Midweek Music Box: Alone in the Dark 2 Intro Music

It's Christmas and strange things are a foot in Hell's Kitchen.  It's 1924, a little girl has been kidnapped, and Edward Carnby suspects the inhabitants of a mysterious mansion may have had a hand in it.  Time for some music from the PC classic Alone in the Dark 2.  After all, what says Christmas and Yuletide more than ghost pirates, gangsters, and death traps?  

Okay, so I know that being a survival horror game seems to put this more in the realm of Halloween fare, but I guess the fact that the nefarious pirates are doing their evil deeds near the holidays resulted in me playing the game a bit more often towards Christmastime.  I must have let the beginning sequence play a dozen times just to hear the music.

It goes from a creepy version of Jingle Bells into a macabre tune you might expect to hear from an early horror film or something from a Christmas episode of Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark. Oh sure, it's got a few merry bells jingling, and pleasant whistle toot or too...but as soon as it goes to harpsichord, then you know it's transitioned from that friendly familiar Christmas carol to something sinister.Give it a listen here:

"Intro Music"

Spooky, right?

Yeah, I know there are probably games out there with their own little version of yuletide tunes ranging from Frosty the Snowman to Silent Night, but something about the minimal use of Jingle Bells in this song does just enough to help establish the time setting that it really helps sell the story line. It makes for a nice picture of things to come.  Yes, there should be merriment, yes there should be the usual festivities, but when foul freebooters are involved--especially those involved in voodoo pact--you know the time for the trimming the tree has passed and it's time to get down to business.  

The rest of the soundtrack does a well enough job selling the story, but for me, those first few notes of the harpsichord and the spooky strains of a merry Christmas tune gone wrong not only remind me of the season, but of great gaming experience.