Charnel House - Haunt Ambient Audio




Charnel House is a new Highbury Cemetery "haunt ambient" audio project that was started in 2018. For the previous 7 or 8 years, I had discovered (and fallen in love with) the dark ambient genre, and had started using various dark ambient audio tracks in my annual Halloween yard haunt display. This type of audio sits just in the background and perfectly supports the ghastly visuals presented across the front yard, never taking over the focus with any recognizable sound.

About a year ago, I started thinking about the creation of this style of music. I was very interested in the sounds used and eventually very curious about how to create them myself. I began to research audio software and how I could learn to use it. I have no formal musical education, outside of jackhammering on an old bass guitar in a fun punk band many years ago, but I knew exactly the sound I was looking for.


Fast forward to the start of 2018, and I took the plunge. I was deeply inspired as I set about learning how to "compose" my own ambient audio. I didn't yet know how to assemble it, but I fumbled through the process, even going as far as experimenting with my first field recordings.

As I continued to gather and create different clips and sounds, I began to refine my first test audio track. I walked a fine line adhering to my vision of creating ambient audio that spanned the dark ambient genre and the spirit of Halloween.


Eventually, I settled on the term "haunt ambient." Dark ambient-inspired soundtrack audio that could be used in yard haunt and haunted house scenes that would create a feeling of menace and unease, that would support horrifying visual scenery and add to the total fright experience of an effective Halloween display.

At some point in the near future, I plan on setting up a Bandcamp page for all Charnel House releases. I've decided, for now, that I will try to produce two releases per year (if not more). The first will be for either TransWorld Haunt and Halloween Convention or more likely the Midwest Haunters Convention and the second, of course, will be for Halloween. I will do a VERY limited number of custom, hand-made CDs for each release, and then post the audio files here for anyone to download.

Check back often, as the creativity is flowing and I can't wait to share all the new releases with you. Enjoy the sounds!



And yes, at this point, ALL posted tracks are free to download and use in your home or pro haunted houses. All that I ask is you let me know how and where you're using the tracks. I'd really love to see the different settings that everyone uses them in. Have fun and happy haunting!!



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Charnel House - "L'Appel Du Vide"
Highbury Cemetery Productions - May, 25, 2018
Midwest Haunters Convention Release




01. The Call Of The Void

Standing at the shadowed precipice, the pulsing call beckons from deep within the darkness. The cold Autumn winds howl and brittle fallen leaves coil at your feet, pulling you ever further into the void…







02. The Fractured Lullaby

The child is lulled into blissful slumber, only to have innocence clawed away and engulfed by the darkening discord of blackest nightmare… sleep tight, oh little one.







03. Standing At The Cemetery Gates

The pulse quickens as blood pounds through constricting veins. You stand alone at the rusted entry way on a dark, moonless night. Black shadows of barren trees dance around you in the stark autumn wind. The icy chill of night fog creeps ominously around the gravestones of those who walked these grounds centuries before, beckoning your entrance inward. The single, ghoulishly carved jack-o-lantern must be illuminated in appeasement of the spirits and the dark offering for All Hallows Eve will be complete…





**Download "L'Appel Du Vide" here.**


The limited CD was produced in a hand-numbered edition of 20 for the 2018 Midwest Haunters Convention and was given away to friends on the trade show floor and throughout the convention weekend. The gatefold sleeve housed the hand-stamped and numbered CD as well as a silk screened "Charnel House" canvas patch.






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