Spooky Halloween sounds that aren’t the theremin

​​Whether listening to a scary movie’s ominous background music or your favorite Halloween songs, there are some pretty creepy-sounding instruments out there. Everyone always thinks of the theremin around Halloween, but here are some more archaic instruments you might not have heard of but have listened to without knowing what they were.

Waterphone

No, this isn’t the preferred communication device of Aquaman. This instrument uses water to generate spooky sounds, but that’s not where the name comes from. Named after its inventor, Richard Waters, the waterphone was originally used to call orcas off of Canada’s western coast in the 1970s. Over the years, it has been featured in such films as Poltergeist, Aliens and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to name a few, providing a grating, eerie and haunting sound when struck with a mallet or dragged with a bow.

Pipe organ

Admit it, when you hear someone going to town on a pipe organ, it gives you the willies, doesn’t it? This ancient instrument’s sound goes hand-in-hand with Halloween specials and films, providing a jarring, chaotic sound that is also beautiful in a way. Perhaps it’s the solitary organist playing at night in a gothic cathedral that pairs this instrument well with the macabre — after all, the Phantom of the Opera was first published in 1908 and helped create the mystique of this elusive figure of the night. The pipe organ also achieved its status as a dark instrument thanks to Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor,” which has been a cinematic staple for the horror genre since the 1930s when it was featured in

The Apprehension
Engine creates
ominous sounds that have been used in recent horror films like The Witch and The Lighthouse. Courtesy photo.

. It achieved new fame when Captain Nemo famously played the pipe organ at night as his crew floated through the abyss in the 1954 film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Blaster beam

If you’ve seen a horror film, you’ve heard the blaster beam, even if you have no idea what it is. It’s a huge, stringed electrical instrument that is anywhere from 12-18 feet long and has about 24 piano strings and pickups. It has an ominous and bass-heavy alien-like sound, giving a perfect eerie backdrop that helps give audiences an unsettling feeling. It’s been featured in countless films over the years, including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Ondes Martenot

Used to create the high vibrato sounds in films like Ghostbusters and There Will Be Blood, the ondes Martenot is an old electronic instrument that was invented during the First World War. The odd sounds are generated using an oscillator, which gives the tone an uneasy quality, making it perfect for the scary season.

The keyboard instrument is named after its inventor, Maurice Martenot, who took inspiration from the theremin and organ to create his instrument.

Apprehension Engine

Originally designed by Tony Duggan-Smith, the Apprehension Engine is one of the more unique instruments on this list. It’s essentially a workstation in the shape of a piano with all sorts of wooden planks, rubber extensions, springs, metallic bars and magnets coming out of the cabinet in fixed positions, all attached to a pickup that captures the slightest touch and converts it to sound.

To play the Apprehension Engine, one simply drags a bow or other object across the surface of any part of the instrument, and a screeching drone of horror results. It looks like a lot of fun to play, and you can even make your own if you’re capable. It certainly helped give films like The Witch and The Lighthouse a surreal sound that echoes long after you turn off the screen and try to sleep.