9 Spooky Tracks for Covid Halloween
Finally, the month of September has come to a close and the witching season is now upon us.
For most people in the United States, including myself, Halloween events and parties have been cancelled due to the prolonged circumstances of Covid-19. But that should stop us from we can still get into our ghoulish excitement with some of the best music for the month.
For this list, we’ll be steering away from the upbeat radio classics like “Monster Mash” and “Dead Man’s Party” and focusing more on TV/film scores and other after-dark bops that will surely put you into the spooky mood. Some you’ve definitely have heard, others maybe not!
You can find a full playlist of the songs on Spotify here.
Alright, let’s get into it.
1. “Anthem” — Michael Abels (“Us” OST)
After Oscar-winning success with his first film, Get Out (2017), Jordan Peele delivered his highly anticipated horror film, Us, two years later.
In this opening track for the film, a choir of children’s voices sing lyrics that sound like a cross between Solfeggi and some unknown language, while a steady African style beat sounds underneath in a foreboding march.
If you want to sing along, either to impress your friends and family or by yourself in your room, you can find the official lyrics here.
2. “Stranger Things Title Sequence” — Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein
It’s been four years since the first season of the 80s decade throwback science-fiction thriller took over Netflix.
The instantly-recognizable theme song won an Emmy in 2017 for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music in the Creative Arts Category and has rooted itself deeply in modern pop culture.
As the story goes, the two composers, both belonging to the same synth music group S U R V I V E, created the theme song from a previously saved sample in their library.
You can find a podcast episode with Dixon and Stein as they break down the theme song here.
And for any hardcore Stranger Things fans, here’s a YouTube Interview from Vanity Fair on the duo’s process for the score for the entire series, as well as a tour of the equipment in their studio.
3. “End Credits” (Coraline) — Bruno Coulai
Let’s not lie to ourselves: Coraline was hands down the scariest movie of 2009.
This stop-motion animation nightmare was based on the children’s novel of the same title by Neil Gaimin.
As described in its title, this song comes at the very end of the film, featuring an orchestra and children’s choir. The lyrics of the song are essentially gibberish though they sound like a sophisticated, untranslatable language that could very well exist, which probably adds to the uncanny nature of the song.
Haters might argue that this song sounds a bit too similar to “Anthem” from Us, but hey, Coraline was released a whole decade earlier.
4. “Halloween Theme (Main Title)” — John Carpenter
Director, writer, and composer for the 1978 horror classic John Carpenter set the course for slasher movies like Friday the 13th (1980), Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Scream (1996t) that came afterwards.
The iconic theme song is written the unusual quintuple meter–5/4 to be exact. And apparently, the production of the greater soundtrack was heavily rushed, written and recorded in just three days with only a handful of synthesizers, a piano and a recorder.
Forty years later, with the release of the 2018 official sequel, Carpenter revitalizes his take on the original theme song, featuring much higher fidelity and low end.
But whichever one you prefer, it’s your choice! They’re both absolute headbangers that will surely get you ready for October 31st.
Bonus Content: A mash up of Halloween and Stranger Things Theme Songs by L’Orchestra Cinematique (more by them later!)
5. “It Follows (Main Theme)” — L’Orchestra Cinématique (cover)
Rich Vreeland, otherwise known as Disasterpeace, wrote the original track as well as the rest of the score for the contemporary psychological horror film. But today, I give you L’Orchestra Cinematique’s cover of of the title theme song.
The dark synths and ostinato-based motifs sound quite similar to John Carpenter’s main theme for Halloween, but this theme has a shadow of enchantment to it.
But aside from the music, this film was one of few to genuinely unnerve me. There’s something about the paranoia and insanity that comes from something following you for the rest of your life.
(You can catch a full interview with Vreeland here.)
6. “For Those That Follow” — Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow
This eerie ambient track comes from the science-fiction film Annihilation (2018), based on the first book of The Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer.
Both the film and the book center around the twelfth expedition team to venture inside of a sinister and expanding region called Area X.
This haunting track plays when the team discovers — among other items intentionally left to be found — a handheld video camera containing the unnerving footage of what happened to the last cohort.
The first half of the track features an unsettling atmosphere of sound up until 1:17 where the palette suddenly changes to a women’s choir whose humming and sighing is just as unnerving of dissonant harmonies will surely settle under your skin.
And if this alone track isn’t freaky enough, there’s a part in the movie that features a hideously mutated creature. I don’t want to spoil anything beyond that….
7. “To Hell With This” — Ben Lovett
This track comes from the 2017 British horror film that also features a freaky, mutated monster and plenty of gore. Based on the book of the same name by Adam Nevill, the story is essentially bro-trip of four friends hiking through the Scandinavian forest in an effort to process their past shared trauma. The film wastes no time in pushing the narrative along, starting with subtle indications of things going amiss and ending with a horrifying creature that start to pick them off.
Like most horror films, this one didn’t do amazingly in terms of critic and audience reviews; however, this track, as well as a handful of others, is one part of the film done right.
8. “Materia Primoris: The X-Files Theme (Main Title) “— Mark Snow
The X-Files is making it in on this list because how could anyone celebrate Halloween without mentioning the extraterrestrial?
The science-fiction drama series dominated cable television from the 90s up into the early 2000s, featuring some of the most memorable, mind-warping concepts across it’s 11 seasons. But even after it’s final episode, the show’s long-lasting effects on pop culture have made it a canon in the world of sci-fi- and horror-appreciation.
(If you haven’t seen the episode Home, I highly, highly recommend it. Content Warning: It is very, very disturbing.
The episode’s been named one of the most disturbing of the entire show and rightfully so!
I won’t spoil anything for you in case you do decide to watch it, but Mrs. Peacock...she’s…messed up.)
9. “American Horror Story Theme-From ‘American Horror Story’” — Cesar Davila Irizarry, Charlie Clouser
The Netflix horror anthology series just finished with its 9th season in September of last year.
The show was scheduled to release Season 10 this fall, but production, along with a handful of other shows, was interrupted during the first outbreak of the Covid pandemic.
Funny enough, there’s a fascinating story behind the composition of the original piece. Cesar Davila Irizarry never meant the piece to be a horror theme. It was an experimental assignment for a college music course using a mixture of digital sounds and practical recordings taken from around his mother’s home.
Each theme song changes subtly, in terms of music and visuals, to suit the atmosphere of the season (so I highly encourage you check out all of them and pick your favorite), but they all revolve around the same catchy bass line and discordant stabs.
Pick one or all nine — whatever it takes to get you in the Halloween mood.
Extra Bonus
As extra bonus content for any ultra-hardcore spooks out there, this is a sleep track designed to induce nightmares.
I tried it for myself the other night, and, unfortunately, I did not experience the nightmare I was hoping for; however, I did have an eerie dream followed by an experience of sleep paralysis, which I’ve never experienced before.
Try it for yourself — something weird might happen...
Anyways, enjoy the spooky season!
(And be sure to come back for my holiday playlist in December!)
