In Allentown, Pennsylvania, Halloween is deeply rooted in local history as the site of America’s first annual Halloween parade, establishing a tradition of community celebration. Today, Allentown’s Halloween festivities find the blend between classic and modern elements, featuring a citywide festival, trick-or-treating, and the popular Candlelight Halloween concert series at Vault 634, where live performances showcasing spooky classics create a unique experience. With events planned far in advance, it’s never too early for Allentown residents to start preparing for a memorable Halloween season.
Candlelight: A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics
Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” gained immortality through “The Exorcist,” its repetitive, building structure creating an almost hypnotic sense of dread. Combined with John Carpenter’s minimalist “Halloween” theme and Saint-Saëns’ “Danse Macabre,” these pieces represent three different approaches to musical horror—from progressive rock experimentation to stark simplicity to classical storytelling.
The string quartet’s interpretation in the concert strips away electronic effects to reveal the pure musical architecture beneath these iconic themes.For instance, “Tubular Bells” becomes a meditation on repetition and variation, while Carpenter’s theme gains new emotional depth through the warmth of acoustic instruments. As well as “Danse Macabre”, finding its perfect home in this intimate setting, where Death’s fiddle playing feels almost tangible in the candlelit atmosphere.
Candlelight Halloween at Vault 634
Vault 634 in Allentown is elevated by thousands of flickering candles, their glow casting mysterious shadows and bathing the historic space in a warm, haunting ambiance that transforms it into the perfect setting for a Halloween concert. The gentle play of candlelight brings out the eerie textures of songs like Funeral March of a Marionette by Charles Gounod, String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110: II. Allegro Molto by Dmitri Shostakovich, and Der Erlkönig by Franz Schubert.
The 60-minute concert begins after doors open 30–45 minutes early, inviting audiences to settle into the spooky atmosphere. As one of the most popular seasonal events, missing out on this candlelit experience is a real possibility for those who don’t plan Halloween early.