That Sounds Scary

​According to Dr. Hutchings... 14

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1. Musical startle effect

 

Visually, one could be startled by a figure abruptly appearing in sight, or by a worm squirming out of one’s half-eaten apple. Both startle someone understandably, but to add an audial component further perpetuates- perhaps even internalizes- the startle. Music Professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Julia Heimerdinger, pairs suspense with the startle effect, or what she calls the “stinger”. 14 Suspenseful music, the “humming and grumbling [sounds] in all variants”, leads up to the startle effect of “sudden, aggressive, and very loud attacks with a high percentage of noise.” If performed well, this startle effect can make an audience physically jump or scream at both the sight and sound of a sudden scare.

 

2. Loud volume vs. Quiet Sounds

 

Continuing off of the startle effect, Heimerdinger highlights loud volume, along with its opposite, quietness. Loud volume sounds, in the context of horror, are ones that can be “subjectively felt as molesting, annoying, or the like”. 14 Loud volume is commonly used with the startle effect, as well as after moments of quiet sound. I argue that quiet volume sounds can also surprise an audience, if one listens carefully. Yet, in horror genre tropes, loudness is understandably felt- whatever the reaction may be- because it is easily heard.

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3. Dissonance

 

If you have ever felt the unnerving urge to wince when you’ve heard a sound, chances are that sound holds dissonance. In the category referred to as “nonlinear sounds”, dissonant chords are ones that are simply not consonant or pleasant to the ear. To many listeners, “they have been considered harsh and have expressed pain, grief, and conflict” in compositions. 16 Dissonance has been defined in many ways, and usually in comparison to its harmonious counterpart, consonant sounds/chords. With horror film, dissonance can even be tied to the high pitch and frequency of screams, or unfamiliar noises of frightening creatures.

 

4. Innocence

 

Hutchings brings “innocent forms of music, such as nursery rhymes”, as the fourth element of his analysis of horror film sounds. 14 While I agree on his inclusion of the terrifying effects innocent music can bring to a film, my samples include more silence than innocent sounds. I would further argue that silence is a form of innocence, as it is “pure” in the sense of not engaging the audience with a variety of stimuli, but with the subtraction of it. It’s a good, clean, empty sound that- while it can be purposely manipulated to do harm- it does not spark fear on its own; just like an innocent child does not purposely intend to cause trouble. Silence is a powerful, cryptic asset within the audial influences of horror film, and some filmmakers utilize this lack-of-noise more so than others.

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