# Music that scares the crap out of you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680 "2017-02-24T23:43:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/1 "2017-02-24T23:43:30Z")
Scary music. There are songs and compositions that, either by design or by sheer happenstance, inspire pure terror and fear. They have a “pucker factor” that cranks up to 11. What pieces have that effect on you? Share them here, so that all of us have a chance to experience existential discomfort and dread! I will be the first to share a composition that terrifies the bejeezus out of me: “Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima”, by Penderecki. Hell in the form of sound, using nothing but strings. Enjoy! (For certain values of “enjoy”, that is). Here is the link: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/abv0YNm8FeY/hqdefault.jpg "Penderecki Threnody Animated Score") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abv0YNm8FeY) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/2 "2017-02-24T23:57:06Z")
I don’t know about scares, but what creeps me out is that circus music > **[Circus Music](https://orangefreesounds.com/circus-music/)** > > Circus music mp3 download. Free online sound effects library. Sound Clips from Orange Free Sounds. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/3 "2017-02-25T00:52:10Z")
There Once Was a Woman All Skin and Bones [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lOhYGxg460k/hqdefault.jpg "SKIN AND BONES.wmv") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOhYGxg460k) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/4 "2017-02-25T01:31:31Z")
[The choral version of Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sEpa89mSm4) The instrumental version is spooky enough, but the choral version is a witches’ orgy from hell! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/5 "2017-02-25T01:39:22Z")
I’ve always been partial to the opening ballad of [Sweeney Todd](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8t4Ny39tt8) (original Broadway version), which is marvelously menacing. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/6 "2017-02-25T01:51:12Z")
My dad was a big fan of Verdi’s Requiem, and [“Dies Irae”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDFFHaz9GsY) scared the crap out of me as a kid. Still does. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/7 "2017-02-25T04:18:43Z")
Gyorgy Ligeti’s _Atmospheres_. You’ve probably heard it, even if you don’t recognize the name, or the composer’s name. It’s used in _2001: A Space Odyssey_, in the scene where they investigate the monolith on the moon. I was a kid (teenager) when I saw that movie, but I was fascinated by that music. I eventually found out what it was, and that led to a lifelong love of Ligeti’s music. Kubrick used Ligeti’s music again in Eyes Wide Shut. That two-note piano music is the second movement of Ligeti’s _Musica Ricercata_. It’s pretty creepy. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/8 "2017-02-25T04:28:53Z")
The theme to _Psycho_. Also, the sound track to _Koyaanisqatsi_ is disturbing, but somehow in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/9 "2017-02-25T04:28:56Z")
Black Sabbath > [@](#): > > _What is this that stands before me? > Figure in black which points at me > Turn around quick, and start to run > Find out I’m the chosen one > Oh no_ ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/10 "2017-02-25T04:37:03Z")
I used to interpret in churches a lot. Once in a while there was a hymn that would creep me out. There was one where they kept singing about being “Washed in the blood of the lamb,” and another one with a different verse about each of Jesus’ wounds, and it got really specific. Then there was one where the chorus was the Jews saying “His blood be on us and our children.” I got really uncomfortable during that one. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/11 "2017-02-25T04:37:07Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Gyorgy Ligeti’s _Atmospheres_. You’ve probably heard it, even if you don’t recognize the name, or the composer’s name. It’s used in _2001: A Space Odyssey_, in the scene where they investigate the monolith on the moon. > > I was a kid (teenager) when I saw that movie, but I was fascinated by that music. I eventually found out what it was, and that led to a lifelong love of Ligeti’s music. > > Kubrick used Ligeti’s music again in Eyes Wide Shut. That two-note piano music is the second movement of Ligeti’s _Musica Ricercata_. It’s pretty creepy. The one that gets me from that film is another Ligeti piece, [“Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Two Mixed Choirs & Orchestra”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z2mf0kjEP8). It was also used during the HALO jump sequence in the 2014 _Godzilla_ film. The Beatles “Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite” always gave me the willies, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/12 "2017-02-25T04:47:12Z")
Maybe “scares the crap out of you” isn’t the right phrase, but Nirvana’s “Nevermind” has always creeped me out, from start to finish. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/13 "2017-02-25T11:58:37Z")
Throbbing Gristle’s “Hamburger Lady”. Don’t go there if you don’t have to. Trust me on this. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/14 "2017-02-25T14:42:38Z")
The score from _Donnie Darko_, especially “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” does it for me. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/15 "2017-02-25T15:07:13Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > I will be the first to share a composition that terrifies the bejeezus out of me: “Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima”, by Penderecki. Hell in the form of sound, using nothing but strings. > > Enjoy! (For certain values of “enjoy”, that is). Here is the link: > > [https://youtu.be/abv0YNm8FeY](https://youtu.be/abv0YNm8FeY) Good god yes. I heard it first in college and just freaked. When I was told that Penderecki was trying to evoke the feelings of skin blistering off in an a-bomb attack, I was like “yeah, that sounds about right.” When it comes to rock songs, it’s funny - **Peter Gabriel** has a song called _The Intruder_ off PG3. It’s about what it sounds like: a guy breaking into a woman’s room and preparing to rob and assault her. It’s creepy with a great scary feel - and I can listen to it just fine. I mean, it’s Peter Gabriel, known good guy and assumer of roles in his songs, so I can keep it at arm’s length. But the song by **The Toadies** , _Possum Kingdom_, freaks me right out. It’s another song written from the criminal’s perspective, a rapist/killer seducing his prey with promises and lies. I love the groove - the non-4/4 time keeps it off balance, and it just rocks overall - but I can’t listen to it anymore. And the video - ugh: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EkwD5rQ-\_d4](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EkwD5rQ-_d4) ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/16 "2017-02-25T15:21:44Z")
The Beatles Revolution 9 ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/17 "2017-02-25T18:25:14Z")
Tom Waits’ cover of [“Heigh-Ho (The Dwarfs Marching Song)”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KISFemeHOC4) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/18 "2017-02-25T18:48:57Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > Scary music. There are songs and compositions that, either by design or by sheer happenstance, inspire pure terror and fear. They have a “pucker factor” that cranks up to 11. > > What pieces have that effect on you? Share them here, so that all of us have a chance to experience existential discomfort and dread! > > I will be the first to share a composition that terrifies the bejeezus out of me: “Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima”, by Penderecki. Hell in the form of sound, using nothing but strings. > > Enjoy! (For certain values of “enjoy”, that is). Here is the link: > > [https://youtu.be/abv0YNm8FeY](https://youtu.be/abv0YNm8FeY) This is actually a bit unnerving. I don’t know if it is because it reminds me of the Shining, or just because there is something about this particular type of music that is unsettling and that is why the Shining used it. Looking into it, the composer did most of the music for the shining. Ah. > [@ruadh](#): > > Throbbing Gristle’s “Hamburger Lady”. Don’t go there if you don’t have to. Trust me on this. Eh. I just listened, it sounded like someone mumbling while I played Excite bike on NES and had a fan running. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/19 "2017-02-25T20:29:43Z")
Dueling banjos ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680/20 "2017-02-25T20:33:00Z")
Xiu Xiu’s entire “A Promise” album. It just sounds like the sonic equivalent of descending into madness. The entire album just creeps me out–I mean, I like it, but it’s just a very stressful listen, with instrumental minimalism, punctuated by brutally glitchy-machine like beats, and a wavering, emotive vocal that sounds like someone on the verge of a nervous breakdown. [Here’s one track, “Apistat Commander.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s2_sTA-Gyk&list=PL6KwzgIePF4DEisZ48niMlY7QgUvAiy6d&index=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-that-scares-the-crap-out-of-you/780680.md?page=2)