History Main / OminousPipeOrgan

* In Music/MichaelJackson's ''Music/Thriller'', during Vincent Price's ending monologue, an organ playing four chords over and over that slowly develop can be heard.

* In Creator/MichaelJackson's ''Music/Thriller'', during Vincent Price's ending monologue, an organ playing four chords over and over that slowly develop can be heard.

The pipe organ is an incredibly difficult, complex, expensive, and loud instrument with long standing connections to TheChurch. It's the power of a full orchestra built into the architecture of a building, but played by a single person who has to have the [[LonelyAtTheTop privilege]] or [[InstantExpert gift]] to actually be able to do it well. The church in this situation not only stands for religious power, but also wealth and political power. The thought that it could just be one mad RichGenius wielding all that power for selfish reasons, especially if they play in private quarters, makes it inherently sinister.

* Both the [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks ride]] and [[Film/TheHauntedMansion film]] version of ''Ride/TheHauntedMansion'' have a big giant organ. The Disneyland version's organ comes from ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', and in the film, someone plays that famous Bach piece on the mansion's organ.

The exception to the "organs = villainy" rule is if you're in a church. Think [[HolyPipeOrgan Sunday mass]] and [[LohengrinAndMendelssohn weddings]]. But the existence of the CorruptChurch and GodIsEvil help to blur that distinction. If the organ is accompanying a ''[[SaintlyChurch good]]'' religion, then the music is generally [[HolyPipeOrgan more subdued and ethereal]] rather than overtly "ominous", if not loud and joyful.

* {{Uberwald}}

For some reason, organ music and villainy seem to go hand in hand. Perhaps this is because of the organ's powerful sound, which has led to it being dubbed "the king of instruments." Perhaps it just sounds sinister and scary. In any case, if a character has organ music for their {{Leitmotif}}, it's a sure sign said character isn't going to be [[PetTheDog petting any dogs]].

-->--''VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder''.

->"Graham watches in horrified fascination as the grotesque organ begins to magically play an eerie tune, all by itself."

->''"The organ music! Must be the FanDumb, yo!"''
-->-- '''Chart Guy,''' '''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic''''s ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' [[TheMovie movie]] [[https://youtu.be/aQNxjU90Wnw?t=1580 review.]]

* ''Music/OzzyOsbourne'' has Don Felder playing an organ in the introduction to Mr. Crowley, a black metal song about an English vampire and occultist called Aleister Crowley who loved drinking cats' blood as well as having sex with children and animals.

* Virtually every song performed by ''Music/TheDoors'' features Ray Manzarek using an organ effect on his synthesizer. And yes, partially as a result of this, even their lightest, fluffiest pieces still have a vaguely ominous undercurrent.

* ''Series/AdventuresInWonderland'': The final episode, "A Wonderland Howl-oween", features a spoof of the classic horror movie ''The Phantom of The Opera''. One night, the Queen and the White Rabbit explore a catacomb to find out where strange, spooky, unearthly noises are coming from. They find a masked figure (the Mad Hatter) playing this Toccata and Fugue on a pipe organ.

* Lawrence from ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}'' began playing his local church's organ because the previous performer was kicked for being "too dramatic".

* ''Series/AdventuresInWonderland'': The final episode, "A Wonderland Howl-oween", features a spoof of the classic horror movie ''[[Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera1925 The Phantom of the Opera]]''. One night, the Queen and the White Rabbit explore a catacomb to find out where strange, spooky, unearthly noises are coming from. They find a masked figure (the Mad Hatter) playing this Toccata and Fugue on a pipe organ.

* Much of the soundtrack of ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' makes heavy use of pipe organs, particularly during the more intense moments such as the [[SignatureScene famous]] docking scene.

[[caption-width-right:350: The [[VisualPun instrument]] of your '''{{Doom|yDoomsOfDoom}}!''']]

[[AC:For added atmosphere, play the music from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPWKOJC1zPc this video]] while reading on.]]

* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8L1nrsycHE The theme]] of the [[ProfesionalKiller Zoldyck family]] in the 1999 anime.

* Gargamel's Ghoullliope in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' cartoon special "Smurfily Ever After".

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'':

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', whenever [[{{Goth}} Lucy]] [[BlindingBangs Loud]] jump scares her siblings, either a [[CreepyCrows crow caws]] or a short pipe organ chord plays. She and Luna Loud also play one in the episodes "House Music" and "Tricked!" respectively.