Mood music for writing horror

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sdewar83

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Most of the Iced Earth's albums... particularly the album "Horror Show", with songs about ... The wolf, the creature from the black lagoon, Dracula, Imhotep, Damien, etc. Awesome album.
 

MrNumbahOne

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The soundtrack to Sinister was awesome and terrifying (although the movie was meh)
 

J.D. Salivator

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Hi, new here. I'm JD.
Almost always while I write, I listen to music as a form of white noise, as I believe you suggested. I don't always have a room of my own with a door that I can use to shut out the world. So much of the time, I'll set up my laptop on the kitchen table and put in my headphones.

My writing music list mostly includes heavy, industrial / techno, stuff that evokes more of a mood and has lyrics that I don't necessarily pay a lot of attention to, like:

Ministry
The Prodigy
Tool
Queens of the Stone Age
Pink Floyd

Mostly I prefer music (while I'm writing at least) with a lot of long instrumental sections, and only a modicum of lyrics.

Sometimes I'll just hit the classical category on Spotify or Pandora and let the forces that be decide.

However, Angelo Badalamenti has always been my fall back if nothing else seems to be able to filter out the real world as I attempt to write.

Anyway, good question and thread. I myself often wonder what other people listen to as they write, those that don't prefer, or can't obtain, perfect silence that is.
 

layzerphish

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I actually just listening to ambient horror music you can find on youtube. No distracting lyrics or complicated music (since I am kind of a music junkie haha)

Also watching or reading a bit of horror as well usually gets me in the mood!
 

CrazyForKate

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This is going to sound weird, but most of my best writing happens when I listen to totally unrelated, even contradictory music. For example, right now I'm working on something while listening to "They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard" (yes, the YouTube meme). I also wrote a detective novel once entirely on Aqua's music. I think it stops me from getting too bogged down in the mood, if that makes sense...
 

IdrisG

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Any music source's Halloween/Horror playlist will do the job, especially if it includes the classic themes from the Exorcist, Friday the 13, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc. One song that is guarnteed to get me in the mood for horror is John Murphy's In the House in a Heartbeat from 28 Days Later. That song gives me a chill and I can write the most chilling things while it plays. It's erie.
 

CharleeBeck

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LOVE "cry little sister". My favorite song in 8th grade, some of my OG writing music.

My "horror" tends to be more of the bleak variety, but these were my favorite writing songs.

Pornopop – Centre
The Smashing Pumpkins – Annie-Dog
Cursive – The Recluse
Bang Gang – Lost In Wonderland
MGMT – Pieces of What
Placebo – Pierrot the Clown
Slowdive – Here She Comes
Radiohead – Codex
Youth Group – Forever Young
MGMT – Love Always Remains
Mindless Self Indulgence – Like Shit
Mogwai – Big scary world
The Smashing Pumpkins – Stumbleine
Bayside – They Looked Like Strong Hands
Neutral Milk Hotel – April 8th
God Is An Astronaut – All Is Violent, All Is Bright
The Mountain Goats – Michael Myers Resplendent
Eels – Electro-Shock Blues
Regina Spektor – Better
Broken Social Scene – Anthems For A Seventeen-year-old
The Mountain Goats – Autoclave
The Mountain Goats – Dinu Lipatti's Bones
Why? – The Hollows
The Mountain Goats – Store
Bright Eyes – Lover I Don't Have to Love
The Mountain Goats – Song for Lonely Giants
NOFX – Cokie the Clown
The Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride
The Mountain Goats – Mole
 
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asyouwish

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I listen to a lot of alternative music when I'm working on my horror ms. Bring Me the Horizon has been a favourite as of late.
 

Tinman

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Thanks!!!

I wanted to thank everyone for posting their inspirational favorites; I'm gradually working my way through everyone's lists. It has exposed me to music I might never have heard otherwise, and because of the suggestions, I've added quite a bit of music to my own list. I'm sure others have too.

Thanks again!!!
 
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Andieee

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Dead Man's Bones. I heard one of their songs in 'The Conjuring' and I looked up for more.
Also, Akira Yamaoka has some neat tracks for setting the mood.
 

The_Outlaw_Torn

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Oh, there are plenty of pieces that get me in the mood.

Classical Music

"Saint Matthew Passion" by J.S. Bach
"Mass in C minor" by W.A. Mozart
"Requiem" by W.A. Mozart
"The Rite of Spring" by Igor Stravinsky
"Polymorphia" by Krzysztof Penderecki
"De Natura Sonoris No. 1" by Penderecki
"Symphony No. 1" by Penderecki
"Fluorescences for Orchestra" by Penderecki
"Requiem" by Giuseppe Verdi
"Requiem" by Antonin Dvorak
"Lamentations and Praises" by John Tavener
"John of Damascus" by Sergei Taneyev
"Isle of the Dead" by Sergei Rachmaninov
"Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom" by Sergei Rachmaninov
"Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom" by Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky
"Psalmus Hungaricus" by Zoltan Kodaly
"Litany" by Arvo Part
"Te Deum" by Arvo Part

Rock

"So Long" by Everlast
"Awake and Dreaming" by Finger Eleven
"Falling Away from Me" by Korn
"Trash" by Korn
"It's Gonna Go Away" by Korn
"Blame" by Korn
"Hating" by Korn
"Just Go" by Staind
"More Human than Human" by White Zombie
"The Ballad of Resurrection Joe and Rosa Whore" by Rob Zombie
"Solitaire Unraveling" by Mushroomhead
"Tabula Rasa" by Sinch
 
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