The leaves are turning, the ghouls and the goblins are getting ready to stalk the streets, and as much as I love ‘The Monster Mash’, there’s only one piece of music, one composer who captures the season just right, John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween Theme’. That driving beat, the piano-like chords coming fast and furious, isn’t that just like the season itself?

From the moment Carpenter arrived on the scene, he involved himself with all aspects of his films. And his directorial work is equalled and sometimes surpassed by the scores he delivers for those films. His score for Village of the Damned and Ghosts of Mars are perfect examples of this.

Eschewing a whole orchestra, Carpenter often pairs himself with Alan Howarth and delivers an almost minimalist score that leans into synths, bass guitars, piano and percussion. Just check out the themes for In the Mouth of Madness and Big Trouble in Little China as prime examples.

There is a sense that anything can happen. An improvisation to his scores even as the main themes resurface throughout his work. The bass rumble that accentuates the advancing evil in The Prince of Darkness. The bluesy, almost western-tinged amble of the They Live theme. The music feels impulsive, conjured on the fly which lends the visual aspects of the film a heightened reality.

While the minimalist style remains throughout his career, the sense of improvisation recedes in later films, even when he revisits familiar themes as we hear in the new Halloween Trilogy (2018 – 2022). He feels more structured and organized while still delivering his unique, and increasingly imitated, sound.

His scores catch the feeling of his films. And each time, he delivers the excitement and foreboding usually with a synth or keyboard dominated by chords on a bass guitar and a playful percussion. He mostly goes for the cool, adventurous themes of Escape From New York and Big Trouble in Little China. (Although the less said about the song title of the same name that closes out the film the better). ‘Porkchop Express’ finds a way to repeat on my playlist constantly. But he can also go for the unnerving piano keys of The Fog and Halloween.

I have a Carpenter playlist composed of his film music that works so well when I’m reading a horror novel. The combination of words and music just really gets under the skin and makes for a very vivid reading experience. But that’s the same with Carpenter’s films. It’s about the perfect combination of visuals and sounds and whether his films work, his scores always come through.

Sure you could dive into the Halloween scores this spooky season, but dig a little deeper, play in The Fog, delve into The Prince of Darkness. Carpenter’s scores work. They are atmospheric work when separated from their visual partner, and prove that Carpenter isn’t just a horror auteur, but a rockin’ composer.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to listen to Carpenter jam out with his scores to In the Mouth of Madness and Vampires. And honestly, the Prince of Darkness soundtrack (again – that one just rocks).