# suggestions for "spooky" classical music... ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2001, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917 "2001-10-07T12:45:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Glenoled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Glenoled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glenoled)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/1 "2001-10-07T12:45:21Z")
I perused the thread on Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, and that inspired me to make up a playlist of “spooky” classical music, since it’s getting on Halloween and all… Trouble is, I have no idea what I should get… any suggestions? Glenoled ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/2 "2001-10-07T13:02:36Z")
A night on Bald Mountain, Modest Mussorgsky [yes, I’m a Fantasia fan] ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/3 "2001-10-07T13:38:02Z")
This isn’t really a general question, so I’ll move the thread. Probably Cafe Society is the best place. bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/4 "2001-10-07T13:51:47Z")
**Penderecki** _De Natura Sonoris 2_\* ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/5 "2001-10-07T14:28:02Z")
Grieg’s “Hall of the Mountain King”. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/6 "2001-10-07T14:36:36Z")
Do movie soundtracks count? 'Cause I was thinking of some of Danny Elfman’s work, specifically his work from **Beetlejuice**. I also think Mozart’s **Requiem K** (Requiem Mass) is pretty spooky. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/7 "2001-10-07T14:39:09Z")
_Danse macabre_ by Camille Saint-Saëns ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/8 "2001-10-07T14:45:32Z")
or _Carmina Burana_ by Carl Orff – it was used in _The Omen_ or _Die Valkerie_ by Richard Wagner (or pretty much anything from his Ring Cycle). ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/9 "2001-10-07T15:11:12Z")
There’s at least a couple collections I know of, with many of the pieces already mentioned. Here’s one at [amazon.com](http://amazon.com): [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000026XI/qid=1002467372/sr=2-1/ref=sr\_2\_7\_1/103-9475627-2390267](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000026XI/qid=1002467372/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_7_1/103-9475627-2390267) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/10 "2001-10-07T15:49:32Z")
“The Fossils” from “Carnival of the Animals” By Saint-Saens. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/11 "2001-10-07T15:52:29Z")
I have a CD called “Classics from the Crypt” that includes: Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor Saint-Saens: Danse macabre Gounod: Fureral march of a Marionette Mussorgsky: Night On Bald Mountain Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - March to the Scaffold Grieg: “Perr Gynt” Suite No 1 - In the Hall of the Mountain King Liszt: Mephisto Waltz Dukas: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Dream of a Witches Sabbath I also use some tracks from “Nightmare Before Christmas”, mainly “This is Halloween”. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/12 "2001-10-07T18:28:59Z")
If you want a good spooky soundtrack, grab the non-melodic trippy central portion of Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” [**Meddle**] and play it in a loop at 2x speed. Serious banshee-screeches, oohing ghosts, and howling wind effects! ---
**Author:** ![quinoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/a9adbd/32.png) [@quinoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quinoa)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/13 "2001-10-07T19:46:42Z")
a friend once sent me a work by [harry partch](http://www.corporeal.com) called ‘the wind’. it’s poetry recited in a melodic and eeire voice by the author to strange music and i thought it pretty halloweeny creepy. i haven’t listened to his other stuff but the composer’s site has a [recording guide](http://www.corporeal.com/freshpix.html) with links to the [collection](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000005TYS/ref=ase_corpormeadowtheo/107-5511098-2529325) that has ‘the wind’ on amazon (The Harry Partch Collection: Volume 1). ---
**Author:** ![LabRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LabRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabRat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/14 "2001-10-07T21:42:07Z")
The Firebird Suite by Stravinsky. ---
**Author:** ![Zweistein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/54ee81/32.png) [@Zweistein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweistein)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/15 "2001-10-07T21:54:28Z")
György Ligeti - Lux Aeterna It scares the living daylights out of you. Well known from the soundtrack of 2001 - a space odyssey ---
**Author:** ![Zweistein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/54ee81/32.png) [@Zweistein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweistein)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/16 "2001-10-07T22:21:01Z")
Or: from the same composer: György Ligeti - Requiem Also from the soundtrack of 2001 - a space odyssey… No sleep guaranteed … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/17 "2001-10-07T22:32:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > or _Carmina Burana_ by Carl Orff – it was used in _The Omen_ Where? I haven’t seen the film in a while, but I thought all of the score was by Jerry Goldsmith. (Great score, BTW, and if you are interested in soundtracks, an _excellent_ choice for “spooky” music.) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/18 "2001-10-07T23:29:39Z")
I like the Bach’s Passacaglia and Fuge in C Minor. BWV 582 ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/19 "2001-10-07T23:30:34Z")
I don’t know if I’d quite call it “classical” (although it’s closer to that than anything else) but Midnight Syndicate has three very nice albums of spooky/gothy/atmospheric-type music out: Born of the Night (the first and best of the three), Realm of Shadows, and Gates of Delirium. [http://www.midnightsyndicate.com](http://www.midnightsyndicate.com) has clips from all three albums if you want to get an idea what they’re like. I have no connection to these folks - I discovered their music at the local haunted house attraction and liked it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917/20 "2001-10-07T23:33:33Z")
Marche Slave–Tchaikofsky There’s a “happy” part in it, but it soon gets mauled by the eerieness. Elegie by Massenet is also rather creepy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestions-for-spooky-classical-music/85917.md?page=2)