Looking for some creepy and great music for the most wonderful time of the year (and by this I do mean Halloween)? Like all holiday music, the same songs over and over gets a little old. Here is a list that might deaden liven things up:
TV or Movie soundtracks. Think of a creepy TV show or movie — we most likely have the soundtrack.
Examples:
Anything by Danny Elfmann
Lost, composed by Michael Giacchino: relive the thrills!
Grimm Original Television Soundtrack: Music from Seasons One and Two, composed by Richard Marvin: suspenseful.
Coraline Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, by Bruno Coulais: Eerie and lyrical. Performed mostly by the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra, along with a track by They Might Be Giants.
Soundtrack from Twin Peaks, by Angelo Badalamenti: dreamy and moody.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Score, composed by Christophe Beck: orchestral, melancholic, very dark and surprisingly complex.
Dracula, composed by Philip Glass, performed by the Kronos Quartet.
George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Holy Guacamole, is this one scary! Use your judgment if playing this for kids. It is that scary. Another George A. Romero classic.
The Day the Earth Stood Still: Danger! Theremin ahead!
Sound Effects:
Sound effects recordings on CDs to create atmosphere. A must for any haunted house.
Random:
Mephisto & Co, performed by the Minnesota Orchestra; Eiji Oue, conductor. Features classical spooky hits like “Night on Bald Mountain” by Mussorgsky, “Baba Yaga” by Liadov and my favorite; “Danse macabre” by Saint-Saëns.
Chiller, performed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra; Erich Kunzel, conductor. Classical classics and effective sound effects.
Halloween arrangements to a high-energy synthesizer beat by Mannheim Steamroller (which in itself might elicit a few “Nooooooooooooos!”)
Devil’s Dance, by Gil Shaham: violin and piano music including that wonderful “Transylvanian Lullaby” from Young Frankenstein
From Behind the Unreasoning Mask: unsettling experimental music from composers Roger Reynolds, Paul Chihara, Chou Wên-Chung and Earl Kim.
Mirage, by Elizabeth Brown: Here is a great little CD featuring the theremin (that scary sounding instrument that goes ooooweeeooo in sci-fi horror films.)
Circus Music: inherently creepy
Plus, there’s always The Misfits.
-Joelle
PS. Don’t forget Hoopla! It’s got practically everything!
Eleventh Stack 