How can music be so beautiful when it’s set to scenes of murder and mayhem? When it comes to horror movies, you’d imagine the music should always be fear-inducing terror tunes—but that isn’t always the case. Many of these haunted soundtracks provide some of the most sublime symphonies to complement such sadistic themes. With a vast ocean of macabre melodies I could summon, I’ll stick to a solid few that always make the rounds whenever I’m in the mood for overdramatic dread.

The Fog

John Carpenter

John Carpenter’s catalog of creepy creations is one of the most prominent in horror history. While many fans might default to the gold standard of horror themes (Halloween), I tend to stray more into The Fog. It has a subtle sense of doom and gloom that completely reflects the title—feeling like you’re drowning in a musical mist that creeps around you, with its chords crawling up and down your spine.

Silent Hill

Jeff Danna & Akira Yamaoka

With many tracks lifted straight from the video games, Silent Hill compiles a masterful collection of haunted sounds and sonic elements that transport you directly into the cursed town. It’s one of those soundtracks that, whenever I hear it, I’m instantly taken back to the same despondent headspace the games left me in years ago.

Dracula

Wojciech Kilar

Funny how, after all these years, I’ve obsessed over a soundtrack by a man whose name I can never pronounce—which only adds to the evil, badass mystique. There are moments in this score that elevate Gary Oldman’s Dracula into the darkest chambers of hell, and others that serenade us with sympathy for such an iconically evil character.

It Follows

Disasterpeace

While the movie left me somewhat unfulfilled, the soundtrack stuck with me like a virus I couldn’t shake. All these years later, it remains an influential piece of music that finds its way into my playlists, no matter the season—proving that spooky vibes aren’t limited to October.

Dawn of the Dead

Goblin

Rarely do you get a horror film created by both an iconic director and a legendary composer group. Goblin, with a résumé that cements them as horror soundtrack royalty, absolutely delivers. Dawn of the Dead (or Zombi, as it’s known in the European cut) is such a stylistic score, with a chilling charisma all its own.

Candyman

Philip Glass

Philip Glass is one of my favorite composers of all time, and his work on Candyman is a haunting example of how beauty can induce crippling terror. When I first watched the movie as a teenager, it paralyzed me with fear. Even the soft notes of its piano theme would spiral me into panic, as if the hook-handed man himself was about to gut me from groin to gullet.

Sleepy Hollow

Danny Elfman

Ask any of my childhood friends who my biggest musical influence was, and chances are you’d hear Danny Elfman at the top of the list. I was, and still am, obsessively in love with his early work—but Sleepy Hollow stands above the rest. It completely embodies the atmospheric elements Elfman mastered throughout his career, wrapping the film in gothic elegance.

Interview With the Vampire

Elliot Goldenthal

Without question, the gold standard of horror soundtracks in my book. This score is equal parts haunting, beautiful, terrifying, and tragic. It’s a masterclass in moody, dramatic composition that perfectly captures the essence of every character. I can’t praise this work enough—words will always fall short of the brilliance Goldenthal achieved here.