Elevate your Halloween with classier, more refined scares

FORGET the jump scares and gory props, the haunted theme parks and chaotic zombie chases, the rented costume and messy make-up. Readers of The Business Times deserve a touch of sophistication in their quest to thrill and chill. This year, elevate your Halloween with classier, more refined scares. Here are our suggestions:

Literary ghost stories

For those seeking a more intellectual scare, the resurgence of literary ghost stories is a must. Many are turning to the works of classic authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, HP Lovecraft, Lafcadio Hearn, Shirley Jackson and Edogawa Ranpo to infuse a sense of literary horror into their Halloween celebrations.

However, not many people – except the English – have heard of MR James. The author and academic was once so popular in the UK, the BBC regularly adapted his short stories into Christmas specials. Some of these adaptations are available on YouTube – just search “M R James BBC”. The best ones are A Warning To The Curious (1972), Whistle And I’ll Come To You (1968) and Lost Hearts (1973).

Whether you choose to read his short stories or watch their TV adaptations, you must practise patience. These slow-burn stories take their time to create an atmosphere of unease, before revealing their horrors.

Music of the macabre

In recent years, Candlelight classical concerts have gained tremendous popularity in this city. The musicians play their instruments in the soft, quivering glow of candlelight, which adds a touch of mystery to the music – not to mention a sense of nostalgia for a bygone era when concerts and gatherings were illuminated only by candlelight.

On Oct 31, Halloween night, Candlelight Halloween will immerse audiences in the haunting music of Tim Burton’s movies. Burton is the maestro of dark, idiosyncratic and gothic films such as Beetlejuice (1988), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Sweeney Todd (2007), a curious version of Alice In Wonderland (2010) and that popular Addams Family spin-off TV series Wednesday (2022).

The 60-minute concert will play the music from these shows, often composed by the peerless Danny Elfman, as well as other famous creepy classical pieces such as Saint-Saens’ La Danse Macabre and Bazzini’s Dance Of The Goblins.

Spine-tingling podcasts

Horror podcasts have only gotten better during the pandemic, with great dialogue, intricate plotlines and suspenseful cliffhangers that keep listeners eagerly returning for each new episode.

There are a multitude of subgenres, from supernatural and psychological horror to true crime and paranormal mysteries. But one of our favourites is Campfire Radio Theatre, which delivers tightly written, well-acted, superbly suspenseful ghost stories to your mobile devices for free.

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Unlike the long-form podcasts, each episode tells a standalone story running for between 25 and 40 minutes – long enough to satisfy your horror craving, but short enough to finish in one sitting. As a reflection of its exacting standards, Campfire Radio Theatre produces only a handful of episodes a year.

Most beautiful Dracula adaptation

The grandest, lushest, most opulent telling of Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel Dracula must surely be Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 version.

Criticised for being operatic and over-the-top when it first came out, the movie has attracted legions of young fans only in recent years as social media aesthetics push the public towards vibrant, eye-catching colours and fantastical visual compositions.

Back in 1992, the central performance by Gary Oldman as Count Dracula was called “campy”, while other lead actors such as Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder were criticised as “stiff”.

But in an age of superhero films where dazzling special effects and stunning visuals often make audiences forgive subpar performances, Dracula’s weaknesses are no longer so glaring.

Michael Ballhaus’ luscious cinematography, Eiko Ishioka’s ravishing costumes, Thomas Sanders’ haunting sets and Wojciech Kilar’s evocative score all perfectly capture the dark beauty and exquisite dread of the Victorian era as no other Dracula adaptation has.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is available on Netflix and Apple TV.