Hi there! Last year I realised my dream and started an experimental music project based on a horror concept. My first EP was inspired by and used narration from The Dead Valley by Ralph Adams Cram. I like to think of the musical style as a mixture of ambient music, psychedelic folk and doom metal.

Now I'm planning a full length album and would like to ask for your suggestions for the concept. It could be a short story or verse / poetry. I'd prefer it to be cosmic horror related and hopefully have some sort of supernatural element. Not Cthulhu Mythos, because it is such a common theme especially in metal music and also very hard to get the atmosphere right. Arctic, nautical and folk horror would be quite OK.

I've been thinking about using The Island of Dr. Moreau, Great God Pan, House of Sounds or some story from The King In Yellow, but found them to be beyond my abilities to handle.

To make things more complicated, for easiness of use I'd prefer works that are either in public domain or that there would be an easy way to contact the copyright owner to aak for permission. I live in Finland and I've understood that as a general rule there should be at least 70 years from the author's death. I'm not trying to make profit out of this, the album will be published online for free and as a name your price release on Bandcamp.

So which weird tale would you like to hear in the form of weird music?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 29 Jun 19 | 06:52AM by MFromBeyond.

Maybe A. Merritt's "The Moon-Pool," which I believe is in the public domain.

Thanks for the suggestion!

I'm afraid there's so much going on in the short story (haven't read the novel) that trying to make sense of it in musical form is beyond the scope of what I can manage. It would have enough material for a series of albums in the hands of a more skillful interpreter.

I second the suggestion of "The Moon Pool", ... or its sequel "The Conquest of the Moon Pool". Or perhaps The Metal Monster, which I think could inspire some frenetically intense music. Just grab the essence of the weird efflorescing sections, no need to retell story from beginning to end if too demanding (that's more in the line of job of filmmakers).

Or Clark Ashton Smith's "The Dark Eidolon"!?! What a slab of furious uncompromising black metal that could be turned into!

A. Merritt and C. A. Smith are the next authors (after Lovecraft's and Howard's present achieved world-wide fame) deserving a wider recognition. Popularizing through music may be a good path toward this.
I am really disconcerted that there aren't any good films being made from any of the infinite supply of great weird fiction available. Something is going to have to be done about Hollywood and Disney (not talking about Walt here) and their commercialized, patronizing, and politicized global control over artistic expression. Their destructive dominance over Western culture has to be stopped, and replaced by intelligent producers who will favor our cultural heritage and richly brimming treasure coffers of unsung talent.

Another suggestion, for nightmare music, might be Walter de la Mare's "A:B:O". Again, intense and feverish, disgustingly prickling!

I hope that someone with black metal skills picks up The Dark Eidolon. I'm more into making slower music, but I'd enjoy it done well be someone else.

I agree with your view on the film industry. I suppose our only hope to see horror classics, at least in a decent form, is independent film makers. Or maybe Guillermo Del Toro.

Thank you for suggesting A:B:O, I didn't know it previously. A wonderfully written story!

Lately I've been reading some M.R.James stories and believe the inspiration could be found there.