With montages of vintage horror films, occult imagery, and cryptic messages, the genre stands apart from the mainstream. Witch House is characterized by its distinctive sound, heavily inspired by the “chopped and screwed” hip-hop production technique pioneered by the late DJ Screw. Club, he remarked, “ were joking about the sort of house music we make, witch house because it’s, like, occult-based house music.” This casual remark spiraled into a full-fledged genre, giving rise to prominent acts such as Salem, Balam Acab, White Ring, and Clams Casino. The term ‘Witch House’ was coined in jest by Travis Egedy, a Denver-based electronic musician widely known as Pictureplane, in 2010. Despite its fleeting prominence, the impact of this obscure genre continues to echo in the contemporary music scene. This was Witch House, an electronic microgenre distinguished by its occult-esque, shadowy sonic landscapes, stuttering drum machines, and vocals drenched in reverb. Buried deep within the labyrinthine tunnels of the Internet, there existed a peculiar corner of music that was almost elusive.
