Horror movie soundtracks – or any soundtrack for that matter – can make or break a film. These 11 horror films managed to completely nail the musical side of their productions, mostly thanks to clever employment of horror movie stand-bys: creepy synths and gothic rock. What’s better, they sound just as creepy without the visuals accompanying them. Put these on at your Halloween party and you are guaranteed not just to unsettle your guests, but possibly clear the room too.

Unbelievably, it only took John Carpenter three days to write the score to Halloween, and being a musician isn’t even the venerable director’s day job. Comprised of a bone-chilling piano motif and dramatic swathes of synths, the soundtrack suits the slow, suburban horror of the original slasher movie, one of Carpenter’s finest pieces of work.

With a castlist of deathrock, punk and goth groups including The Cramps, The Damned and The Flesh Eaters, the soundtrack to comedy horror Return Of The Living Dead, a semi-sequel to Night Of The Living Dead, is probably one of the coolest horror soundtracks out there. Who doesn’t want to watch a zombie invasion accompanied by the sweet rockabilly sounds of ‘Surfin’ Dead’?!

 

If you’re a fan of heavy metal, ’80s film Trick Or Treat will have you checking your record collection for monsters. The storyline revolves around a dead rocker and a hapless metalhead who invokes his murderous ghost – by playing his album backwards. It features appearances from Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons, but it’s former Motorhead guitarist Eddie Clarke whose band Fastway provide the windmill-worthy soundtrack. Perfect for adding a bit of wailing metal to fright night.