What is witch house? The dark side of electronic music

Witch house is a slow, dark, distorted style of electronic music that grew out of internet communities in the late 2000s. Picture trap beats, industrial noise, and darkwave synths, all buried in reverb. It's hard to explain until you hear it. The closest I can get: a nightmare you want to stay in a little longer.

The first witch house track I heard was King Night by SALEM, and I fell in love instantly. A classic: 808s, euphoric synths, and choirs drowned in long reverbs and lots of distortion!

Where witch house came from

It started online, around the late 2000s. MySpace and early Tumblr were full of strange experimental electronic music back then, and witch house came out of that pile.

SALEM was one of the first acts to define the sound. Their debut album King Night (2010) shaped what most people now mean by "witch house." But they weren't alone. oOoOO, White Ring, †‡† (Ritualz), and later Sidewalks and Skeletons all built that gloomy, crushed sound: heavy 808s, pitched-down vocals, dark pads, distorted synths.

The look mattered too. Unicode band names, VHS textures, occult imagery, and lo-fi visuals were part of the identity from day one. For a lot of fans, the aesthetic was half the genre.

What does witch house sound like?

It sits somewhere between trap, industrial, and darkwave. From hip-hop you get slowed-down beats and heavy bass. On top of that come reverb-soaked synths, haunting pads, and layers of noise.

Atmosphere comes first. The best witch house tracks sound like they're echoing from another room, or another dimension. They're usually slow, hypnotic, and emotionally heavy.

How to make witch house: sound design tips

A few tips if you're just starting with this genre:

• A saw wave is your friend. A lot of leads and basses are built on saw or square waves.
• Use an LFO to modulate the fine tuning of the oscillators. I recommend a sine shape and keeping it within -20 to +20 cents. It detunes the sound like an old analog tape.
• Don't be afraid to use really long reverbs with over 50% wet. Witch house isn't a radio-friendly genre. The goal is a unique sound, not a perfect radio-ready mix.
• Distort a lot and try different types of distortion. Serum 2 has pretty good distortion modules, but my favorite is still Trash 2.
• Use a lowpass filter. I personally like the 12 dB one (MG Low 12), but the 18 dB one (MG Low 18) is also great for a more analog sound.
• 140 BPM might be a good starting point, but there are no rules. Drums often sit in half-time, so the groove feels like 70 BPM.
• Detune one of the oscillators by 30 to 50 cents when you build a lead. You don’t always need unison in Serum for that detuned sound.

Witch house visuals and aesthetic

Witch house was one of the first internet genres where the visuals mattered as much as the music. Upside-down crosses, black-and-white VHS footage, and warped typography were everywhere in early YouTube edits and Tumblr GIFs.

It shares a lot with goth, darkwave, and vaporwave. All of them mix nostalgia, sadness, and distortion into something surreal.

Is witch house still alive?

It faded from the mainstream around 2013, but it never died. It changed. Pastel Ghost, LONOWN, akiaura, and Snow Strippers still make it, and they push it into new places by blending it with angelcore, electroclash, hyperpop, wave, or shoegaze.

Modern witch house also seems more psychedelic than spooky. It uses catchy melodies more often, aiming for listenability rather than pure vibe.

I'm seeing a lot of young producers pick it up again right now. I noticed it while scrolling through TikTok. My guess is it fits the mood. Dark times make dark music feel honest.

Witch house samples and presets

Witch house isn't about polish. It rewards raw, messy, personal choices over clean ones. If you like moody, cinematic, surreal sounds, you'll probably enjoy making it as much as listening.

If you want to make it yourself, check out my Witch House Samples & Presets [INTERNAL LINK: witch house samples and presets page]. Presets get you the sound fast, but you'll still need to tweak them to sit in your own mix.

The Witch House Bundle might be a good start. It contains two sample packs (Witch House Sample Pack and Castles Sample Pack) and the Witch House Serum 2 Preset Bank - 722 Samples and 100 Serum 2 Presets.