For me a Halloween playlist is as much about an autumnal atmosphere as it is about the supernatural. It’s my favourite time of year, poised as it is between two seasons and two worlds.

In trying to think about different aspects of horror, the supernatural and the season, I’ve cast about widely across eras and styles. So we go from Morricone nudey witch horror to the lightly delivered blood-soaked nightmare of Alasdair Roberts’ traditional ballad. There’s the stark 80s kosmische weirdness of Axxess and the deep-rooted childhood scares of The Tomorrow People and Children of the Stones themes. Similarly Ron Grainer’s oddly Latin-inflected theme to Tales of the Unexpected is an obvious choice perhaps, but I think it’s an absolute masterpiece of TV music. Alva’s spooked prayer against the dark contrasts with the breezy and fey ‘Queen of the Moonlight World’ and the darker, more delicate Mittel-European beauty of Lubos Fisher’s music to the film Valerie and her Week of Wonders.

Full playlist (listen below):

1. ‘Belbury Poly Logotone B’ by Belbury Poly
2. ‘Dies Irae Psichedelico’ by Ennio Morricone
3. ‘Long Lankin’ by Alasdair Roberts & Friends
4. ‘Heksenkring’ by Elly & Rickert
5. ‘Children Of The Stones’ theme by The Ambrosia Singers
6. ‘Kissing The Desert Ghost’ by Axxess
7. ‘The Tomorrow People’ theme by Dudley Simpson
8. ‘The Bells Of Paradise’ by Alva
9. ‘Queen Of The Moonlight World’ by Andy Roberts
10. ‘And The Last’ by Lubos Fisher
11. ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’ by Ron Grainer
12. ‘Logotone II – The New Traffic Signs’ by The Advisory Circle