Halloween II : Soundtrack (Death Waltz Records) 1981

halloween2

Trick or treat. I was trying to phonetically write out the sound the ‘dark’ synthesizers gracing the score of John Carpenter’s Halloween II, but it just became too ridiculous. But, you know, feel free to give it a spin in the comments. Death Waltz Records specializes in vinyl reissues of classic soundtracks/scores from the realms of horror, sci-fi, and beyond. Their reissue of Halloween II is housed on (appropriate) orange vinyl. Label notes, below.

“John Carpenter and (composer) Alan Howarth managed to take the blueprint of the first film’s score and make it bigger, darker and nerve shreddingly intense. Synths wail and stutter as the score progresses to the point where you feel your head might implode from the oncoming onslaught. This score really should be played late at night with all of the lights out.”

The soundtrack is presently sold out, but I do have an extra copy for AD readers. To enter, leave a comment with your favorite Halloween music: album, soundtrack, sound design, whatever.

John Carpenter/Alan Howarth :: Halloween II Theme

93 thoughts on “Halloween II : Soundtrack (Death Waltz Records) 1981

  1. Excellent! I’m really into Darkside’s new album “Psychic,” that was just released the other day. Perfect timing- dark and spooky, I could see it in a Lynch film. And of course every Halloween I rediscover my love for the Misfits.

  2. my favorite is anything by jerry goldsmith, especially his work on poltergeist. gets me every time

  3. I’m a huge fan of the Halloween franchise. The original theme song is killer (hey-oh!), but Halloween III’s synthy goodness is pretty fucking rad too.

    That said, please please please. I’ll even take you on a tour of all of the filming locations from the original film.

  4. One of my favorite albums to listen to at Halloween is The Evil One by Roky Erickson & The Aliens.

  5. it’s fairly recent, but umberto’s prophecy of the black widow album is a staple during this time of year

  6. Lonesome Wyatt & The Holy Spooks new mini-LP “HALLOWEEN IS HERE” which they describe as “a terrifying tribute to all those strange and obscure Halloween albums from the 1950s to the 1980s. It contains twelve spooky stories and monstrous sing-a-longs for your unholy holiday party at the local insane asylum.” With beautiful artwork on orange vinyl (10″). My current favorite Halloween album.

  7. Love all of Carpenter’s scoring work (Halloween 1 &2, They Live, The Thing, etc), but Christopher Young’s Hellraiser theme is a favorite as well. So hard to pick a favorite!

  8. Technically, THIS ALBUM is my favorite Halloween music to listen to (minority opinion: I prefer this film’s synth-chunked take on the original Carpenter theme); that said, if I had to select another/others:

    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2 soundtrack (The Cramps! Oingo Boingo! Lords of the New Church!),

  9. Even though its not a “horror” film, John Carpenters synth soundtrack to Assault on Precinct 13 freaks me out every time i hear it.

  10. goblin’s “suspiria” is a fave, as is the overall soundtrack to kubrick’s “the shining”

  11. I’m going to second Broadcast & The Focus Group’s Witch Cults of the Radio Age. That’s always been a Halloween favourite for me as well. And the “spookier” stuff on Finders Keepers and Ghost Box always seems to come out in full force for me around this time too.

    Death Waltz is on fire. Can’t wait for Assault on Precinct 13.

  12. I would have to say listening to the glow in the dark Poltergeist LP late at night in a dark basement is a great way to add some spook in your life.

  13. I mix a playlist of the “Halloween” original soundtrack, Goblin’s music, Tubular Bells, and select organ works of Bach (specifically BWV 564, of course, and 542 – it’s a monster, pun intended). I compose my own music for this purpose as well. I’d add this album to the playlist, naturally.

  14. My own Halloween Mix of course. Everything from A (Ain’t Superstitious) to Z
    (I walked with a Zombie)

  15. I really love all of the Jonny Greenwood soundtrack work. Some other favorites are the first three OMD albums.

  16. The ‘ohhhh Lover!’ in Steve King’s ‘Satan is Her Name’ has always done it for me.

  17. Ain’t no bout adoubt it, the soundtrack to The Shining is a stone classic. Scared myself stupid one early morning listening in my Buick LeSabre’s tight minidisc player. I was driving up the far western North Carolina mountains at 2:30 AM, fog thick as molasses, scared I’m gonna run off the road and straight down to Badsville, and that opening BAH BUM BAH BUMMMMMM is blasting. Just then an owl with a wingspan I swear must have been 200 feet lands right in front of my car (I was travelling bout 15 mph). I slam on the brakes and wonder if I was always, in fact, the Caretaker, and that owl took off. I finally started up again 15 minutes later. Sweet Baby Jesus, that was some scare.

  18. Silent Hill 3 Video Game Soundtrack – I love atmospheric, moody sounds around Halloween, and this gives me the feel of driving around the dark forested mountains of coal country Pennsylvania, my favorite October location.

    But I’ve now found something else that fits really well – THE HAXAN CLOAK!! Amazing, dark, creepy, atmospheric dread!

  19. Dracula by MMW and just listened to morphine by trentemoller and could picture being killed to that. Also I found my love by Riton is creepy in a dancy kinda way.

  20. The soundtrack to Brian DePalma’s “Sisters”, composed by Bernard Herrmann. Found an original pressing at Amoeba on a trip to L.A. a couple of years ago.

  21. Its corny, but I’m a sucker for the Monster Mash. Kids in my neighborhood get subjected to the Monster Mash on repeat all night on Halloween.

  22. I use Fantomas’ Deliviurum Cordia to scare all the trick or treaters. I put in on a loud speaker from the top bedroom and it fills the neighborhood.

  23. Umberto – The Prophecy of The Black Widow has synthesizers that reflect a shimmering pool of recently spilled blood, and a pounding beat that aptly provides as an anamnesis for those nightmares where you find yourself running down a hall that continually stretches further and further away from you as you’re being chased down by the dark corners of your mind.

  24. John Zacherley and Bob McFadden are both great! If you arent familiar and you like Halloween music, you gotta check it out! Sheldon Alleman’s ‘Sing Along with Drac’ is also excellent. As far as soundtrack stuff goes, Fabio Frizzi’s ‘Zombi 2’ and I forget the composer, but the score for ‘Blue Sunshine’ is super eerie and great.

  25. HALLOWEEN III is my favourite – Carpenter and Howarth present such a palpable sense of dread, it adds a lot to the film. Also the Silver Shamrock jingle is greatness.

  26. “Metal Machine Music” by Lou Reed
    “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” by Genesis
    “Welcome to My Nightmare” by Alice Cooper

  27. It a toss up between Nightmare on Elm St 3:Dream Warriors by Dokken or those awesome sound effects the neighborhood folks would play in their front yards when I trick-or-treated as a kid- yknow, chains rattling, spooky cats, coffin creaks, maniac laughing/screaming…

  28. The theme tune to count duckula, the vegetarian vampire duck. vegetarians sure are scary!

  29. I love listening to synthy 80s horror soundtracks. I’m a huge fan of Deadly Spawn and Terrorvision. They’re great because there’s the familiar creepiness but in a different tone than you’re used to.

  30. Cool!!!! thanks for the chance to win
    I like to listen to LUCIFER RISING OTS
    on Halloween

  31. Lots of great suggestions here. I would add that the last two Flaming Lips records both do a pretty good job of setting a spooky mood.

  32. I like to put on some Tanya Tagaq – she’s a Inuk throat singer from Nunavut, Canada. It’s great and spooky sounding!

  33. Goblin’s Suspiria soundtrack is a very good choice, but, for me, it’s the soundtrack to season 1 of “Twin Peaks” by Angelo Badalamenti; it literally still gives me the willies every time I listen to it.

  34. Eery year around this time I start thinking about compiling a new Halloween mix, and the suggestions here will definitely provide me with some new things to add to my increasingly growing list.

    My favorite type of music for Halloween mixes is the extremely spooky stuff like Einsturzende Neubaten, Diamanda Galas, The Poetics, Harappian Night Recordings, etc.

    You can’t go wrong with these songs for a truly scary mix:

    Hasil Adkins- I Need your Head
    Tom Waits- What’s He building in There
    Tonstartssbandht- The Lake
    The Poetics- Silent Night

    For those of you looking for some of my Halloween mixes and rareHalloween records, you can can find them at the following link:

    http://eclectic-grooves.blogspot.com/search/label/Halloween

    Best, Kevin

  35. Halloween for me always meant going to see Oingo Boingo. Not particularly scary or creepy (except to a few of my evangelical Xian or LDS friends) but nevertheless, it’s still the soundtrack.

    Were I to go with something more intense, it’d probably be The Swans’ live record, “Omniscience”

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