It’s Halloween, and that calls for creepy themes to give you a chill. Matt Rogers, host of WDAV’s Reel Spooks, gives us a show preview by sharing his top five picks for scariest Halloween soundtracks.

This is Bernard Herrmann at his brassy best. When the horns kick in, you know you’re in trouble. The score was so good that it was used in both the original movie and the remake.

 

 

The main theme, “Tubular Bells,” by Mike Oldfield, wasn’t written for the movie, and by itself isn’t particularly scary. But see the movie, and those seemingly innocent chimes will forever after conjure images of sweet little possessed Regan.

 

 

Jerry Goldsmith finally won his Oscar for this chilling score. He was also nominated for Best Original Song for the film’s choral piece, “Ave Satani” (“Hail Satan”). It’s creep-tastic.

 

This is the pinnacle of the Herrmann/Hitchcock collaboration. Those screeching strings are iconic. Try to imagine the famous shower scene without them. Just wouldn’t be the same.

 

 

 

UPDATE (10/27/15):
To listen to all of Matt Rogers’s picks — including Psycho, Bride of Frankenstein, The Exorcist, Dracula, The Omen, and more — tune into ‘Reel Spooks’ Friday, October 30, 2015 at 9 p.m. Are you in the Charlotte area? Tune into 89.9fm Classical Public Radio. Prefer to stream? Listen live at WDAV.org or on Apple and Android apps.