They’re creepy and they’re kooky, Mysterious and spooky. They’re all together ooky – sorry, it’s not the Addam’s Family this time. It’s a list of shockingly scary songs for your next haunted house party.
A lot of these murderous melodies do come from soundtracks. Classic horror films and television shows knew how to work up a fright, though there are some truly terrifying modern cuts on our list. Whether it’s Halloween season, or you just need a good hour of unnerving noise, give this scary music playlist a spin.
Related
10 Songs About Sailing | 20 Songs About Trains | 20 Songs About Diamonds | 20 Songs About Blue Eyes | 15 Celebration Songs | 10 Songs About Kissing | 10 Songs About Dogs | 10 Songs About Cats
Unsolved Mysteries TV Theme
True Crime has never been so eerie. From cold cases to paranormal activity, Unsolved Mysteries gave surreal TV fans 14 seasons of fun across 23 years and four networks. It’s thrilling theme is late-’80s synth perfection. It’s got echoing drums, haunting faux-organ and lots of spooky string action. You might even find yourself dancing the ghost to its freaky rhythm.
Theme From A Nightmare on Elm Street
We have composer Charles Bernstein to thank for this ambiently-alien theme to Wes Craven’s horror classic. It’s 100 percent pure nightmarish noise, setting a super-scary mood for scarred teenage killer Freddy Kruger to make his appearance. Rolling bass synths never relent, which conjures a creepy tone from start to finish, insuring you never quite get a grip on waking reality.
Halloween Soundtrack – “Main Title”
Any scary songs list without a cut from John Carpenter‘s catalog is downright wrong. Half the appeal of this filmmaker’s movies is his self-composed soundtracks. His sinister style changed the game of horror movies forever, as did this 1978 slasher classic, lighting a fire for sex-crazed teenage murderers that gave the late ’70s some of its best thrillers.
Psycho (The Complete Original Soundtrack) – “The Murder”
It may be the most famous minute in slasher history. Legendary writer and director Alfred Hitchcock demanded that his frequent collaborator Bernard Herrmann write this 1960 score, and it’s been highly-regarded as one of Herrman’s best. Screeching strings mimic the stabbing motion of Norman Bate’s first and most famous kill. Hitchcock also demanded that no one be allowed into the theater late, so they wouldn’t miss this bloodiest and most shocking scene.
Stranger Things Theme
Speaking of great ’80s horror composers, Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon – aka synth duo S U R V I V E – tapped into Carpenter’s vibe when tapped to style the soundtrack to Netflix hyper-hit Stranger Things. It’s all eerie electronics and heartbeat drums for this minute-long melody. This theme, much like the show itself, was an overnight sensation.
The Twilight Zone Theme
You are now entering a dimension as vast as space and as limitless as infinity. What you are about to hear can only be described as ghoulishly groovy. It’s the original theme song to The Twilight Zone, and it’s got a lot more surf guitar than you probably remember. It’s also mad chill, actually. We’d love to be invited to this beastly backyard BBQ.
Curse of Chucky Soundtrack – “Main Title (Chucky Theme)”
What started terrorizing children (and adults) in 1988 never died, and in 2013, Chucky gave us this blood-curdling theme for Curse of Chucky. The sixth installment in the franchise saw a return to the straightforward horror, as opposed to the camp humor that has begun creeping into the sequels. This theme sets that foundation with tinkling toy noises just unsettling enough to give you shivers.
The Ring Soundtrack – “The Well”
Looking for an 11-minute nightmare that never seems to end? “The Well,” intro sequence from 2002 super horror hit The Ring hits all those evil notes. Hans Zimmer was one of the hands behind this gradual, sonic ghost story. There is a lot more clawing tension than outright bumps in the night, but you’ll be uncomfortable and uneasy until it finishes. Good luck when that phone rings.
Daniel Davies – “Shadows Alive”
Fear not, horror fanatics. Events is not some underground flick you slept on. It’s simply the soundtrack to an imaginary film from Daniel Davies, song of The Kink‘s Dave Davies and godson to, yes, John Carpenter. This Davies helped Carpenter with a lot of his more modern works, and on his 2018 album Events Score, he concocts his own creepy themes – they just don’t actually pair with any real movies. Care to take up the challenge?
John Zorn – “Forbidden Fruit”
Here’s another meandering mind-freak for ya. At more than 10 minutes in length, “Forbidden Fruit” aims to absolutely mess you up. It begins with clashing orchestral splatters, moves into moody sounds with a Japanese monologue, and then it’s back to the mad jazz freeform with hints of flamenco, scratch DJing, classical and all manner of wtf-is-going-on. Composer John Zorn was known for dabbling in a bit of everything. Here is the proof.