Poster Clowns. Why does it always have to be clowns? (From a 1950s LP.)
Clowns. Why does it always have to be clowns? (From a 1950s LP.)
Mercury via Discogs

13 horrifying classical album covers for Halloween

Take a tour with us through the classical record bins of yore for 13 album covers delightfully suited for Halloween. They range from truly frightening to "what were they thinking?" See for yourself which are tricks and which are treats in the gallery below.

This article includes contributions by Ryan Lohr and Vaughn Ormseth.

Gallery
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13 horrifying classical album covers for Halloween
"Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and instruments bubble." Or something like that. This goofy cover seems apropos for a 1950s collection of "scary" classics, but the half-in/half-out trombone looks like it wants no part of it.
RCA via Discogs
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13 horrifying classical album covers for Halloween
German poet Heinrich Heine got it exactly right when he said, "When words leave off, music begins." There are no words to describe this bizarre cover -- note the little dog -- for an otherwise fine recording by former Minnesota Orchestra conductor Edo de Waart.
RCA via Discogs
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13 horrifying classical album covers for Halloween
"Game of Thrones"? No, it's just the severed head of John the Baptist. Seventeenth-century Italian composer Alessandro Stradella was stabbed to death when he was 42, so this gory cover for his homage to the biblical figure seems especially fitting.
Hyperion

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