“Along a dark forsaken road,
There stands a stark and grim abode –
An old manor house looms black and tall
To cast a grave and deathly pall –
Beyond the ancient wrought iron gate,
A thousand nightmares lie in wait –
for dark things dwell in this house of fear,
And none but the dead dare trespass here”.

If you like neoclassical darkwave/dark ambient music genre, then you might like the music of Nox Arcana. This American band was formed in 2003 by William Piotrowski and Joseph Vargo (who is also responsible for each album’s artwork). The Image shown here is from their album – Darklore Manor.

• Nox Arcana specializes in concept albums based on Gothic fiction and classic horror literature. Such literary references include H. P. Lovecraft, The Brothers Grimm, Ray Bradbury, and Edgar Allan Poe.
• Some of their albums also make reference to medieval themes and ancient mythology.
• Their Winter’s Knight album, released in 2005, ranked as high as #8 on the Billboard chart for Top Holiday Albums.
• Their music is used by theme parks such as Busch Gardens, Knott’s Scary Farm and Universal Studios during Halloween for scenes and haunted houses based upon their album themes.
• Nox Arcana‘s music is featured exclusively on the TV show America Haunts for the Travel Channel during the Halloween weekend each year since 2009.

Before forming Nox Arcana in 2003, Joseph Vargo produced two albums for Midnight Syndicate but left the band in 2000 to co-write Tales From The Dark Tower; a book that follows the exploits of a vampire during the First Crusade.

• He later published Dark Realms magazine and released a best-selling card deck,
• The Gothic Tarot.

William Piotrowski had previously written the score for a video production entitled “Ghosts of Ohio”, a video documentary about Mary Ann Winkowski; a medium who inspired the CBS television show Ghost Whisperer.

For further illustrations from CD, or LP cover art (and others) see my Cover Art, or see my “Dark Art” page, where this article is cross-referenced.

Ecce quomodo moritur justus  – (see how the just dies)

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