Midnight Syndicate is a musical group that needs little introduction, but here goes one, anyway.

Formed in 1997, the duo consists of Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka – residents of Northeast Ohio, just like me – who were united by their desire to create “soundtracks to imaginary films” by blending original scores, sound effects, and the occasional line of voice acting. The resulting compositions feel, at times, like 1930s radio dramas and haunted-house background music – which makes it unsurprising, then, that that’s exactly what has happened, with countless attractions across the country (and beyond) piping their music into haunts, scare zones, and theaters for live shows. In fact, they have even performed some of these productions themselves live at Cedar Point’s own Halloween event, HalloWeekends, fashioning multimedia works of wonder (I was lucky enough to attend the very first such show, all the way back in 2014, and have found that it remains a memorable one long after the fact).

Given how revolutionary Midnight Syndicate’s approach was at the time, nearly three decades ago, it was perhaps inevitable that their music caught the attention of Universal’s Art and Design team, the masterminds behind Halloween Horror Nights, leading to a collaboration that has lasted to this very day – including the issuing of soundtrack compilations on vinyl that have sold out each and every time they have gone on sale.

When Ed and Gavin announced recently that they were hired to write the original score for Horror Unleashed – the first time they have created a soundtrack for an entire haunted venue – I was immediately excited for them, and I was eager to chat with the pair about the experience. Following is our conversation, edited for both clarity and length, covering the origins of their ongoing relationship with Universal, the ins and outs of working on the new Las Vegas experience, their special regard for the HHN fandom, and their upcoming release, Darkened Corners, which drops this week, on Friday, September 26.

(Full disclosure: I have been an unabashed fan of theirs for many years now, including recently becoming a member of their Legions of the Night fan club, though this was the very first time we had ever spoken.)

I wanted to start by asking you guys – I know that Universal has been using your music at HHN since, what, 1998, was it?

Ed: Yeah, ‘99.

Okay. But I don’t know how, exactly, that came about, and I’m not quite clear on how you started writing original tracks for them.

Ed: When we released Born of the Night [their second album] in ‘98, it was more of a regional release, but the response from the haunted houses and amusement parks in the area was overwhelming. We knew we wanted to take it to the next level, so we went to the TransWorld Halloween and Attractions trade show in Chicago in early 1999. That is where we made our first big splash in the haunted-attractions and amusement-park industries nationally and internationally. Midnight Syndicate was unlike anything out there at the time – a band producing horror-themed “soundtrack to imaginary film” albums, blending orchestration and sound effects, with professional haunted attractions in mind. We were trying to do something at a higher quality than what was available at the time. Back then, when you said “Halloween music,” it was generally recycled cassettes of mostly sound effects and some ambient music from the ‘60s/’70s, classic horror movie scores, like Halloween, and rock-based party music, like “Monster Mash” and “Thriller.”

It was at that first TransWorld show that, I believe, TJ [Mannarino], Michael [Roddy], and Adrian LePeltier all came by our booth, drawn in by the music we had playing. They loved what they heard and wanted to use it at HHN. I remember I later went down to the [HHN] headquarters in Orlando to meet with the team personally and just kinda solidify things. That’s how working with them started. Having grown up going to both the Hollywood and Orlando Universal Studios, it was a thrill to hear the music blasting throughout the park for the first time when I visited HHN that year. To this day, it’s still a thrill to experience, in-person, how attractions and parks utilize the music.

Midnight Syndicate music was a significant part of HHN for so many years that, eventually, Universal asked if we could write some custom music for them, something that we hadn’t done to that point because our production schedule with Midnight Syndicate albums hadn’t allowed for it. But around – was it 2006, Gavin?

Gavin: Yeah, it was a while ago. I can’t remember exactly, but that sounds about right.

Ed: We were in between albums and I was in pre-production on the Dead Matter movie, so it timed up well. Gavin spearheaded that project. The music ended up being a part of Halloween Horror Nights 17: Carnival of Carnage, both in the park and on the website. 

I’m very embarrassed to say I had no idea about any of that. I knew your music was featured, I knew you guys have been down there to sign autographs, and all the fun vinyl releases and stuff, but that’s really cool.

Ed: Yeah. We’ve had a longstanding relationship, and it’s been wonderful. The synergy we have between us, them, and the amazing – and I mean really amazing – fans of Halloween Horror Nights is awesome. The supporters of HHN are passionate, and getting to meet them over the years has been really rewarding.

Yeah, I think it’s safe to say HHN fans are a very special breed, for sure. [Laughs]

Ed: In the best way.

Right. I mean, I wrote a whole book about HHN, so yeah.

Ed: Yeah, I know. [Laughs] Right? It’s amazing. It’s really cool.

So, how exactly did all this lead to Horror Unleashed Las Vegas, specifically?

Ed: Well, when it came time for the 30th anniversary of Halloween Horror Nights, we were talking with the team there, and it was like, “We really should put together some sort of album memorializing this musical partnership we’ve had for all these years. Let’s do an official ‘music of Halloween Horror Nights’ album.” So we went through and found some of the Midnight Syndicate songs that had been used most at the park and websites throughout the years. Then we included those original songs we did for HHN 17, and some of the narrations the team created for Terra Cruentus at HHN 15. That’s how the first Music of Halloween Horror Nights vinyl album came to be in 2020. It was a success, so they did two additional repressings of that with slight variations in 2021. Then, in 2022, we did the Legendary Truth album. That one is a really cool piece of history for fans of Halloween Horror Nights. In addition to our music, it brought back some of the original production audio files and other sound design the HHN team created for the websites in that era. Those websites were always immersive and amazing.

So, having just done those projects, I think everybody was on each other’s radar. At the TransWorld show in March of this year, the team from Horror Unleashed came up and said, “Hey, would you ever consider creating the score for this project?” It was a no-brainer; we were like, “Absolutely. Let’s do this.” And that’s literally how it came together.

Gavin: Especially since it was entirely original. We were thrilled to be able to score something specifically for that venue.

So, the big takeaway for me is TransWorld. Like, you guys should just live there; all your big opportunities seem to – well, not all your big opportunities, but some surprising ones, perhaps – land your way.

Ed: Y’know, TransWorld is simply the largest convention for the haunted-attractions industry, and it always has been. As musicians who supply that industry, it’s always been a critical show for us every year – as it is for anybody who’s working in that industry or wants to get into it. The haunted-attraction industry has just grown exponentially since the late ‘90s. It’s just amazing to see how big it’s gotten and all the talent it has drawn into it. HHN has played a role in that growth and is highly regarded within the industry.

You guys had a quote that I saw online that said doing the soundtrack for Horror Unleashed was “like a mix of writing for a Midnight Syndicate album and a soundtrack, but not exactly like either.” Could you please get into that a little bit more for me?

Gavin: The interesting thing is, we were working remotely for the entire project; Horror Unleashed hadn’t been built yet – they were actively building it while we were doing the score. So, it’s not like we were able to see anything in its finished form and get inspiration or reference for what we were scoring to. A lot of it came down to using your imagination and just bouncing ideas back and forth with the team out there. We tried to incorporate a lot of what we would normally do musically, but they also had specific things that they needed for each section. That’s where it became a bit of a mix because we were taking their direction and trying to bring to life what they had in mind while still making it sound as Midnight Syndicate-like as possible. We didn’t want it to seem like something completely separated from the rest of our work, and I think that we did just that – we were able to find a middle ground that worked and that everyone seemed really happy about.

Ed: I think, also, when I was putting that quote forward, it was – I mean, the idea of creating an atmosphere for a haunt is something that is very familiar to both of us with the Midnight Syndicate albums. That’s what we do, so that was very natural. However, this project was also just like scoring a film in that we needed to make sure the score supported Universal’s vision. Where it differs from both is that there is so much going on inside the UHU experience for the guest, between the sights, sounds, character interactions, etc. The music really needs to blend seamlessly with everything at all times. That meant creating a score that lives in the shadows and elevates the other elements without overtaking them. It made scoring for Horror Unleashed a bit different from composing for the audio-only experience of a Midnight Syndicate album or scoring a film, where the director might need the music to take over a scene.

Did Universal have specific cues for things like, “We need a track for this bar area,” or “We need to play something as you get closer to this one haunted house”? Were they that granular with you?

Ed: We got direction for each of the different sections that we wrote music for, yeah. Just enough to make sure that we could deliver what they were looking for, but not so much that it was micro-managing or anything like that. It was a really nice collaborative process.

Gavin: Absolutely.

Ed: And [it was] a very exciting project for us, too, because we got to be part of this new adventure for Halloween Horror Nights, as they go out creating these year-round haunts. It’s very exciting.

Gavin: Yeah, I think it was just a matter of us getting on the same page. They obviously had a vision in mind for what they wanted, and we just needed to understand that and be able to visualize and then incorporate it into the score. Very interested to see how this concept plays out!

Was there any interest on their end or yours to maybe have certain callbacks or sonic Easter eggs, if you will, to all the stuff you’ve done before for HHN?

Gavin: No, they actually wanted it to be something completely unique and original to that specific venue, and that’s great. It keeps it kind of exclusive – it’s like its own special thing. It’s not trying to tie back into something else – it’s in its own world.

Ed: That being said, there’ll be plenty of other Easter eggs at the venue. And I think just the fact that they’re having Midnight Syndicate do the music for it is a big callback in a way. Right?

Yeah, I think so.

I, personally, was surprised to see how much they not only tried to make Horror Unleashed connect narratively with HHN, but also with the movie division – like, having the Phantom of the Opera set there and trying to work that backstory into the fake backstory of this warehouse.

Ed: Mm-hmm.

Did that kind of feel like coming full circle for you guys, since you did the Universal Monsters album about a decade ago?

Ed: Yeah, I think we pulled from all our experiences with Universal over the years on this project. That included digging into all those amazing Universal Monster films, just like we did when we wrote Monsters of Legend.

Universal’s legacy of horror has been an influence of ours since we started; I mean, those are the movies that sparked our imaginations as youngsters, and we’ve carried those memories with us as we’ve gone along on this Midnight Syndicate journey. So “full circle” really means full circle in this case. If that makes any sense.

Did the four different haunted houses and the properties they’re based off of factor into your creative process whatsoever?

Ed: No.

Gavin: Yeah, I don’t think it did. Each area we scored was separate from the haunts, requiring its own unique treatment. That’s really what we focused on: making sure that the music enhanced those areas independently, rather than trying to reference anything outside of them.

Ed: I believe those four haunted houses will change over time. What we were tasked with doing was creating the foundation for the entire attraction [itself], creating something that the haunted houses can branch off of.

Okay. That actually leads to the next question: are you able to say whether there is some kind of time limit attached to your contract for your work on Horror Unleashed?

Ed: Well, we were hired to create the music for the Vegas location. It was a great experience all around, so will we be working together in the future? It’s definitely a possibility; we’ve been doing it for, what, almost 30 years, so yeah. There’s a great synergy there.

Doing the music for Horror Unleashed was kind of a step forward, as it was probably our most involved collaboration with Universal Entertainment to date.

What was the most challenging aspect of a project of this nature and scope?

Gavin: For me, I think it was just being able to imagine what they were creating without actually being there or having finished visual references.

Ed: We did have concept art – that’s what we were working off of.

Gavin: I think I relied mostly on their descriptions and feedback, which helped immensely, especially when it came to capturing a lot of the important nuances. I found it to be a very rewarding challenge. You learn a lot about your own process, and it pulls you out of your comfort zone. What I normally would have done may not work within this specific environment, and it forces you to look at things differently. That’s so important when it comes to growing artistically.

What was the most surprising part of the whole creative process?

Ed:  For me, I think it was just how natural the writing came for this. Even though we had been writing music for decades that is used in haunts and parks, we’d never done a completely custom score to an attraction. It felt like we were on the same page with the HU team from the get-go, and that just carried through the entire project.

Is there anything from this experience that you’ll take forward with you into your next Midnight Syndicate project?

Ed: Well, we have the EP of lost tracks [called Darkened Corners] coming September 26th, so that’s cool. Pre-production and, even, a little bit of production on our next full-length album for 2026 is underway. I tend to work a little farther ahead than Gavin, so I’ve been assembling ideas and doing the research for it since November of last year. We had to put all of that on pause when the Universal opportunity came about, but the album artwork has actually been completed, and we have a pretty clear vision of where we plan to go with it.

To answer your question, though, you learn from every experience and every project that you take on, and Horror Unleashed is no different.

I did want to ask you, if I may, about Darkened Corners – are there any nuggets that I can get out of you guys?

Gavin: Sure, we can throw out some little teasers. [Laughs]

Ed: I think that people who like Halloween Horror Nights will be pleased…

Gavin: Yes!

Ed: I can say that. It’s only eight songs. We wanted to have something out for this Halloween because we originally were going to have the full-length album out. So this is, like, just a little taster of some tracks that have not been released digitally yet. It’s gonna be nice to have them out there.

For even more in-depth coverage like this, be sure to check out Horrors Untold, the unofficial, comprehensive guide to Halloween Horror Nights Orlando.

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