Jeff Greinke - "The Moor"

I make no secret of my love of the dark ambient music genre. It sets such a great uneasy mood, and I have always thought that it works really well in haunt settings. With no recognizable patterns or vocals, the audio sits nicely in the background, supporting and heightening the tension of the haunt setting, never becoming a distracting focus.

For years I have been using various dark ambient tracks in my yard haunt, and in the last 4 or 5 I have settled on what I have found to be a perfect track. A wonderful, dark balance of creepiness and eerie foreboding. I absolutely love this track and every time I play it, it instantly takes me into the middle of my yard haunt display...

Enjoy the unofficial haunt soundtrack of Highbury Cemetery, artist Jeff Greinke's 1992 dark ambient masterpiece, The Moor.

  

Asath Reon - "Underworld Narrations"

The baleful place, unknown to men,

Where Silence screams from the Roots above.

Only Mist can see the approaching Void

Of seared Trees and burnt Soil.

Death and Life mean nothing more,

Just the Return of one forsaken Soul.

Disturbed and faceless Visions hold

The Bearer of Light who lost the Torch,

And became the Ark of the fallen World.

ABSOLUTELY fantastic ritual dark ambient from Russian artist Asath Reon. So much atmospheric darkness in each track... I just stumbled upon this artist recently, but Underworld Narrations has been on a constant rotation here at the Cemetery.

I have already decided that the track Three Times Burned and Three Times Born will be the soundtrack to this year's Halloween display. It will be the PERFECT creepy supporting soundscape to give my display that extra punch. Completely haunting and horrifying, but unbelievably atmospheric and flowing.

Do yourself a favor and check out the works of Asath Reon. Enjoy!!

Aphex Twin - "Matchsticks"

About 15 years ago, I was looking for something besides my "Chamber of Horrors" spooky sounds tape to use as a soundtrack for my haunt. I had established a name for the haunt, I had begun making my own tombstones and props, and I was now looking to take my audio to the next level as well. I wanted to find something truly creepy...

By pure luck, Mrs. Highbury pointed me toward a CD that she had in her collection, Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol. II. I pressed play and was amazed at what I heard.

At that point I had never heard anything from the dark ambient genre before, but I knew instantly that it would work perfectly for my haunt display. Creepy, atmospheric audio that would sit in the background, greatly enhancing the haunting unease of the display.

I have since gone on to use even darker, more discordant audio from various dark ambient artists for my display, but I always make it a point to stop and listen to this one every Halloween. It's now forever tied to the season and those fun, early days of my home haunt.

Enjoy!

 

VISIONS - "Traces"

Following 2018’s highly acclaimed collaboration album with Russia’s PHURPA, Frederic Arbour presents a new full length album under his VISIONS moniker. We are now presented with more grounded and melody based pieces that on his previous releases, which were more out worldly and exploring sonic expanse. Using a stripped back approach and forging new sonic territories, “Temples” also serves as an hymn to lost civilisations, and a gratitude for what can still be found and discovered from our predecessors. As societies fall, most of their temples and shrines seem to remain, perhaps, as a reflection of the materiality of spirit.

A quick hit of some really great, atmospheric dark ambient from VISIONS, then it's back out to the garage for me tonight...

Jeff Greinke - "The Moor"

I make no secret of my love of the dark ambient music genre. It sets such a great uneasy mood, and I have always thought that it works really well in haunt settings. With no recognizable patterns or vocals, the audio sits nicely in the background, supporting and heightening the tension of the haunt setting, never becoming a distracting focus.

For years I have been using various dark ambient tracks in my yard haunt, and in the last 3 or 4 I have settled on what I have found to be a perfect track. A wonderful, dark balance of creepiness and eerie foreboding. I absolutely love this track and every time I play it, it instantly takes me into the middle of my yard haunt display...

Enjoy the unofficial haunt soundtrack of Highbury Cemetery, artist Jeff Greinke's 1992 dark ambient masterpiece, The Moor.

Visions - "Aura"

A fantastic new track from dark ambient artist, Visions. This pulsing, menacing piece would work great in a home haunt setting, don't you think? Enjoy!

Aphex Twin - "Matchsticks"

When I first discovered the dark ambient music genre and its subsequent use in my home haunt display, it was—of all places—in my wife's CD collection.

Buried in with all of her other CDs that I never thought too highly of, was an obscure double-CD by some band that I had never heard of called Aphex Twin.

And I hate to admit it, but she was the one who first told me to listen to it, saying it had a creepy sound that would tie-in to the Halloween season.

So I popped the Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2 CD into the player and pushed "play."

The audio that came through those speakers ABSOLUTELY floored me. I immediately fell in love with the hauntingly dark atmospheric sounds unlike anything I had really heard before. I listened to that CD for the rest of the night, amazed at what I was hearing...

And then it hit me. These tracks would make the perfect audio backdrop for my haunt display! No traditionally-structured songs, no immediately recognizable instruments and no vocals. The music would sit "behind" the display, serving only to add an incredible element of tension and creepiness to the visual elements.

I ended up using 6 different tracks from that Aphex Twin release for my display that year, and those tracks were used again for the following 3 or 4 years. It was the first time that I had really focused on the audio aspect of my haunt and what a truly good soundtrack could do to enhance the overall haunt experience.

Every Halloween season, I still go back and listen to that original 6-song playlist. And every time I do, I hear the first note of the first song and I get an incredibly warm, nostalgic feel. The track Matchsticks was the first track used and it is still one of my favorite dark ambient tracks of all time.

So take a walk down the Highbury Cemetery memory lane and enjoy Matchsticks by Aphex Twin.

Justin Burning - "Songs Of The Thinned Veil"

What really gets you into the Halloween spirit? For me, it's a wonderfully creepy, nostalgic tune. Something to conjure up black cats, ghosts, and illuminated pumpkin faces. Something that when I just kick back and close my eyes, I dream of trick-or-treats gone by and orange and brown leaves dancing by as they glide through a crisp autumn wind. Magic!

I recently picked up a copy of Justin Burning's wonderful Songs Of The Thinned Veil, a really, really cool collaboration between the iconic, vintage Halloween illustration work of Sam Heimer, the Halloween club of Cryptocurium's Order Of The Thinned Veil, and Burning's new Veil-inspired October soundtrack.

I was lucky enough to snag a copy of the limited vinyl release before it quickly sold out (for those that don't know, I am a self-confessed vinyl record hoarder, and the beautiful orange-and-black swirled vinyl on this release, coupled with Heimer's fantastic cover illustration made it a no-brainer for me).

Upon first listen, I was immediately hooked. Eleven Halloween-soaked, synth-driven tracks that really nail the feel of the season and really encapsulate that Thinned Veil style.

I already know that this is going to be my soundtrack for the 2019 Halloween season and I highly recommend it to everyone looking for some really fun Halloween sounds.

And luckily for everyone, the release is still available on Burning's Bandcamp page! Go snag a copy and let the sounds of Halloween envelope you!!

Kammarheit - "The Nest"

The perfect soundtrack for our slow transition to winter, embodying the cold and the darkness...

Halloween Dark Music Mix 2018

The front porch crypt has been set up, the fog machines have all been filled and tested, and this year's haunt shirts have all been printed. Everything has been safely secured away while the cold rain continues to fall. Three days straight and counting. Time for a quick pause in the hectic pace leading up to Halloween night.

I had a very productive day today, and I feel like I'm in a good place for this year's haunt display. So I've decided to call it a night early, leaving me some much-needed free time for the rest of the evening.

The warm, comfy clothes are on, I've cracked one of my last pumpkin beers from the fridge, and I've grabbed my new Halloween book. I'm ready for a nice quiet night of relaxing, reading, and listening to the new Halloween Dark Music Mix from Cryo Chamber.

A full hour of wonderful dark ambient to cap off an incredibly busy weekend, with tracks from some of Cryo Chamber's biggest artists. It's just the thing I needed to recharge before two more nights of staging and planning for Halloween night...

Desiderii Marginis - "Vita Arkivet"

From the Cyclic Law Bandcamp page:

Long awaited new material by one of Sweden’s most revered Dark Ambient acts.
“Vita Arkivet” translates from Swedish as “The White Archive” and is an official document detailing ones funeral arrangements. In death our existence is whitewashed, the slate wiped clean. We start all over and we bring nothing with us were we go. We lose the agency of our own memory and leave it for those left behind to attend to, to continue our story, to write our eulogy. Vita is also the latin word for Life, so the meaning could also be “The Life Archive”. White is the colour of the casket lining, the plaster death masks and the walls of the chapel, it is the colour of the first and last pages. What is kept in between the covers of our life archives? This record is a personal reflection and manifestation of that process, the loss and the great detachment from life, from others, and from ourselves.

There isn't one bad track on this new release. REALLY great dark ambient from one of the genre's masters.

And being the vinyl snob that I am, I absolutely couldn't pass up the limited, colored vinyl release for this one. Stunning!!

This one is going to be spinning with great regularity for the next couple of months. I'm really impressed with this new release and I highly recommend it. It's a perfect soundtrack for the late fall and winter seasons...

  

Kammarheit - "The Howl"

So raw, yet so atmospheric. One of my absolute favorite tracks from one of my absolute favorite dark ambient artists...

Charnel House - "As Above, So Below"

The season of light and warmth begins its slow transformation, and the cold creep
of darkness and decay takes hold. The balance of all things continues cyclically.
The blaze of Autumn’s ashen tones envelops the land as withered remains
become one within the burial chamber…

••••••

It's time to introduce the latest track from Charnel House, my new "haunt ambient" audio project!

Earlier this year, I finally decided to jump into creating audio. I was really interested in dark ambient, and more specifically how to compose it. I had been using tracks from this genre in my yard haunt for years, and I decided to create something similar that could be used in home or pro haunt display settings. I began working with a variety of different sounds and slowly created my first tracks.

By the time the Midwest Haunters Convention had rolled around in May of 2018, I had three tracks composed. I was able to create my first official release, L'Appel Du Vide, as a super-limited, hand-numbered CD. I created everything by hand and then gave them away free to friends at the convention. I quickly passed all copies out on the trade show floor, and when I got back home, I made the release a free download to anyone who wanted it to use in their haunts. 

I received a lot of positive feedback, and it really motivated me to continue to create. I quickly decided that I would create another release in time for our high holiday of All Hallows Eve. I'm still trying to finish two other tracks, but wanted to kick off the October Countdown to Halloween with the grand unveiling of my newest track.

Ladies and gentlemonsters, boils and ghouls, sit back and enjoy the newest haunt ambient track from Charnel House: As Above, So Below:

And don't forget to visit the Charnel House page, where you can still check out my first release, L'Appel Du Vide, and grab a free download! All tracks are completely free for use in your home or pro haunt. All that I ask is you let me know how and where you're using them. I'd really love to see the different settings that everyone uses them in. Have fun and happy haunting!!

  

Midnight Syndicate: Conspiracy of Shadows

Ahh, just what I need. Another amazing event to try and get to in an already overstuffed Halloween season! Open every weekend now through October 28th, Midnight Syndicate make their glorious return to Halloweekends at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio.

After a 4 year hiatus, Midnight Syndicate return with their live music stage performance. I was able to see their first show back in 2014, and if this one is anywhere near as cool and entertaining as the original, I will be making room in my schedule to see this one.

And if like me, you live anywhere close to Cedar Point, do yourself a favor and get to the park to see it!

  

Raison D'être - The Empty Hollow Unfolds

The ambience of grim desolation...

Keeping the workflow going today with the help of one of the most legendary dark ambient releases. Originally released in 2000, The Empty Hollow Unfolds still holds up with it's rich, unsettling atmospheric tracks.

Incredible.

Desiderii Marginis - "Ephemeral"

A perfect track to start off a weekend where I need to get A LOT done for this year's haunt... absolutely classic dark ambient.

Raison D'être - "Citrinitas"

From the Raison D'être Bandcamp page:
Alchymeia is diving deep down to the shadows of the unconsciousness, and back to a dawn of the true Self. Confronting the shadow within is the darkest time of despair. There seems no way forward, only down. All is blackening and decomposed. Suddenly, through an enantiodromia, the ever deepening descent into the unconscious transmogrifies and becomes gradually illuminated. The melancholia is being purified.

A wonderfully dark and deeply atmospheric 2018 ambient track from prolific Swedish artist, Raison D'être.

Introducing "Charnel House" - My New Haunt Audio Project

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…

•••••

For anyone who visits this blog with any frequency, you'll know that I tend to post a lot of music. Any kind of music that has an influence on my Halloween season, and more accurately, an influence on my Halloween yard haunt display. 

Over the past 7 or 8 years, I have discovered (and fallen in love with) the dark ambient genre. Ever since, it has been the go-to audio for use in my display each Halloween night. From Aphex Twin, Jeff Greinke and Lull, to Kammarheit, Svartsinn and Lustmord, I find that the discordant drones of this genre fit perfectly into my display, as it sits just in the background and supports the ghastly visuals presented across the front yard, never taking over the focus with any recognizable sound (versus, say, the instantly recognizable piano notes of John Carpenter's masterpiece, Halloween).

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.

I had been working feverishly on my first track these last few weeks, trying desperately to have a completed piece for release just before last week's appearance on Haunter's Hangout, but I wasn't quite ready in time. And I REALLY didn't want to put something out that I wasn't 100% happy with, so I continued to keep it under wraps.

•••••

So after a few more days of putting the final touches on it, I'm SUPER excited to finally release the first haunt ambient track from Charnel House. It's called "The Call Of The Void" and I think it really nails the sound I was looking for.

Please take a listen and let me know what you think. I'd love to get feedback, either good or bad. I've always been one who can handle good constructive criticism.

I know that this is only my first step in learning how to do this whole thing, and I know that my sound will continue to develop, mature and improve as I work on the next tracks.



And speaking of next tracks, for anyone going to this year's Midwest Haunters Convention in Columbus, Ohio, please come find me. I will be giving away 20 limited-edition, hand-numbered 3-track CDs. I've been working on finishing two more tracks to add to "The Call Of The Void" as well as full art and a few extra goodies for my first official release. DIY-style, with everything done here at the Cemetery. I can't wait to share it with you!!

In looking over at the calendar as I sit and type this, I realize I now have less than 2 weeks to get it all done, so I really have to burn the midnight oil.

I hope you enjoy this first track and I hope to see you all at the Midwest Haunters Convention on May 25!!

  

Dronny Darko - "Numinous"

A killer dark drone track from Dronny Darko's newest release, Black Hive.

From the Dronny Darko Bandcamp page:

On this album Dronny Darko explores what lies beyond time where the lurkers roam. The black hive devours time left behind to fuel the future at the knot of time. 


An incredibly brooding album for lovers of dark drone.

Svartsinn - "Doubt As Sin (Nietzsche's Lament)"

I just picked up Mørkets Variabler, the latest release from Norwegian dark ambient artist Svartsinn. Wonderfully cold, atmospheric dark ambient that hits dead center of what is becoming more and more of my wheelhouse.

The more I explore the works of dark ambient artists like Svartsinn, the more I'm convinced of its effective use in a haunt setting. It really sets an overall, ominous tone that could really punch up the sense of dread and foreboding in a given haunt scene, and I have been using various dark ambient tracks in my haunt display for years now.

The standout track on this release for me is Doubt As Sin (Nietzsche's Lament). This track has a slightly darker tone than the other tracks. I really love the cold, low vibrating tones and harsh, echoing reverb throughout. Add in the slightest hints of vocal whispers and you have an incredibly eerie track.

And being the vinyl snob that I am, I opted for the limited, double-vinyl edition of this release. Gorgeous, minimalist matte black artwork throughout the gatefold sleeve and continued through each of the insert sleeves. Upon opening the package up, I was rewarded with a small extra cool touch on one of the insert sleeves - an autograph from Svartsinn himself, Jan Roger Petterson!

Prosper In Darkness, indeed! I HIGHLY recommend this release to any dark ambient fans or any Halloween fans looking for a different angle to get their creep on!