Songfacts®:

• Following "Magic's Wand," "The Haunted House Of Rock" was Whodini's second single, released in time for Halloween, 1983. Whodini combined the goofy fun of The Fat Boys with the virtuosity of Run-DMC to create what is the rap equivalent of a clever horror movie. Heavy on the sound effects, the song is full of references to various famous monsters and boogymen - Dracula, Bloody Mary and the Invisible Man all show up. Whodini solidified their Halloween rap dominance a year later with their song "Freaks Come Out At Night."
• Note that it's the haunted house of rock, not rap. In the early years of New York hip-hop, groups often considered themselves offshoots of rock and roll, which was based on black blues music. Thus "Rap" could be too limiting a label. This song came a year after Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock," but before Run-DMC proudly proclaimed themselves "King Of Rock" in 1985.
• Whodini was signed to the British label Jive Records, who flew the group to London to record this song and the rest of their debut album. Unlike most rap albums of the era, it was recorded with top-of-the-line equipment, including a Fairlight synthesizer that gave it a distinctive keyboard sound.
• Four different mixes of this song were released: The Extended Version, The Haunted Mix, The Vocoder Version, and Acapella.