Recently I asked my author pals on Facebook for recommendations of “creepy, haunting classical music.” The following list is the best of the recommendations I received, along with some of my own favorites. While some have operatic elements, it was mainly the haunting melodies and invocation of atmospheric qualities I was looking for to inspire the writing of a ghost story. That story ended up being 'Dead and Buried' which is included in my collection 'Dreams of Thanatos.' I usually have some music in the background when writing, especially atmospheric classical tunes with a gothic flavor. Hopefully you will find some new music here you have not heard before. Hell, it may even inspire you to write something suitably dramatic and haunting. Enjoy.
Mussorgsky - Night on the Bare Mountain (Original Version)
Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki - Symphony No 3
God of War II - Complete Soundtrack
Beethoven - 7th Symphony/2nd movement
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique, 4/5
Frederic Chopin - Piano Sonata No. 2, 3/3
Chopin - Nocturne op.9 no.1
Liadov - Babi Yaga
Gustav Mahler - Symphony No.7 in E-minor - II, Nachtmusik
Sibelius - The Swan of Tuonela
Mendelssohn - Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave) (Abbado)
Mahler - Symphony No.2 in C minor "Resurrection"
Franz Liszt - Totentanz (piano and orchestra)
Jerry Goldsmith - The Haunting Suite
Sibelius - Tapiola ( Full ) - BPO / Karajan
Prokofiev: Suite Scythe - 2. The Evil God and the Dance of the Pagan Monsters
Rachmaninoff - Isle of the Dead
Camille Saint-Saëns, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Sibelius, Jerry Goldsmith, Franz Liszt, Mendelssohn, Horror, Writing, Dark Fiction, William Cook, Dreams of Thanatos, Gustav Mahler, Liadov, Frederic Chopin, Berlioz, György Ligeti, God of War, Mozart, Le'rue Delashay, Mussorgsky, Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki, Beethoven, Classical, Gothic, Music
