Seattle is getting a Halloween soundtrack with a classical twist. This fall, the National Nordic Museum will host a candlelit concert that brings together spooky film scores, cult TV themes, and eerie classical compositions.
Candlelight: A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics will take place inside the National Nordic Museum, where the Range Ensemble String Quartet will perform live amid the soft glow of candlelight. The 60-minute performance offers a seasonal alternative to traditional Halloween parties, with familiar melodies reinterpreted for strings in an intimate setting.
From horror movie scores to Halloween favorites
The tentative setlist features 14 pieces, including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” the theme from Stranger Things, and music from Beetlejuice, Ghostbusters, and The Addams Family. Film fans can also expect the chilling “Tubular Bells” associated with The Exorcist and Bernard Herrmann’s prelude from Psycho.
The program also draws on classical compositions long associated with dark and dramatic imagery, including Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre, Modest Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, and Charles Gounod’s Funeral March of a Marionette. The evening rounds out its selection with “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and a medley from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
30 October 2026 18:30
The National Nordic Museum
Inside Seattle’s National Nordic Museum
Located in Ballard at 2655 NW Market Street, the National Nordic Museum is the only museum in the United States dedicated to the history, art, and culture of all five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
Founded in 1980 by members of Seattle’s Scandinavian communities, it explores more than 12,000 years of Nordic history, immigration, and the region’s influence on the Pacific Northwest. The museum moved into its purpose-built home in 2018.
The approximately 57,000-square-foot facility spans three floors and features permanent and rotating exhibitions, educational spaces, a cultural resource center, and an auditorium for performances and events. Its collections document Nordic and Nordic-American life through objects, art, and historical artifacts.
