Every Dungeon Master knows that setting the tone and atmosphere is important for a game. But that's especially true for Curse of Strahd. Hitting just the right note of melancholy, creepiness or sheer terror can transform a session from merely memorable to truly legendary.

To help you do that, we've collected ten of the best albums and playlists to keep you and your players on the edge of your seats.

1. Curse of Strahd by Sword Coast Soundscapes

If you take away only one item from this list, I suggest this album. It is a collection of ambient tracks for each of the major locations in Barovia. So when you're in the Abbey of St. Markovia, you can just pick that track and set it to repeat as long as your party remains there. (Perhaps for eternity.)

2. Barovia Ambient

This playlist has one theme and one theme alone: creepy. Though it does range from subtly creepy to every-hair-standing-on-end creepy.

3. Let the Right One In

Though this soundtrack from the Swedish movie has creepy elements, the primary mood is deep melancholy. It works well for scenes covering the tragic backstories common in Barovia.

4. Bloodborne soundtrack

The soundtrack from Bloodborne, the video game, is perfect for combat scenes. It strikes a great balance between action and gothic horror themes.

5. Curse of Strahd - Atmosphere

This playlist has a variety of tracks covering every type of music you might possibly need. It's a great one-stop shop. The downside is that because it's all in a single playlist, it can be challenging to manage during a game session.

6. Bram Stoker's Dracula soundtrack

This soundtrack from the movie starring Gary Oldman as is full of both horror and bombast. The introductory track is excellent for scenes involving Strahd.

7. The Witcher Official Playlist

If your Curse of Strahd adventure leans more toward dark fantasy rather than straight horror, this playlist from the Netflix series has you covered.

8. Into the Mists by Travis Savoie

This soundtrack inspired by Curse of Strahd, is excellent. Each track is themed around a specific part of the adventure (e.g. the Amber Temple). The one downside is that the tracks are relatively short (about three minutes), and aren't designed to loop. So for use in your game you will likely want to pair this with other music.

9. Beyond the Mists by Travis Savoie

This soundtrack shares most of the strengths and weaknesses of Into the Mists, but adds several new tracks, including two much longer ones, Barovian Romance and Madness of the Abbot. Those come in at about 10 minutes each.

10. The Village soundtrack

James Newton Howard's soundtrack offers a blend of ominous undertones and achingly beautiful orchestration. The tension in the music makes a fantastic backdrop for Curse of Strahd.

So there you have it. Ten albums and playlists to breathe life (and death) into your Curse of Strahd campaign.

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