This Halloween week, Opera Philadelphia is giving silent horror films a spine-tingling upgrade: live organ music in the heart of Center City.<\/p>\n
Inside the Wanamaker Building, the grand Greek Hall hums with anticipation. History stirs, and what was once seen in silence now has a sound. The Wurlitzer Organ comes alive under the hands of 24-year-old self-taught organist Ian Fraser, who’s been playing for eight years.<\/p>\n
“It’s pretty much a combination of themes that I’ve come up with for different characters and situations and maybe some references to classic or popular music,” Fraser said.<\/p>\n
On Monday night, Fraser prepares to bring the 1920s classic Faust to life, a story of a scholar who sells his soul to the devil for youth and desire, only to face a dark, tragic fate.<\/p>\n
Film scholar Carrie Rickey calls it “the origin story of horror this week,” noting the deep influence these early films had on the genre.<\/p>\n
Each night, Opera Philadelphia’s Silent Classic Horror series revives 1920s terror for Halloween.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Attendees like Asher Botvin, part of Opera Philadelphia’s Pipe Up! program, say the live organ accompaniment adds “a really unique detail and depth” to the films.<\/p>\n
“These movies influenced film noir,” Rickey said. “The scary dark movies popular in the ’40s and ’50s created the foundation for Universal Pictures’ ‘Dracula’ and ‘Frankenstein.'”<\/p>\n
For Fraser, the Wurlitzer Organ is more than an instrument, it’s a time machine, bridging the audience with the silent shadows on screen.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s just an epic experience to be in a room like this, in a building like this, and with an instrument like this,” Fraser said. “It all comes together.”<\/p>\n
As the final notes fade in the Wanamaker, the shadows of 1920s horror linger, a reminder that some stories, like the music that brings them to life, refuse to be silent.<\/p>\n
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