Spooky Synths: 5 Creepy Synthesizers for Halloween
Chilling tones from Sequential, Cherry Audio, Moog, and more.
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Turn up the scary vibes with these spooky synths that are perfect for horror movie and game soundtracks, or just for creeping out the neighborhood.
Spooky Synths
Ah, Halloween. The most wonderful time of the year. You can keep your Christmas. I’d much rather take to the streets dressed as a monster while the sounds of spooky synths fill the air. I mean, it has to be synthesizers, doesn’t it? Ever since cash-strapped independent filmmakers started using synths in their horror soundtracks in the late 1970s, the entire genre – hell, the idea of terror in general – has become associated with synths. From the steady analog pulse of a John Carpenter film to the modern reinterpretation of Stranger Things, it’s synths all the way down and under the ground.
To get in the mood for Halloween – or really any day, as every day is Halloween, after all – here are five spooky synths along with some of the movies and TV shows that they’ve soundtracked.
Many of the instruments mentioned in this article are available at Thomann*.
Spooky Synths: Sequential Prophet-5
Few people have done more to associate synthesizers with horror films than John Carpenter. The son of a musician, he turned to synths as the most expedient way to get a big sound in his movies for not a lot of money. He’s used a lot of different instruments over the years, including a big Moog Modular on Assault on Precinct 13, but the one that he’s perhaps most associated with is the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, which he (along with Alan Howarth) put to terrifying use on soundtracks like Halloween II, Christine, and Escape From New York.
Sequential re-released the Prophet-5 in 2020, along with the Prophet-10, a single-manual version of the 10-voice poly (also present in Howarth’s studio, Pi West). With its two oscillators, famous filter (with two alternate versions on the modern remake), and the Poly Mod section for dialing in some scary FM and pulse width modulation, the stage is set for synthesis of a spooky kind.
Spooky Synths: ARP Quadra
Another spooky synth that featured on the soundtracks for Halloween II and Escape From New York is the ARP Quadra. Part of the late ‘70s era of super string machines, the ARP Quadra featured four sections (as you might expect from the name): bass, strings, poly synthesizer, and lead synthesizer. In the days before multitimbrality, this let you get a full sound from a single instrument. And, since it was made by ARP, it all sounded amazing, with strings from the Omni and a mono synth reminiscent of the Solus. Throw in that creamy phaser, and it’s 1978 in a box.
If you’re after the Carpenter Quadra sound yourself and don’t want to have to sell your car to afford it, the good people at Cherry Audio have emulated it as only they can. More than just a slavish recreation, Quadra offers improvements like increased transposition ranges for most of the instrument sections, additional waveforms in the synthesizers, and new effects to accompany the 14-stage phaser.
Spooky Synths: UJAM Usynth Stranger
When Stranger Things debuted on Netflix in 2016, it reinvigorated the use of the synthesizer in soundtracks. One part synthwave, and one part Carpenter-esque horror soundtrack, Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon’s music helped the world fall in love with spooky synths all over again.
The pair used a number of amazing synths on the show, including a Sequential Prophet-6, an ARP 2600 and Odyssey, and a Korg Mono/Poly, among many others. If you’d rather work in the box, software company UJAM offers a quick way to get similar sounds without the need for a studio full of gear (or the associated expense). Called Stranger, it’s part of the Usynth series of sounds. It features dark and otherworldly synth textures put together by sound designer Alessandro Cardinale.
The best part is it’s on sale until 2 November for $5.00.
Spooky Synths: Classic Theremins
Horror and science fiction movies had been using electronic sounds to frighten audiences long before synthesizers were even invented. Take Bebe and Louis Barron’s groundbreaking score for Forbidden Planet in 1956, which used primitive electronic circuits and analog tape to create its otherworldly sonic texture. And then there’s the theremin, whose eerie sounds found their way into films like Spellbound and The Thing From Another World.
Moog’s Theremini is a continuation of the company’s long history with theremins (Bob Moog made them before he took on synthesizers). The instrument offers assistive pitch correction to quantize notes and make playing easier for beginners. There’s also a visual tuner to help with hand position, plus a number of different sounds and scales to work with.
If you’d rather have something a little more experimental, check out Stylophone’s take on the instrument. The Stylophone Theremin does away with the volume wand, leaving your non-pitch-waving hand free to play with the pitch slider and effects parameters.
Spooky Synths: Eternal Research Demon Box
For the last of our spooky synth recommendations, it has to be the Demon Box. A freaky and demonic instrument from Eternal Research, it turns electromagnetic fields into music, the kind that you could definitely hear in a horror movie or video game.
“Using a proprietary system of inductors to translate EMF into sound, Demon Box can play anything from a cell phone to a hairdryer, process this signal, and make it musical,” the promotional material explains. Basically, you wave an electrical device over it and it changes the electromagnetic field into sound that you can then affect with panning, phasing, and effects layering.
It’s an utterly unique device that’s perfect for scary sound design. There’s also a code that lets you get the Demon Box for $100 off. The sale has been extended until 5 December, so no worries if you’re too busy trick or treating to buy before October is over. Use the code DEMON33 at checkout at the Eternal Research webshop.
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