn’t believe it. This is perhaps the worst KISS idea since those coffins, I thought. And I was right.

Young children will probably dig it, especially kids of fans who have been bitten by the KISS bug… but older readers will find this experience tedious. While the art is fun to look at, KISS Kids, as a concept, would work much better as a television cartoon series than a comic book.

Happy Birthday today to The Spaceman, the irrepressible Ace Frehley, whose lead guitar work in the original version of the rock and roll quartet KISS elevated that band to one of the all-time great groups of that genre.

While the co-frontmen — Gene Simmons, with his blood-spurting, bass-playing rock shock antics, and Paul Stanley, all-around good guy with the sly wink — were pretty much always (and continuing to this day) at the forefront, it was the guitar sounds of the Space Ace and his attitude as well, which seemed to come from the Johnny Thunders/Ron Asheton/Wayne Kramer down and dirty rock variety that gave KISS arguably its musical cock walk strut on record, on stage, and in print. Frehley was the dark horse of the group who usually had musical photo finishes; he was the iron glue and in a lot of ways the one who experienced the most identity crisis, almost like the George Harrison in the theatrical greasepaint, the makeup which concealed the band’s identity during their heyday in the 1970s, but never concealed the band’s workman-like musical ethic.