This inexplicably crossed my desk here in the crypt: a 35th anniversary remix of Michael Jackson’s 1982 pop single “Thriller.”

For the uninformed, the inclusion of the “Thriller Rap” by the amazing Vincent Price was so well received that it lead to a career resurgence for him as brand-new fans discovered his royal ghoulishness. I thought I’d heard every remix version out there, but none actually compared to the extended version on the album itself… until I heard this nine-minute mix deposited unceremoniously last year onto YouTube by @SWG_mixes:

It’s a very good re-imagining using the original elements and some bits that sound like they were intended for the original recording but never included… darlings killed and left for dead on the cutting room floor. What got my attention, however is a new middle verse in Vincent Price’s rap! Here’s the full transcript I found after a quick Internetting:

Darkness falls across the land
The mid-night hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y’alls neighborhood
And who so-ever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
You must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse’s shell

[Missing verse]
The demons squeal in sheer delight
It’s you they spy, so plump so right
For though the groove is hard to beat
Yet still you stand with frozen feet
You try to run; you try to scream
But no more sun you’ll ever see
For evil reaches from the crypt
To crush you with its icy grip

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

Can you dig it?!

Yes, Mr. Price, we can… and thank you. 💀

💀 #grmdrpr #moviecryptdotcom #reapingwhathollywoodsows