JOHN CARPENTER

– ‘Halloween: Expanded Edition’
– Available on various 12” special vinyl editions
– Out Oct 18 via Sacred Bones

To celebrate Halloween 2019, Sacred Bones have announced ‘Halloween: Expanded Edition’, set for release on a series of special limited edition vinyl this October 18th.

2018’s ‘Halloween’, directed by David Gordon Green, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, and with music by series creatorJohn Carpenter (along with his son and godson, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies) was a critical and box-office smash. It grossed $159 million against a $10 million budget, becoming the most profitable Halloween movie since the 1978 original. The soundtrack album was a hit, too, debuting at #12 on the Billboard Albums chart and #2 on the vinyl chart, on its way to becoming one of the most successful movie soundtracks of the last decade. One year later, Sacred Bones Records is pleased to present an expanded edition of the soundtrack, including more than 28 additional minutes of music from the film and presenting a more complete, immersive listening experience.

Watch the trailer:https://youtu.be/13ge9N_jZ44

The additional material included on the expanded edition adds a total of 24 cues to the album, spread across two more sides of vinyl on the deluxe double LP version. The LP also has all-new art and lavish packaging, including an optical-illusion lenticular sleeve that makes the flames around Michael Myers’s mask dance when you slide it off the record jacket (demo here). For diehard fans of the Halloween series, collectors of John Carpenter’s music, or anyone who wants to hear even more of the incredible score to this movie, this expanded edition is a must-buy.

12” vinyl formats will include:
– Main Version: LP1 Orange / LP2 Black – 7500 copies
– Red & Yellow Flicker (Vinyl Me Please Exclusive)  – 500 copies
– Neon Orange (F.Y.E. Exclusive) – 500 copies
– Pool of Blood (Bull Moose Exclusive) – 400 copies
– Orange-in-Clear inset w/ Black Splatter (Newbury Comics Exclusive) – 500 copies
– Orange w/ Black Splatter (Waxwork Exclusive) – 1000 copies
– Glow in the Dark Splatter (SB Mailorder Exclusive) – 1000 copies
– Blue w/ Red Splatter (Sacred Bones Record Society Exclusive) – 150 copies
– Orange & Silver Starburst (Discogs Exclusive) – 500 copies
Lenticular sleeve demo here. 

Track list:

1. Intro (1:15)
2. Aaron Meets Michael (2:39)
3. Halloween Theme (3:02)
4. Laurie’s Theme (0:45)
5. Aaron and Dana Enter Laurie’s Compound (1:03)
6. Laurie’s Past (1:07)
7. Prison Montage (2:47)
8. Laurie Breaks Down (1:26)
9. Karen’s Flashback (0:43)
10. Lumpy Explores Crash (0:35)
11. Michael Kills (0:34)
12. Hawkins Arrives at Crash Site (1:30)
13. Dana’s in the
14. Shower (0:38)
15. The Story of Judith’s Death (0:56)
16. The Gas Station (1:16)
17. Michael Kills Again (3:45)
18. Gas Station Aftermath (1:04)
19. The Shape Returns (3:31)
20. The Boogeyman (1:06)
21. The Shape Kills (0:51)
22. Hawkins Called to Babysitter’s House (2:10)
23. Laurie Sees the Shape (1:13)
24. Babysitter Aftermath (0:48)
25. Sartain Meets Laurie (1:03)
26. Looking for Allyson (1:06)
27. Wrought Iron Fence (0:48)
28. The Shape Hunts Allyson (0:59)
29. Talking to Cops (0:32)
30. Allyson Discovered (1:26)
31. Gun Closet (1:02)
32. Halloween Theme (I’ve Got Eyes) (0:44)
33. Sartain’s Gone Mad (2:54)
34. Say Something (3:03)
35. Through the Woods (1:07)
36. Ray’s Goodbye (1:40)
37. The Shape Attacks Laurie (0:37)
38. The Shape is Monumental (1:59)
39. Searching for the Shape (0:48)
40. Mannequin Panic (0:50)
41. Death Drum (1:23)
42. The Shape and Laurie Fight (1:56)
43. The Grind (1:53)
44. Trap the Shape (2:11)
45. The Shape Burns (1:32)
46. Halloween Triumphant (7:29)

About the soundtrack:
The soundtrack pays homage to the classic ‘Halloween’ score that Carpenter composed and recorded in 1978, when he forever changed the course of horror cinema and synthesizer music with his low-budget masterpiece. Several new versions of the iconic main theme serve as the pulse of Green’s film, its familiar 5/4 refrain stabbing through the soundtrack like the Shape’s knife. The rest of the soundtrack is just as enthralling, incorporating everything from atmospheric synth whooshes to eerie piano-driven pieces to skittering electronic percussion. While the new score was made with a few more resources than Carpenter’s famously shoestring original, its musical spirit was preserved.

“We wanted to honor the original Halloween soundtrack in terms of the sounds we used,” Davies explained. “We used a lot of the Dave Smith OB-6, bowed guitar, Roland Juno, Moog, Roland System 1, Roland System 8, different guitar pedals, mellotron, and piano.”

Unlike the ‘Lost Themes’ albums, where the composers wrote the soundtracks for imaginary movies, ‘Halloween ‘saw the Carpenters and Davies collaborating on music set to images for the first time. Though it marked a significant change from their previous creative process, the trio thrived under the constraints and tight deadlines that film scoring work demands.

“Being limited by the length of time in scoring the sequence, we focused on the director’s tempo, timing, and vision,”Davies said. “He would tell us what he had in mind, how long the cue should be, what emotion he wanted, and we would take it from there. It’s only the three of us, there is no elaborate system. We wrote, performed, and orchestrated everything.”

For John Carpenter, who reunited on the new film with original ‘Halloween’ star Jamie Lee Curtis, composing the score felt like a homecoming. Not only had he not worked on a ‘Halloween’ movie in 35 years, he hadn’t composed a soundtrack since his 2001 sci-fi thriller ‘Ghosts of Mars’. “It was great,” Carpenter said of the experience. “It was transforming. It was not a movie I directed, so I had a lot of freedom in creating the score and getting into the director’s head. I was proud to serve David Gordon Green’s vision.”

For Cody Carpenter, John’s son, and Davies, his godson, it was surreal to work on something that means so much to generations of fans, and that they grew up around. “It was an honor for us to be involved, and we are really happy to be a part of something that so many people are anticipating and excited about,” Davies said. “Working together with both the director of the new Halloween and the creator of the original Halloween was really a fantastic experience.”