Sonic treats for Halloween

The days are getting shorter, the nights longer, and Halloween looms. More people than usual may be tuning into dark, moody music this time of year, and two programs in the Boston area provide the perfect soundtrack.

On "The Shadowbox," every other Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. on WZBC-FM (90.3), DJ Linda Paone spins ethereal soundscapes. Meanwhile, on "Bats in the Belfry," Monday nights from 8 to 10 on WMBR-FM (88.1), Laura Wilson opens with Gregorian chants before digging into the punk roots of the dark music. Each celebrates the genre known as goth, and across the city, at two different stations, they help cement a farflung community that claims this time of year as its own.

"Every year, I do a Halloween show," says Wilson. Although her regular playlist includes such classic goth rockers as Dead Can Dance and Sisters of Mercy, in the lead-up to the holiday, she'll add some "especially spooky music" and the occasional fun sound effect.

But Halloween is more than ghostly fun, explains Paone, who focuses more on dreamy ambient artists like Raison d'être and will do her next show on Nov. 2. Samhain, the ancient pagan precursor to Halloween, is known as a time when the veils that separate the worlds are at their thinnest, allowing for ghosts and spirits to pass through. It is also a time of cleansing and getting ready for winter, says the WZBC DJ, a practicing pagan. That opens up space for creativity, she says: "Once you make space, something usually comes along to fill it!"

For these women, the holiday brings attention to their chosen art. But to goth fans, to quote the band Ministry, every day is Halloween.

"I was always attracted to dark and moody music," says Wilson, who has helmed her show for more than 16 years. "And nobody was playing any goth at WMBR. The music was just not getting heard."

For her own program, Wilson mixes in newer, rock-oriented music with those early punk-associated bands that she first played - groups like Bauhaus and, of course, Siouxsie and the Banshees, who have a song called "Halloween." But over her tenure, she's heard the music evolve from its origins as an offshoot of punk into the more atmospheric "dark wave" sound that has characterized Paone's show for the past four years. "Music that's beautiful and scary at the same time," says Paone.

Next month marks 25 years of the "Jazz Brunch" Sunday mornings on WFNX-FM (101.7). It also marks the 30th anniversary of host Jeff Turton playing jazz on the radio. Happy silver anniversary as well to Joe Cortese, who will be celebrating 25 years on air and behind the scenes at "Mix" WBMX-FM (98.5). . . . A score of layoffs at Entercom stations WRKO-AM (680) and WAAF-FM (107.3) included several producers and behind-the-scenes players as well as WRKO midday host Reese Hopkins (replaced by the syndicated Laura Ingraham show). . . . Paul Kelley, general manager of WCRB-FM (99.5) has resigned to take a job in Virginia with Saga Communications. . . . Barry Scott has scored an interview with reclusive Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. The interview will air on Scott's "The Lost 45s" on WODS-FM (103.3), Nov. 9 from 7 to 11 p.m. . . . For the first time in roughly seven years, the NPR news quiz show "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" will be taping in Boston at the Citi Performing Arts Center on Nov. 6. . . . On Monday, from 1 to 2 p.m., WTKK-FM (96.9) will host a radio debate between US Senator John Kerry and Republican challenger Jeff Beatty.