The Best Halloween Soundtracks to Test Your Home Theater Speakers

When we talk about great horror, we often talk about what we see. But as audiophiles, we know the real terror lies in what we hear.

A truly great horror soundtrack isn’t just a “scary song.” It’s an audio-engineered experience designed to manipulate you. The silence is as important as the scream. The score is a test of your system’s total capability from its ability to reproduce the lowest rumbles of dread to the sharpest, most piercing highs of a violin string.

Forget the party playlist. This Halloween, if you want to really push your home theater to its limits and see what your speakers are made of, these are the 10 definitive demo tracks.

Part 1: The LFE & Dynamic Range Torture Tests

These scores are designed to test your subwoofer’s power, your system’s dynamic range, and its ability to handle pure, complex, low-frequency information.

1. A Quiet Place (Parts I & II): Marco Beltrami

Why It’s a Test: This is the ultimate “silence-to-violence” demo. The film’s entire premise is built on sound, forcing your system to be dead quiet before exploding with terrifying, floor-shaking sound. This will expose any noise floor in your system and test its ability to handle sudden, massive dynamic swings without a hint of strain. Listen For: The creature’s guttural roars and thudding footsteps. These aren’t just loud; they are layered with deep, tactile LFE (Low-Frequency Effects) that you should feel as much as you hear.

2. Blade Runner 2049: Hans Zimmer & Benjamin Wallfisch

Why It’s a Test: While technically sci-fi, its oppressive, dystopian atmosphere is pure horror. This score is a low-frequency monster. It’s less a soundtrack and more a physical force, designed to test the absolute lowest limits of your subwoofers. Many systems simply can’t reproduce the sustained, subterranean notes in this mix. Listen For: The “Sea Wall” scene. It’s a world-famous subwoofer killer. If your sub isn’t just a one-note boom, you’ll hear the texture and modulation in the synth bass. If your room has rattles, this track will find them.

3. Hereditary: Colin Stetson

Why It’s a Test: This score is a sound designer’s nightmare and an audiophile’s delight. It’s not about jump scares; it’s about sustained, complex dread. Stetson’s experimental textures dig deep into the low-end while introducing unsettling brass tones and breathing effects. It reveals how well your speakers handle complex, multi-layered audio without turning it all to mud. Listen For: The buzzing, pulsating low tones that underpin the film’s most dreadful moments. See if your speakers can cleanly separate the deep synth from the saxophone’s reedy, uncomfortable texture.

Check Out: 10-Track Audio Test

Part 2: The Surround & Atmos Gurus

These tracks are all about immersion. They test your speaker placement, your receiver’s processing, and your system’s ability to create a seamless, 360-degree sound bubble.

4. The Conjuring: Joseph Bishara

Why It’s a Test: Both of our lists had this for a reason. Bishara’s score thrives on subtlety and sound design. Creaks, whispers, and sudden, sharp percussive hits are ideal for testing your system’s ability to create a sense of space and movement. A good Dolby Atmos mix here will make you check over your shoulder. Listen For: The “Hide and Clap” scene. Those two simple claps are a masterclass in surround placement. They should sound like they’re in the room with you, sharp and defined, with their echo revealing the size of the on-screen space.

5. The Shining: Wendy Carlos & Rachel Elkind

Why It’s a Test: The score is disorienting, but the real test here is the space. The sound design’s brilliance is in its use of acoustics. Your system should be able to instantly recreate the vast, menacing emptiness of the Overlook Hotel, making you feel small and exposed. Listen For: The iconic tricycle scene. This is a reference-level test for surround sound. You should hear and feel the sound change as Danny rolls from the loud, clattering hardwood floor to the muffled, quiet carpet and back again. The transition should be seamless as it pans across your room.

Part 3: The Iconic Synth Scores (Purity & Power)

Synths are a unique test. They demand midrange clarity, tight low-end control, and the ability to handle repetitive motifs without distortion or listener fatigue.

6. Halloween (1978 & 2018): John Carpenter

Why It’s a Test: We’re pairing the original and the 2018 “legacy” score because they test two different things. The 1978 original is all about minimalism and midrange purity. Its simple, analog synth tones test your system’s ability to maintain tension and detail. Listen for the subtle reverb trails—a great test for spatial imaging. The 2018 score updates this with modern LFE, testing your subwoofer’s musicality with a driving, powerful synth-bass rhythm. Listen For: The main theme on both. On the ’78 version, is the piano key sharp and clear? On the ’18 version, is the bass line tight and defined, or just a boomy mess?

7. It Follows: Disasterpeace (My Favorite)

Why It’s a Test: This is the king of modern retro-synth. It blends warm, analog-style tones with a cold, digital grit. This score will expose the texture of your sound system its ability to differentiate electronic layers and maintain detail in sustained, pounding bass tones without them bleeding into the crystalline-sharp high notes. Listen For: The opening track. It’s an immediate assault of pulsing bass and high-pitched synth. Your speakers must keep these two extremes separate and clean, creating a wide, terrifying soundscape.

8. Suspiria (1977): Goblin

Why It’s a Test: An absolute cult classic. This Italian prog-rock-meets-horror score is a complex, psychedelic, and dynamic mix. The combination of whispers, percussion, bouzoukis, and wild synth effects makes this a fantastic test for stereo imaging and soundstage. On a good system, it should sound huge, wide, and utterly unhinged. Listen For: The main theme. It’s a cacophony of sound. Can your system keep it from collapsing into itself? You should be able to pick out the individual percussion instruments and the whispering vocals, even as the synth line builds.