For years we’d all wondered if Trent Reznor had witnessed some despicable mass murder as a child, been kept in a box full of animal bones as punishment or been secretly raised by the Jigsaw killer. Now he’s finally revealed the source of his dark art: the films of John Carpenter.

“I clearly remember my friends and I at 13 years old conning our parents into letting us see Halloween when it came out in 1978,” he said, announcing his own version of the Halloween theme recorded with Atticus Ross. “We left the theatre forever changed. We were damaged and scarred, with the shit genuinely scared out of us and that theme stuck firmly in our heads. John Carpenter, it’s your fault that I turned out the way I did.”

Mystery solved, Reznor’s version of the theme will be previewed on October 31 at a playback held in complete darkness at the Institute Of Light in London as part of a Pitchback Playback event. Carpenter himself described the track as “Moody and dark, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ version of ‘Halloween’ does amazing justice to the original. I’m impressed.”

The homage celebrates the October 20 release of ‘Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998’, a collection of thirteen of Carpenter’s theme works, all freshly re-recorded, including ‘Assault On Precinct 13’, ‘The Fog’, ‘Escape From New York’ and ‘The Thing’.

Reznor himself has won awards for his scores of The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Listen to his ominous take on the legendary ‘Halloween’ theme here.