Halloween: celebrate this October 31 with the music of the best horror movies

The music that is composed for horror films has a special narrative relevance. It is easy that, in great classics of the genre, such as Psychosis or the saga itself Halloween, bring their main themes to mind as soon as we listen to or read their titles. Musical “beats” with off-time beats, high volume and good doses of percussion and torn strings, enhance in the most effective way the most impressive scenes, those intended to make us have a good time, suffering.

When it comes to horror, music is essential to evoke an atmosphere of tension, scary, which emphasizes the high points of the script and key scenes. Violins, cellos and other string instruments are perfect for creating gothic and tense atmospheres, as well as the distant synth lullaby that fosters a spectral mystery. Sometimes, these main themes of horror movie soundtracks have become icons of the seventh art, thanks to geniuses like John Carpenter, Wojciech Kilar or Bernard Herrmann.

The story behind Halloween

The celebration of Halloween has not always consisted of asking for candy and doing pranks to enjoy fun moments. This tradition has been around for many years and, over time, it has been adapted to become the commercial festival we know today. We are going to learn about the origins of this celebration and its most emblematic symbols, given that, with the immigration of the Irish to the United States, the festival took a different and less gloomy and dark direction, until reaching to the Halloween we know today.

The tradition of pumpkins has its origin in the Irish legend of Jack O'Lantern, a drinking and swindling man, who when he died could not enter heaven because of his sins, nor could he enter hell. The reason was a pact with the devil, so that he would never take his soul, so he was forced to return to the world of the living and wander eternally as a ghost. To light his way, Jack used a burning coal inside a white radish.

The Celts hollowed out this cruciferous vegetable and put charcoal inside to ward off spirits and demons during the Samhain. This Gaelic festival was celebrated on November 1 and marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the "darkest half" of the year. The celebrations begin on the afternoon of October 31, as the Celtic day ended and began at sunset.

They also deposited them in the graves of loved ones to light the way back to the world of the living and welcome them. When the Irish arrived in America, they learned about pumpkins and the ease of hollowing them out, so the tradition of putting lights inside them began.

What is the meaning of Halloween?

Called 'Halloween' due to the contraction of the expression 'All Hallows Eve' (All Saints' Night), the festival, as we have said, has its origin in the Celtic world, specifically in the aforementioned pagan festival of Samhain.

In its origins, which date back to this European country until recently more than 3,000 years and, since it coincides with the autumn solstice, the peasants celebrated the end of the season, under the belief that during that night of October 31 the spirits walked among the living. The legends express that the spirits could cross the line that separated the world of the living from that of the dead just that night, because that was when it got tighter.

According to those same legends, people protected from evil spirits and tried to drive them away with bonfires, or masks and costumes to avoid being recognized. They also placed bones, skulls or any other object related to death in their homes.

Horror movies to watch on Halloween

In the middle of autumn, with the leaves falling from the trees, it seems that a bucolic universe surrounds us. It's pumpkin time, time for horror movies and revisiting those songs that scare us so much. There are many classics of the genre that we want to see on these dates, but we are going to review our favorites, the ones that make us suffer so much and at the same time we love them.

Dracula: a horror classic

There are many versions of the story created by Bram Stoker in his gothic fantasy novel published in 1897. Some of the most iconic are that of Tod Browning in 1931, that of Hammer, by Terence Fisher, in 1958 or the 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' by Coppola in 1992. In it we follow the steps of Jonathan Harker towards Transylvania, to sign the purchase of some properties in London. The legend of Vlad Tepes It becomes cinema history in the hands of one of the great geniuses who emerged in the 70s, along with Spielberg, Lucas, Eastwood, Scorsese, Cimino, Scott and De Palma. They were the Generation of the 70s, the New American Cinema.

In this, which is not one of the scariest films it makes us feel, it is a milestone in the contemporary gothic cinema, a review of nineteenth-century horror, the cultural basis of the genre. Its soundtrack, created by the Polish composer Wojciech Kilar, was almost nominated for an Oscar and is characterized by its drama and its immense capacity to evoke mystery and horror. The main theme is also notable, Love Song for a Vampire, written by Annie Lennox.

The Exorcist and fear of the supernatural

William Friedkin's masterpiece about demonic possessions It contains an aesthetic beauty on par with the great classical masters and its performances are of extreme quality. For this reason, and other reasons, such as special effects, it is considered one of the scariest movies in cinema history. In short, there is no better movie to watch for the first time on Halloween, and even to watch it for the thirteenth time, always with the lights off and prepared to… “suffer.”

Psycho: an iconic Alfred Hitchcock film

Psychosis It is, simply, the quintessential definition of horror cinema. His shower scene and soundtrack by the great Bernard Herrmann, are icons to study at film universities. If you are one of those who appreciate good black and white cinema, the best option is undoubtedly this work based on the novel by Robert Bloch.

There are many interpretations that arise from Psychosis, but one of them could be a cautionary tale about the dangers of stealing from your boss, and of course, about the danger that can be represented by sleeping in roadside motels run by a young man with a psychopathic Oedipus complex. This great masterpiece is one of the jewels of the British director, which still retains its power. It gets under your skin and gets on your nerves.

Jaws: the horror classic in the water

There has been a lot of influence from that generation of New American Cinema on genre cinema, in addition to music. In Spielberg's case, he left us Shark, a reinvention of the genre. Everything in the film is magnificent, from the direction, the story itself and the dialogues, to the genius soundtrack John Williams, also going through the legendary special effects. It is considered the first summer Blockbuster in history and precursor of the so-called shark cinema. This unquestionable classic won 3 Oscars and was even nominated for the Best Picture award. Williams won the Oscar for his incredible score.

Who invented horror music?

At the beginning of the 20th century, at a time when a new art called cinema was beginning to be introduced into society, the Austrian doctor Ernst Moro discovered that the only completely innate fear in human beings, apart from the fear of falling, is the fear of loud noises. Previously and until today, throughout time composers have identified a series of elements in music that disturb our ears and have used them as tools to make horror audiovisual projects make our hair stand on end.

The tritone – an interval of three tones that is equivalent to a diminished fifth or an augmented fourth – was called Diabolus in music (the devil in music) in the Middle Ages, because its sound was considered sinister, dissonant and unstable.

Among other sounds that "discomfort" the human ear, we find minor tonalities. In Western music, major keys are associated with positive emotions such as joy and happiness, while minor keys allude to darkness, pessimism and gloom. A good example of this is Toccata and fugue in D minor, of the baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the most famous pieces written for the organ and used widely in horror films, such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from 1931, The Black Cat of 1934, or The Phantom of the Opera of 1962, among others. We could consider Bach as a precursor of horror music.

Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, which uses the musical ornament called glissando, is also a precursor of this type of music, and has been used in films such as Children of Men by Alfonso Cuarón or series like Twin Peaks by David Lynch. In addition, there are other resources such as second and seventh intervals, used in Jaws; instruments such as the violin, the synthesizer, the waterphone and the theremin; and obviously the sound effects or foleys. The Funeral March Op. 35 of Frederic Chopin wave Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op 67, of Ludwig van Beethoven, are other antecedents.

What are the scariest songs?

The list of the most terrifying songs in the history of film music contains the songs from the aforementioned soundtrack of Dracula, by Wojciech Kilar; Nightmare Before Christmas, by Danny Elfman; Frankenstein, by Patrick Doyle; The prophecy, by Jerry Goldsmith; Coconut, by Michael Giacchino; Casper, by James Horner; either Gremlins, also by Jerry Goldsmith.

Where to celebrate Halloween with the music of the great horror classics of cinema

All these terrifying topics that we have mentioned, you can find them in the tour DRACUL from the Film Symphony Orchestra, The best horror music in concert. With DRACUL, viewers will experience the FSO's most chilling show. This tour will transport you to the most sinister corners of suspense and horror cinema, with dangerous spells and incantations, fearsome beasts, witches, devils and vampires... Prepare to be scared to death and experience a spooky Halloween night!, next 31 October at the National Auditorium in Madrid.