October 30, 2023: Hozier speaks onstage at An Evening With Hozier at The GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles, California.Getty Images

Hozier conceived a bizarre yet endearing piece of fan lore earlier this year when he inexplicably claimed to have written the classic Halloween song “The Monster Mash” during an interview with Sirius XM.

Hozier, the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter from Co Wicklow, was chatting with the music streaming service ahead of the release of his latest album “Unreal Unearth." For the interview, he was asked by fans to select songs for different hypothetical situations. 

One person asked: “What song of yours should we have for our first dance at our wedding?”

Hozier seemed touched by the question and turned pensive to answer: “Some time ago now, I wrote a song called ‘The Monster Mash,’ so you should play that. That’s one of my - 

“I’m just kidding. Don’t play - I don’t think any of my songs are appropriate. 

“I think if you had to, maybe ‘Work Song’ is nice. That’s maybe sweet.

“I get asked if I would sing at funerals and weddings and it’s really difficult to pick a song that doesn’t feel really inappropriate for the moment. 

“But, yeah, ‘Work Song’ is kinda nice.”

Later in the same interview, Hozier was asked to choose a song for when “someone ghosts you and then come back unexpectedly and reach out again.”

Hozier takes a moment to think before replying: “I wrote a song called ‘Monster Mash’ once.”

He laughs at his own joke before suggesting, in earnest, Gretchen Parlato’s cover of “Weak” by SWV, before quickly backtracking to also suggest “Linger” by fellow Irish hitmakers The Cranberries.

Concluding the interview, the Irish singer-songwriter says: “Hey, I’m Hozier. I wrote ‘The Monster Mash’ and thank you for your submissions, I’m very happy to create this soundtrack.”

Obviously, Hozier, real name Andrew Hozier Byrne, did not write the Halloween season staple “The Monster Mash.” That honor goes to Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt Kickers, who penned it back in 1962, nearly 30 years before Hozier was even born.

Despite this, Hozier's "Monster Mash" bit has been enthusiastically embraced by his dedicated fanbase:

The only valid explanation Hozier's "Monster Mash" claims? "He's just goofy," one fan account recently said on X, formerly Twitter.

Besides the Halloween season, Hozier's "Monster Mash" bit was reignited this month by Internet personality Brittany Broski, who broached the topic in an interview with Hozier that she shared on October 26.

"The creative process behind when you wrote 'Monster Mash,' could you just sort of walk me through that?" Broski says to Hozier in the interview filmed at the Austin City Limits festival this month.

"Take your time," she says with a chuckle.

Hozier looks up in thought: "So I just remember that I was working in the lab late one night and my eyes befell an eerie sight, you know?"

The two can't fight off the laughter. Broski admits: "There's not much else to say, is there?"