Ah, October… brightly-colored foliage falling from the trees, the night growing longer, a chill in the air... and, of course, Halloween, that most wonderfully creepy of holidays.

A lot of people like to spice up their houses with skeletons, ghosts, and Jack-O-Lanterns in order to freak out all the little trick-or-treaters, but why stop there? Why not throw some appropriately frightening sounds on your stereo to help set the mood? Since a lot of people crave horror movies this time of year, certain scary movie soundtracks make the perfect aural accompaniment to one's Halloween bash. So stick that CD in the player, sit back, relax, and get ready for some of the eeriest music ever composed for the medium of film.

1.) The Omen Trilogy (1976-78-81): Jerry Goldsmith (1928-04) had been scoring filmsfor nearly two decades before he finally took home his only Oscar for Richard Donner's crisply effective, 1976 thriller about a couple adopting the son of Satan. Goldsmith has always excelled in the sci-fi and horror genres, and The Omen stands as some of his best work.  Goldsmith’s score sets ominous, choral Latin chants and Stravinsky-esque pulsing against a lovely, pastoral "family" theme that soon gets swallowed up by orchestral darkness.  The film's decent 1978 sequel, Damien: Omen II, had Goldsmith jettisoning the bucolic material from the original and re-orchestrating his "Ave Satani" chant in a furiously propulsive statement for the opening titles, while adding a ghastly, guttural croak from the male choral singers to musically characterize the crow that acts as young Damien's guardian animal in this installment. The trilogy's forgettable 1981 swan song, The Final Conflict: Omen III, was almost saved entirely via Goldsmith's staggeringly powerful score, soaring to operatic heights to depict the ascension of a now-grown Damien Thorn (Sam Neill) to the Presidency of the United States. Using only snatches of his now-familiar "Satani" motifs, Goldsmith provides a reverent, surgingly religious sound to accompany the literal Second Coming of Christ; plus a brilliant cue for a fox hunt, butting Damien's majestically evil theme against a bright, buoyant motif. Taken as a three-part opera, Goldsmith's Omen trilogy will raise gooseflesh and keep the kids away so you can divvy up the candy for yourself. All three scores are available on Varese Sarabande Records in near-complete form (Damien: Omen II offers both the original film tracks and it's '78 album re-recording for completeists) and with excellent sound.

2.) Poltergeist (1982): Goldsmith again, this time providing a funhouse of orchestral thrills for Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg's dazzling ghost story about a young girl ferried away by restless spirits, and the attempt by her parents to rescue her from "the other side". Goldsmith's rumbling and eerily beautiful score has plenty of hair-raising musical set-pieces and the composer's trademark ear for strange sounds (the mournful cry of the bass slide whistle, also heard in Planet Of The Apes, is particularly effective), all wrapped around a haunting lullaby for little, lost Carol Ann Freleng (the late Heather O'Rourke) that binds the disparate elements of the score together into a cohesive whole. The entire score, including unused cues, is available on Rhino Records (although tough to find nowadays) with pristine sound.

3.) The Machinist (2004): While not really a "horror" movie per se, Brad Anderson's psychological thriller nevertheless offers up the considerably disturbing sight of Christian Bale's terrifyingly emaciated torso, as well as Spanish composer Roque Banos' wonderful evocation of Bernard Herrmann's unforgettable composing style. With obsessively repeating harp and string patterns, groaning low woodwinds, keening violas, and (best of all) the distinctive electronic quaver of a theremin, rising out of the subconscious of Bale's tormented character like the wail of the damned, The Machinist is a symphony of emotional torment. This score is available on an import CD by Mellowdrama Records.

4.) Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978). Philip Kaufman's terrifying remake of the 50s' sci-fi classic gets a lot of its memorably unsettling atmosphere from Denny Zeitlin's weird, amorphous cacophony of orchestral menace, jazz melodies, and throbbing, disturbingly organic electronic elements. It's definitely not "easy listening", but it'll set the appropriate sense of paranoia for any spooky gathering. Available on CD from Perseverance Records, which couples 35 minutes worth of Zeitlin's score with a fascinating, 40-minute audio interview with the composer (this was his only film score, BTW). Just don't have the volume turned up too high when the unexpected "hidden" bonus track pops up at the end of the disc. If you've seen the movie, you'll probably know what it is...

5.) The Ring/The Ring Two (2002-05): A big part of the creepiness of this American remake of Ringu laid in the unsettling sonic landscape of Hans Zimmer (and company's) Herrmann-ish score, with sad piano tunes, skittering violins and cellos, and "white noise" electronic sound designs for Samara's supernatural reign of revenge. For the film's underappreciated sequel, Zimmer and co. elaborated on what came before, offering up a more lush arrangement of the first film's themes and motifs. Selections from both scores are on a Decca CD, but you'd be wise to program out the last three tracks, which offer up some silly "remixes" of Zimmer's themes with electronic hip-hop beats and dialogue samples.

6.) Signs (2002): While I'll likely never warm to director M. Night Shyamalan's dour, self-aware storytelling style, he has gotten exemplary work from composer James Newton Howard, and this bristling beaut may be their finest collaboration to date; featuring a dynamite main title with scratching fiddles, screaming horns and some great "gotcha!" jump scares. If only the movie lived up to the terror and wonder of Howard's music. Available on Hollywood Records.

7.) The Thing From Another World/ (1951-82): Two superior sci-fi/horror hybrids get two superior scores from two superior composers. Howard Hawks' '51 original has James Arness' hulking invader from the stars backed by Dmitri Tiomkin's surging trumpet clusters and squealing theremin, and John Carpenter's graphic 80s' remake has Rob Bottin's shape-shifting nightmare accompanied by Ennio Morricone's lonely, bleak orchestral requiem. The former score is available on Film Score Monthly's label (paired with Tomkin's score to the MGM war film Take The High Road), and the latter is on Varese Sarabande (although portions of it can be heard on an alternate audio track underneath the documentary on the film's initial DVD release).

8.) Jaws (1975): Just the two most instantly-recognizable musical notes in film history, that's all. Hell, you can't even hum the shark motif in the bathtub without feeling your pulse quicken. Even the bright, swashbuckling sea-shanty cues for the Orca's pursuit of ol' Bruce can't erase the brilliant simplicity of John Williams' Oscar-winning score. Available on Decca records.  

9.) Sleepy Hollow (1999): Tim Burton's visually sumptuous telling of the Washington Irving novel features a lavish, atmospheric score by Danny Elfman to match, with his usual nods to Bernard Herrmann, spooky choral work, a ravishing love theme and a churning chase scherzo. Over 70 minutes of score available on Hollywood records.

10.) The Fly/The  Fly II (1986-89): Howard Shore's operatic score to David Cronenberg's gruesome remake of the 50s' sci-fi classic adds emotion to the physical decay of Jeff Goldblum's scientist and his equally decaying relationship with girlfriend Geena Davis, while it's skittering string patterns musically depict the nervous thought patterns of his emerging insect pathology. Christopher Young's score to the film's dreadful sequel operates in a similar vein, with the composer's impressive sense of orchestral wonder butted up against his rollicking horror motifs. Both scores have been recently reissued to tie into last fall's special-edition DVD releases of both films, and coupled together on a double-disc CD set from Varese Saranbande.

Well, there you have it. Plenty of eerie musical accompaniment for Halloween tricks and treats galore. Start haunting your local soundtrack supplier and see if you can scare up a few, won't you?

Editor’s Note:  Please welcome our new film music columnist, Robert Knaus.  Each month in Hot Pants, you can look forward to a new article where Robert will share his vast knowledge and opinions on movie scores, both modern and classic.  This is just the start of plenty of new and exciting things to come here at Hot Pants.  Be sure to click the Holla! link below, where you can talk to the author, and other readers, about this article.