All You Need Is Death

In The Dark Ballad, a young couple, Clara and Ben, passionate collectors of rare folk ballads, stumble upon an ancient song that leads them into a chilling, forgotten world. Living in a remote countryside, the two have spent years traveling to remote villages, collecting and preserving old, obscure songs that tell tales of love, loss, and history. Their bond, built on a mutual love of music and folklore, grows deeper with each new discovery, but nothing prepares them for the eerie journey that lies ahead when they uncover a mysterious, forbidden ballad.

While exploring a small, isolated village rumored to hold some of the rarest folk traditions, Clara and Ben hear whispers about a song so old and taboo that the locals refuse to speak of it. Intrigued and undeterred by the villagers’ warnings, the couple becomes obsessed with finding and recording the elusive piece of music. They eventually meet an old man, a reclusive villager, who agrees to sing the forbidden ballad for them—on the condition that they never share it with the world. Ignoring the man’s ominous warning, Clara and Ben secretly record the haunting melody, eager to translate and understand its meaning.

Back at their home, the couple delves into the song’s lyrics, uncovering a dark and twisted love story buried within its verses. The ballad tells the tale of a doomed romance between two lovers bound by a curse that leads to obsession, betrayal, and death. As they work to translate the cryptic lyrics, Clara and Ben begin to experience strange and unsettling events. Their once harmonious relationship starts to unravel, with both of them growing increasingly irritable and secretive. The more they delve into the ballad’s meaning, the more their behavior mirrors the tragic tale within the song.

Clara becomes particularly affected by the song’s eerie power, often humming it absentmindedly around the house. She begins having vivid nightmares about the characters in the ballad, dreaming of their cursed love and the violent fate that befalls them. Ben, on the other hand, becomes obsessed with understanding the origins of the song, losing sleep as he works late into the night, trying to decipher its hidden meanings.

As their obsession deepens, Clara and Ben’s once-strong relationship is consumed by jealousy and mistrust, much like the characters in the ballad they’ve uncovered. The line between the ancient song and their own lives begins to blur, and they realize too late that the ballad carries a dark curse, one that feeds on love and turns it into something twisted and destructive.

In a chilling climax, Clara and Ben are drawn into a nightmarish confrontation, as the malevolent force behind the ballad reveals itself. The ancient curse takes hold of them, pushing them to the brink of madness. Their love, once a source of strength and unity, becomes their greatest weakness, as the ballad’s dark power consumes them.

The Dark Ballad is a haunting story of love, obsession, and the dangers of uncovering secrets from the past. As Clara and Ben discover, some songs are better left unsung, and the price of curiosity can be far more than they ever imagined.