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5 New Records In Time For Halloween

Halloween is right around the corner and while you’re thinking about your costume, your pet’s costume and getting ready for parades, parties, and an onslaught of trick or treaters, some spooky music may help you get in the mood. Here are five new records — all of which come on colored vinyl — that can transform your listening library into more of a House of Wax.

Stranger Things: Halloween Sounds from the Upside Down
S U R V I V E's Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein offer up the most unsettling atmospheric moments of their 'Stranger Things' score

Sound effects records of ghosts and goblins and creaky doors not cutting it anymore? Stranger Things composers and S U R V I V E members Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein have the answer. Halloween Sounds from the Upside Down features ominous and unsettling atmospheric tracks from Stranger Things that might have some thinking twice about ringing your doorbell. ”Hide some speakers in your bushes, play this record, and scare those trick or treaters,” say Kyle and Michael. Originally released as an iTunes bonus album from the Stranger Things S2 soundtrack, it’s available October 26 on pumpkin-orange vinyl, or you can wait until shortly after Halloween 2018 and try to score one of the limited picture disc versions coming out on Black Friday Record Store Day.

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - "Halloween" 12"
Trent & Atticus' take on John Carpenter's iconic theme now on wax, with the original on the flip

“I clearly remember my friends and I at thirteen years old conning our parents into letting us see Halloween when it came out in 1978,” says Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor. “We left the theater forever changed. We were damaged and scarred, with the shit genuinely scared out of us and that theme stuck firmly in our heads. John Carpenter, it’s your fault that I turned out the way I did.” Trent went on to become a successful film composer, with partner and NIN member Atticus Ross, and paid respect to Carpenter by doing their own version of the Halloween theme in 2017. Giving it an even moodier, dread-filled take, it’s a killer version of the iconic theme. Originally just a digital single, it’s now available as a 12″ single with Carpenter’s 2017 Anthology version on the flipside, on your choice of black or orange vinyl. It’s out 10/26, via Sacred Bones.

Meanwhile, John Carpenter‘s original score to the new Halloween movie is out October 19 (on black/orange vinyl) via Sacred Bones. You can stream that in full below too.


Bauhaus - In the Flat Field &
Quintessential goth group's entire catalog is getting reissued for their 40th anniversary

Bauhaus are arguably the quintessential goth band and their debut single “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” is one of the indisputable classics of the genre. The group are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, and while they’re not getting back together like they did for their 20th, they are reissuing all their albums on vinyl. The first (and best) two — 1980’s In The Flat Field (on gold vinyl) and 1981’s Mask (on yellow vinyl) — are out October 26, and all but created the template for what we think of as goth music. Tracks like “Double Dare,” “Stigmata Martyr,” “The Passion of Lovers” and “Kick in the Eye” still sound fierce and ominous, sure to liven up any Halloween party.

The one thing neither of these records have is “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” but you can get that on The Bela Session EP which is out 11/23, and the “Tomb Raider Mix” is on best of comp Crackle which is out on 12/7.

suspiria-vinyl
Thom Yorke - Suspira Soundtrack
The Radiohead frontman's score to the remake of Dario Argento's phantasmagoric horror classic

Suspiria is a tough act to beat, both Dario Argento’s classic 1977 horror film and Goblin’s unforgettable, genuinely freaky score. But here we are with an anticipated remake by Oscar-nominated director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) which features a score by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. Thom smartly didn’t try to mimic Goblin’s phantasmagoric prog, opting instead for moody electronic atmosphere, and chilly piano and strings. The soundtrack, which is out 10/26 on hot pink vinyl, is a mix of interludes and instrumentals from his score, and pieces with more traditional song structures like “Suspirum” and “Has Ended.”



Hellbound: Hellraiser II 30th Anniversary edition
Put the needle on the record for Pinhead's return

Christopher Young has been one of the most in-demand composers in horror (and film in general) for 30-plus years and his work on the first two Hellraiser films certainly helped seal that reputation. His score for the original Hellraiser received a 30th anniversary reissue last year and the bombastic Hellbound: Hellraiser II score from 1988 was just released as a deluxe, 30th edition as well. It was painstakingly remastered from the original 24-track, 2-inch analog tapes and is available on translucent red and black smoke vinyl. It’s a great and spooky listen that holds up, with or without Pinhead on the screen.