Scream
Michael Jackson
Scream is a posthumous, Halloween‑themed compilation album by Michael Jackson, released on September 29, 2017 by Epic/Legacy in collaboration with his estate. Rather than a studio project, it assembles 13 previously released tracks recorded between 1980 and 2014—plus one new mash‑up—chosen for their association with darker, “spooky,” or psychologically intense moods. The track list pulls from Jackson’s solo catalogue and his work with the Jacksons, including “This Place Hotel (Heartbreak Hotel),” “Thriller,” “Blood on the Dance Floor,” “Dirty Diana,” “Leave Me Alone,” “Scream,” “Dangerous,” “Unbreakable,” “Xscape,” “Threatened,” and “Ghosts,” along with Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me,” which features Jackson on the signature hook.
Framed explicitly as a “Halloween album,” Scream was marketed around themes of horror, paranoia, disguise, and transformation, with physical editions including glow‑in‑the‑dark vinyl and augmented‑reality artwork. The compilation closes with “Blood on the Dance Floor X Dangerous (The White Panda Mash‑Up),” a high‑energy medley that blends elements of “Blood on the Dance Floor,” “Dangerous,” “This Place Hotel,” “Leave Me Alone,” and “Is It Scary,” offering the set’s only newly created musical content. Critics noted that, while several songs clearly fit the Halloween concept (“Thriller,” “Ghosts,” “This Place Hotel”), others relate more to media scrutiny, toxic relationships, or inner turmoil than to literal horror, making the thematic cohesion somewhat loose. Commercially, Scream had a modest chart presence—debuting at number 33 on the Billboard 200 in the United States—but it added another curated angle on Jackson’s catalogue, emphasizing his long‑running engagement with fear, tension, and the darker edges of pop spectacle.
Scream
Michael Jackson
Scream is a posthumous, Halloween‑themed compilation album by Michael Jackson, released on September 29, 2017 by Epic/Legacy in collaboration with his estate. Rather than a studio project, it assembles 13 previously released tracks recorded between 1980 and 2014—plus one new mash‑up—chosen for their association with darker, “spooky,” or psychologically intense moods. The track list pulls from Jackson’s solo catalogue and his work with the Jacksons, including “This Place Hotel (Heartbreak Hotel),” “Thriller,” “Blood on the Dance Floor,” “Dirty Diana,” “Leave Me Alone,” “Scream,” “Dangerous,” “Unbreakable,” “Xscape,” “Threatened,” and “Ghosts,” along with Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me,” which features Jackson on the signature hook.
Framed explicitly as a “Halloween album,” Scream was marketed around themes of horror, paranoia, disguise, and transformation, with physical editions including glow‑in‑the‑dark vinyl and augmented‑reality artwork. The compilation closes with “Blood on the Dance Floor X Dangerous (The White Panda Mash‑Up),” a high‑energy medley that blends elements of “Blood on the Dance Floor,” “Dangerous,” “This Place Hotel,” “Leave Me Alone,” and “Is It Scary,” offering the set’s only newly created musical content. Critics noted that, while several songs clearly fit the Halloween concept (“Thriller,” “Ghosts,” “This Place Hotel”), others relate more to media scrutiny, toxic relationships, or inner turmoil than to literal horror, making the thematic cohesion somewhat loose. Commercially, Scream had a modest chart presence—debuting at number 33 on the Billboard 200 in the United States—but it added another curated angle on Jackson’s catalogue, emphasizing his long‑running engagement with fear, tension, and the darker edges of pop spectacle.