Chart performance:
| Week | Position | Movement | Comments |
| 11-May-84 | 27 | New | |
| 18-May-84 | 26 | +1 | Peak |
| 25-May-84 | 26 | 0 | Peak |
Written by: Rod Temperton
Produced by: Quincy Jones
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): Epic
| Hit number for artist | 9 |
| Peak position | 26 |
| Weeks | 3 |
| Biggest climber awards | 0 |
| Star rater climbs | 0 |
| Biggest faller awards | 0 |
| Top 20 points | N/A |
| Overall Top 20 points ranking | N/A |
| Top 20 points ranking for the artist | N/A |
| Top 30 Points | 14 |
| Overall Top 30 points ranking | =2420 |
| Top 30 points ranking for the artist | 12 |
Annual ranking:
| 1984 | 114 |
Other chart success:
| Australia | 4 |
| Austria | 5 |
| Belgium | 1 |
| Canada | 3 |
| Finland | 7 |
| France | 1 |
| Germany | 9 |
| Ireland | 4 |
| Netherlands | 4 |
| New Zealand | 6 |
| Norway | 7 |
| Portugal | 1 |
| Spain | 1 |
| Sweden | 10 |
| Switzerland | 3 |
| UK | 10 |
| US | 4 |
| Zimbabwe | 8 |
SA Radio charts:
| Capital 604 | 2 |
| Radio 702 | 5 |
The song was the 7th and final track to be released as a single from Jackson’s multi-million selling album of the same name. The single has shifted over 10 million copies in the US. The music video to accompany the song is widely regarded as one of the best music videos of all time. It was directed by film director John Landis who also directed films such as ‘The Blues Brothers’ and ‘An American Werewolf In London’. The song would chart widely in the wake of Jackson’s death in 2009 and with its ‘horror’ theme and video, it regularly re-enters the charts in the US and UK around Halloween time.
Video:
Artist link: Michael Jackson
SA Singles Charts 