With Halloween less than 24 hours away we at Wired Guitarist are celebrating ahead of time by jamming our favorite music for this dark and terrifying holiday.

One classic none of us could possibly overlook is the iconic theme to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic slasher film named after – and taking place during – the holiday itself.

With the film (and its cleverly minimalistic soundtrack) being as popular as it is, it should come as no surprise that there have been an incredible amount of twists put on the theme. We’ve taken it upon ourselves to show you three of our absolute favorites in drastically varying approaches.

Just as mysterious as the music he plays, Buckethead has been an underground icon for decades, and a true enigma with an incredibly large body of work, and an incredibly large body to make his stage persona all that more ominous and curious.

Buckethead has been playing the Halloween theme for over a decade, bits and pieces here and there during sets or on home movies that circulated among his cult-like following.

What we love about his arrangement is that it takes the simple theme and stays true to its roots while utilizing interesting techniques to pull it off. The melody is easy enough to play, but he doesn’t utilize a pick whatsoever, instead, employing his right hand to tap the bass notes that accompany it.

The beauty in this version is that Buckethead lets the theme stay exactly as is, and simply transfers it to the guitar transparently. It’s something that – with a little practice – anyone can learn.


While “simple” is all fine and well, it’s certainly not a word that Jason Richardson uses very often! Staying true to form, Jason takes the simple and repetitive nature of the theme and turns it into a rollercoaster of morphing arpeggiated action.

His arrangement starts off true to form only to build up into an onslaught of upward and downward note flurries that – shockingly – fit the piece rather well. Instead of setting a creepy mood like the original it expands upon that of creating emotion. If the original theme is the soundtrack of being watched, Jason’s theme is the soundtrack of the fear, the rush of adrenaline, and the absolute insanity of seeing Michael Myers face-to-face.

Not only that, but we have to admire his efforts to recreate the movie visually, with his VCR artifacts and gorgeous lighting. His acting chops could use some work though, his face was a little emotionless if you ask me…

 

Lastly, we have kmac2021. I think you know what to expect.

In the true spirit of Halloween, kmac manages to fit the playfulness of the holiday with the horror that is our mid-2000’s emo phase. Most of us may be prog snobs and metal elitists now, but nothing could truly be more terrifying than our past Myspace profiles. Well played, kmac. Well played…

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