‘Halloween’: What are the creepiest theme songs from horror movies?
Halloween heads are living it up these days, as the spooky season fully envelops the everyday lives of celebrators everywhere. As the month of October rages on, Halloween enthusiasts continue to celebrate their favorite holiday with some of the season’s greatest pastimes.
Pumpkin patches & PSLs are the way to go for daytime outings during the year’s creepiest of months, but when night falls, it’s time to turn off the lights and get sucked into some of our favorite horror movies.
Iconic villains drive the terror in horror movies, but they are only one part of the spooky equation. Jump scares & gore certainly come into play when horror movies send shivers down our spines, but sometimes what sticks with us the most is the creepy themes which haunt us after the credits roll. We’ve gathered a list of the spookiest themes from horror movies to get your playlists ready for the rest of the season.
Halloween
Michael Myers has to be one of the most iconic horror movie villains to ever grace the silver screen. Furthermore, 1978’s Halloween is one of the greatest horror movies to watch during the spooky season to gear up for, well, Halloween.
Halloween may be known for its iconic villain and legendary debut performance by Jamie Lee Curtis, but there is nothing like the theme from Halloween to send chills down your spine. Director John Carpenter wrote the iconic piano piece, giving audiences a horror movie with a lasting legacy, and a tune which will forever strike fear in the hearts of its listeners.
Suspiria
1977’s Suspiria is a horror movie where the music is almost as important as what we see on screen. Dario Argento’s masterpiece of horror has developed a cult following over time, and the same effect has fallen on Goblin, the group which composed the movie’s iconic theme.
The melody which flows throughout Suspiria is haunting & beautiful, as its bells seem to signal clues coming to viewers in the ongoing mystery of the film. Furthermore, when you hear the tune, you know there is something incredibly creepy about to go down in the ballet school on screen. Suspiria is fantastic, but the theme from the film is a downright earworm, and let’s face it, the song slaps.
Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock is a master of the horror genre, and most film nerds will tell you 1960’s Psycho is one of the director’s most significant works. Many people have watched the iconic movie ten times over, but even more people can recognize the film’s legendary score.
We all know the shower scene from Psycho, and many of us have imitated the screeching strings, perhaps with a stabbing motion, from the sequence (you know you’ve done it!). The theme from the film is so legendary many horror heads have heard the tune before ever seeing Psycho. Hopefully for Pyscho noobs, though, they only had the movie’s theme spoiled, and not the horror flick’s legendary twist.
The Exorcist
Many millennials grew up being told by their parents that 1973’s The Exorcist was perhaps the scariest movie ever made (at least by the 90s). The movie still hits in 2021, and has earned its lasting legacy of one of the most horrifying stories ever told on screen. However, we think the theme from the flick doesn’t get enough credit.
Piano drives the creepy theme from The Exorcist, and although similar to the theme from Halloween, has its own brand of terror which haunts viewers sporadically from the movie’s start to its finish. Regan’s 360 degree head turn is chilling, but it’s the theme from The Exorcist that makes the image stick with us, watch after terrifying watch.
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What’s your favorite horror movie theme? Sound off in the comments below!
