Halloween in '16: The Dark Tower (Nox Arcana album)

For this year's special run of Halloween posts, Shangrila Towers is spotlighting those infamous creatures of the night - vampires. Keep your crucifix handy, and pray for dawn...

Our house is a gloomy sepulchre right now thanks to the hurricane shutters, and the shadows are putting me in the mood for an equally gloomy piece of music: "The Dark Tower," by dark ambient group Nox Arcana.

"The Dark Tower" is even more programmatic than Nox Arcana's usual concept albums, since it's supposed to act as a "soundtrack" to a book series written by band member Joseph Vargo. The books tell the story of a gargoyle-encrusted castle inhabited by lonely vampires, restless souls, and sinister angels; the music follows the same tack. In short, it's Gothic as all hell:


Like all of Nox Arcana albums, "The Dark Tower" is really not something you can sit down and listen to on its own. This is perfect spooky background music, though, perfect if you're setting up a haunted house or a hurricane bunker.