Halloween Music

In order to extend the mood of a holiday, immersion needs to be total. You must see, hear, smell, taste, & feel the experience to know that the holiday is happening. For Halloween, my music collection goes far beyond spooky sounds and “Monster Mash”. We have numerous CDs that deepen the experience. The fun time of Danny Elfman’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” soundtrack may be countered by Manheim Steamroller’s “Halloween”. There are several groups, Midnight Syndicate and Nocturna Pax, which have wonderous, glorious sounds of the season. Some of the soundtracks for movies are excellent as well. Some of the organ music is hypnotic and grand.

I start the repetoire somewhere near a decent interval – 31 days of Halloween seems reasonable. (I also have autumn CDs that start around the Autumnal Equinox – thank you, Chip Davis) I play the music while decorating outside and inside and it really helps with setting the mood. Once again, we don’t do scary so we stay away from the effects CDs because there are screams and other stuff that don’t work. An occasional werewolf howl or crow cawing is okay and some of the music has those effects woven in to them already. If there is to be a party, then we do the mixes with the “fun” stuff: “Monster Mash”, “Thriller”, and such. Once again, it simply helps set the mood and deepens the immersion into the holiday.