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”THE GHOSTS OF WITCH HOUSE”

Lately I stumbled across my old playlist and, digging through forgotten tracks, I rediscovered the songs of Salem.
Actually, over the past few months I had already started seeing their name pop up again. Listening to them after years made me think about a genre that for a long time remained almost hidden, confined to internet niches and obscure forums: witch house.

In recent years, though, something has changed. With the rise of new electronic and underground artists, this style has slowly started resurfacing.

But maybe its return also says something about the way we experience music and online aesthetics today.

In a time when everyone seems to want to be “alternative,” many subcultures end up becoming mainstream almost instantly, stripped of their mystery as soon as they start circulating on TikTok or Pinterest.
That’s exactly why the underground keeps searching for something more extreme, more hidden.

And this is where witch house starts to make sense again: it’s a genre that was never meant to be accessible, but rather to create an atmosphere that only a few people can fully understand.

Despite the name, witch house has almost nothing to do with classic house music.
In fact, it’s a slow, heavy, atmospheric, and often unsettling genre. Its sounds feel like they come from damaged VHS tapes, fever dreams, or badly recorded horror movies.

Many people associate witch house with horror films and series like The Blair Witch Project or Twin Peaks because its atmospheres feel perfect for that kind of disturbing vibe.

Among the most important artists in the genre are Crystal Castles, oOoOO, White Ring, Zola Jesus, and Purity Ring, but the true pioneers remain Salem.

The group, formed in Michigan by Heather Marlatt, Jack Donoghue, and John Holland, defined much of the witch house aesthetic and sound before the genre even had a proper name.
With their 2010 album King Night, they created something strangely hypnotic: music that felt slow and ruined, yet deeply emotional at the same time.

For years, Salem remained surrounded by a mysterious aura, disappearing almost completely from the scene. Then, suddenly, came the return: first with the mixtape Stay Down and later with Fires in Heaven.

And perhaps it’s no coincidence that this comeback happened right when the internet started rediscovering the dark and nostalgic aesthetics of the early 2010s.

Today, witch house is no longer just a forgotten microgenre.
It’s being reborn in new forms, influencing contemporary underground artists and shaping a new wave of dark, emotional electronic music deeply connected to cybercore culture.

WHY ARE THERE NO LONGER TWO NIGHTS?

In the Middle Ages, the night was divided into two parts.

First and second sleep: sleep was fragmented into two distinct phases, separated by a period of wakefulness. People would first go to bed for the so-called first sleep, lasting until around midnight. After staying awake for one or more hours, they would then return to sleep for the second sleep.

Biphasic sleep was the nighttime resting pattern used by ancient populations. This is the conclusion reached by numerous historians through various testimonies and scientific evidence: our ancestors did not sleep the way we do today, and this may help explain many sleep disorders that are so widespread nowadays.

Today, this behavior might seem strange to us, or perhaps typical of scientists and artists who, struck by inspiration, wake up in the middle of the night to write down their ideas.

The data collected by the American historian show that until the eighteenth century, people commonly slept in two separate phases during the night rather than in one uninterrupted eight-hour period. Today, we consider eight continuous hours of sleep to be the sign of a healthy lifestyle — but is that really the case?

All sleep took place within a roughly twelve-hour time span, beginning with three or four hours of sleep, followed by a waking period lasting around three hours, and then another period of sleep until morning.

It should also be considered that, without electric lighting, people in the past went to bed much earlier, as soon as darkness fell — and during the colder months, nights could last up to fourteen hours.

So what, then, is the natural way to sleep?

The hours between the two sleeps were characterized by an unusual sense of calm. It was common for people to meet with friends or relatives, sip wine, and relax around a table chatting. Scientists and artists devoted this time to research and study, often finding it easier to concentrate without the distractions of daytime. Some people dedicated this time to love and intimacy, while others used it for spirituality, meditation, and prayer.

MY PERSONAL STYLE

This moodboard collects all of my current obsessions and, in a way, perfectly represents the direction my style has been taking lately.

The recurring palette revolves around muted khaki green, deep plum purple, and a bright aqua teal. I love the contrast between soft, desaturated clothing tones and brighter, statement accessories that can completely transform even the simplest looks.

Different aesthetics overlap throughout these images: on one side, there’s the soft ’90s grunge vibe — melancholic and effortlessly messy — and on the other, stronger Harajuku influences that feel colorful, bold, and experimental. Lately I’ve been obsessed with over-the-top ear piercings: colorful, kawaii, and dramatic, while still keeping the overall aesthetic clean, intentional, and detail-oriented.

Among my biggest inspirations right now, I absolutely have to mention Sirena Warren and Mazzy Joya. After a long creative rut, they’ve genuinely helped me reconnect with the side of my style I felt like I had almost lost over the past few years.

I really hope this article — and the moodboard as a whole — manages to convey the exact vibe I had in mind while creating it. Let me know if you’d like a deeper breakdown of this style, the influences behind it, and the subcultures I personally associate with it.

Feeling ugly lately <\3

Any suggestion to feel better?

I will not accept a life I do not deserve ~MAXXXINE