Upon my first listening, I found myself somewhat disappointed. While there’s no arguing the quality of the musicianship, the CD as a whole seemed to lack the sort of intensity and sense of place I’d found in similar works of story-based musical horror. In fact, the use of prose and poetry readings seemed to be the CD’s equivalent of “telling” rather than musically “showing” what was transpiring.

After a second listening, however, the CD began to grow on me. True, the outright sense of fear didn’t really show up until very late on the CD – “Beyond Midnight” has a very tangible “Oh, sh*t...” feel to it – Darklore Manor more than makes up for it by maintaining a persistent and pervading sense of gothic foreboding with pipe organs, strings, chimes, tubular bells, harpsichord, and piano. And the CD does manage to find that elusive sense of place with tracks like “Trespassers” (excellent haunted house exploration music, complete with creaky door), “The Grande Hall” (clock chimes heralding the start of a spectral formal dance), and “Belladonna” (a creepy yet bittersweet ode to the young daughter of the last of the Darklore bloodline).

While some of the vocal work does seem to be performing the heavy lifting that ought to have been left to the music in places, and while some of the chanting sounds more like a group of Victorians playing at being naughty cultists than it does the activities of cultists themselves, other vocals serve their purpose quite well. The recital of the manor’s legend at the outset and the confession of Damon Darklore at the end – waaaay at the end, mind you, with several minutes of silence separating it from the end of the penultimate track – function nicely as verbal bookends to the CD. Likewise, the creepy gypsy and even creepier distorted little girl’s voice reading poems in “Omen” and “Nursery Rhyme,” respectively, definitely do the chilling work for which they’re intended. But nothing compares to the whispery voices from beyond featured in “Séance,” drifting from stereo speaker to stereo speaker as if slowly circling the listener with their icy presence. Brrrr…

Ultimately, while I don’t think Darklore Manor ever quite conveys the sheer terror of exploring a haunted mansion, it is, nevertheless, an excellent CD for evoking feelings of supernatural mystery and oppressive dread in classic gothic fashion. It should make a welcome addition to any collection of Halloween and/or horror roleplaying mood music.