Horror Music

[Dumbledore lives]

I'm running a game of Don't Rest Your Head and need some decent atmospheric non-lyrical music that I can play for the 4 or so hour game, looping is okay but it would be nice to have some variety. The tone of the game is very much a constant sense of tension or fear of the unknown, so any music evoking dread would work great.

Go.

[Kindablue]

Some samples from Penderecki, Bartok, Shostakovich, and Ligeti might work.

[Brother Oni]

The Silent Hill game soundtracks, maybe?

You may have to skip the title theme from the first game as that may not fit the mood very well.

[Feytalist]

Most scary video game kind of music would work, yeah.

I immediately thought of Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, because I have its OST. It it would fit rather well.

Another option is Ghosts I-IV, the Nine Inch Nails ambient music project. It's available for free off their website (or it used to be, anyway). It's wonderfully evocative, and a fair few tracks are creepy enough for it to work. 36 tracks for almost 2 hours worth of music.

[Brother Oni]

I immediately thought of Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, because I have its OST. It it would fit rather well.

Depends on what type of setting Dumbledore lives is running - if it's a modern one then I'd agree with you, otherwise the medieval section of VtM: Redemption's OST might suit better.
The ambient Church music I remember being particularly atmospheric as there's almost constant hushed whispering in the background under the track.

Another option is Ghosts I-IV, the Nine Inch Nails ambient music project.

Thanks for that - I'll have to look it up.

[Inglenook]

A few good ambient horror tracks from TheEmuTyrant:
- Hospital
- Tunnel

My favorite of his was one titled "The Last Day", but he seems to have taken it down.

Lustmord is great for scary/ambient/hauntingly empty stuff as well, but again, some of the music can be hard to find.
- Black Star
- Hidden Refuge

A quick search of "dark ambient" on YouTube yields a lot of good results, if you wanted to build a playlist to play during your game session.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

mmm, the beginning of "Bela Lugosi's Dead", by Bauhaus would fit, but there are vocals later in the song...

Also, there's this one group that terrify me so much that I clean forgot what they're called. That's how terrifying they are. Non-lyrical. And

Night on Bald Mountain, by Russian/Ukrainian composer Mussorgsky, and also a few other pieces by him in the Pictures at an Exhibition
Of the various movements of the Pictures at an Exhibition, Gnomus has broken tempos and is very uneven and lilting and pathetic; it illustrates an image of a misshaped, deformed, and horrific gnome trying to walk.
Il Vecchio Castello is just slightly off-putting, as it depicts and old castle.
Bydlo is very brooding, and plodding, yet very thoughtful: it depicts an ox-cart passing by the listener. However, certain parts of the movement are much more triumphant than brooding...
Samuel Goldberg und Shmuyle alternates between slightly off-canter, yet seemingly light, and very threatening.
Catacombs represents the entrance into the Catacombs of Paris, and alternates between loud and soft chords, as wikipedia says, evoking "the grandeur, stillness, and echo of the catacombs".
*** mortuis in lingua mortua represents the actual passage through the Catacombs. It's very understated, yet uses the "Promenade" theme which has been used thus far to connect the different movements. This theme, which started out triumphant at the beginning of the piece, then became sad, and now is slightly threatening, yet as the listener becomes accustomed to the catacombs, the piece becomes almost... calming.
La cabane sur des pattes de poule is a frantic, panicked flight, as the listener is chased by Russian folk-demon and witch Baba Yaga, riding her... well, her hut on chicken legs. Motifs from Gnomus return, only much more grand.

The other movements from Pictures just don't really apply, as they are either very light and dancing, or much too celebratory and triumphant.

[Kindablue]

mmm, the beginning of "Bela Lugosi's Dead", by Bauhaus would fit, but there are vocals later in the song...

Don't believe I'd heard that before. I liked it!

Night on Bald Mountain, by Russian/Ukrainian composer Mussorgsky, and also a few other pieces by him in the Pictures at an Exhibition
Of the various movements of the Pictures at an Exhibition,

I never really thought of Pictures at an Exhibition as being frightening, though thanks to Chumley I can't disconnect it from glittering, shimmering and far too tight fitting pants, which is horrifying in its own way.

[Radar]

Some samples from Penderecki, Bartok, Shostakovich, and Ligeti might work.

Good choice!

I'd add Akira soundtrack (it does contain voices, but they are hardly lyrical) and the classic theme of Dracula by Kilar.

edit: there is also this, if you're into classic music.

[Kindablue]

Good choice!

I've seen those Shostakovich and Bartok quartets live. By the end of the night, my brains were leaking out out of my ears in the best way.

[Feytalist]

Lustmord is great for scary/ambient/hauntingly empty stuff as well, but again, some of the music can be hard to find.

Oh hey, Lustmord. Yeah, that will work.

I'd suggest many other dark ambient artists, but most of them have vocals, unfortunately. In any case, take a look at Dargaard or Elend maybe.

But yeah. It can be hard to find.

[dehro]

a few classics
this one,
and this one

which you could just throw in the mix randomly

[Radar]

I dug out this - I'm not sure, what kind of music it is (if music at all), but it would porbably provide a solidly creepy ambience.

I'm not sure, if this would fit, but it's at least worht checking.

For some reason I didn't mention the music for American McGee's Alice earlier.

[Worira]

Shalebridge Cradle

[Dumbledore lives]

So I've built up a pretty decent playlist supplemented by my own library, including the amazing Black Swan soundtrack, but any more suggestions would be appreciated, as you can always use more creepy music.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Parts of the "Rites of Spring", by Stravinsky.

[TARDIS]

As a Ravenloft fan, I've got a small library of soundtracks I've kept around for the setting... here are some of my favourites:

Battlestar Galactica Soundtrack:

• Violence and Variations
• Passacaglia
• Battlestar Sonatica
• Allegro
• Something Dark is Coming
• Prelude to War

Age of Empires Soundtrack:

• Happy to You
• Leisurely Brows
• Felonious Junk
• Didn't See It Coming,
• Last Name Crane, Ichabod

Icewind Dale:

• Skeleton of a Town Targos
• Arrival at The Docks
• The Town of Lonelywood
• Temple of Tempus
• Arundel's Home
• Severed Hand Interior
• Easthaven in Peace
• The Tale of Icewind Dale

Neverwinter Nights:

• Waterdeep
• Crossroads Keep
• Slums Day
• King of Shadows Battle
• The Astral Plane
• Ashenwood
• Mulsantir Gate
• Lake Shore Combat
• Port Llast Mournful

Thief:

• Into The Maw of Chaos
  Shalebridge Cradle
• The Clocktower
• The Overlook Manor
• The Pagans
• The Docks
• The Wieldstrom Museum

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura:

• Tarant
• Caladon
• Wheel Clan
• Vendigroth Wastes

Warcraft III/World of Warcraft:

• Human (4x, from Frozen Throne)
• Arcane Echoes
• Blight
• Carrion Waves
• The "Legion" themes
• The "Scourge" themes
• the various themes from the Necropolis Naxxramas, as well as most of the tunes from the haunted tower of Karazhan, Terokkar Forest, Shadowmoon Valley, Auchindoun, and the Ghostlands

[Feytalist]

The whole of Arcanum's soundtrack is composed of haunting strings music. It's perhaps not scary in any sense, but it is sparse enough to be slightly creepy sometimes.

[Makensha]

http://hypermammut.sourceforge.net/paulstretch/

Take a couple random songs, strech them out 20-30x. It can be very tense.

[Faulty]

The Leviathan album A Silhouette in Splinters might work.

[Wookieetank]

The main theme from Saw, Hello Zepp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhSHXGM7kgE