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When it comes to the horror and thriller genres, sound effects play a main character’s role. Imminent silences, sudden sounds and a rising crescendo are all part of the fun that comes with this spooky holiday.

To see which sounds continue to inspire sound designers, ��������’s Nisna Mahtani and Ben Conway posed a question:

Halloween - it’s the time of year where being scared is all part of the fun. Whether it be screams, dripping blood or bumps in the night, sound is a huge part of what gives us the heebie-jeebies around this time of year. So, we want to know: What is the most iconic, terrifying or intriguing use of scary sounds in cinema history? What sound kept you up for hours after watching a horror film? And also, have you been involved in a spooky project that required some scary sounds?

Ready for the eerie answers?

Surachai Sutthisasanakul, senior sound designer and mixer at Squeak E. Clean

Colin Stetson’s soundtrack for Hereditary is burnt into my mind as something that took the movie’s avoidance of horror clichés and put it into sonic form. The music acted as a character that the movie hints at and exposes itself at the end. He wrote an alien score, where sounds were replaced with things you’d never guess, never giving the listener familiarity, grounding, or a sense of comfort.

“Something that sounds like synths is probably a contrabass clarinet or some number of them. Something that sounds like a swarm of bats, that probably is strings.” In his words, “It was to avoid any semblance of sentimentality or nostalgia”, and overall he wanted it to “'feel evil”'.

But also, the short answer is the mouth click in the movie. 

Alistair Bolt, sound engineer, SNK Studios

There's nothing more terrifying than peeking through your sweaty hands, thinking you're about to escape the impending horror, only to realise you haven't got enough fingers to plug your ears as well. As both a sound engineer and horror nut I'm always amazed at how vital a role sound plays in amplifying the most terrifying, dread-filled moments in film, for me a great subtle example of this is in the final moments of .

The scene begins in what seems to be silence before easing into the build of ominous drones and TV static all heralding the dreaded, sickening sound of nailless fingers scratching along the floor. Horrifying stuff. You can't talk horror and sound without mentioning the 'jump scare', and for that, the (criminally underrated) takes the cake. A shocking and brilliant use of sound, just watch it and tell me it didn't make you jump! 

And last but not least, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre always needs a mention. For me there's nothing more chilling than the unrelenting sound of the eponymous chainsaw, simple, iconic and oh so effective.

Casey Smith, composer at New Math Music

I’d cast my ballot for the infamous “flashbulb stingers” in Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre which, rumour has it, were conjured by scraping a tuning fork on some piano wire?  They’re used very effectively throughout the whole movie but shine the most, I think, in that nauseating pre-credit sequence, during the brief glimpses of The Hitchhikers ‘grisly work of art’. 

I did some work for a Reeses Halloween campaign a few years back featuring string work by my buddy Jake Falby. Always a treat to catch these running during my favourite shocktober reruns!

Lawrence Kendrick, creative director, String and Tins 

Horror at its core is about our fear of the unknown. Suspense. Subverting expectations. I’m a huge horror fan and it’s one of the few genres I can still enjoy for what it is, rather than instantly dissecting the construction of its sound and music. 

Sustained notes or chords that seem like they could end in an hour or in two seconds, builds tension. Something’s coming... but when? Composers will often use specially chosen chords that feel like they want to resolve to their root (augmented or 7th chords perhaps), but actively avoid doing so, again avoiding that predictability and building intense tension, making us, the viewer, more and more uncomfortable. These sustained chords are often played tremolo (a trembling effect) or in pulsating rhythms, reminding us of our heartbeat, a ticking clock and artificially building the drama and tension even further. 

Tubular Bells, the theme from The Exorcist instead plays with a constantly changing time signature, often landing on an unusual 7/8. Or the theme from Halloween uses an unfamiliar 5/4, steering clear of comforting familiarity. 

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Bill Chesley, sound designer, owner at HENRYBOY

While sound is a critical element in any classic horror film, I think it is part of a ‘collaboration’ between other aspects of film - namely editing, music, and timing— that really makes it successful. In fact, I think the way ‘scary’ succeeds in a horror film is 99% editing, 1% sound. Music, within the horror context, is the thing that stays with you. 

In 2020, I did the sound design for an HBO documentary called ‘Crazy, Not Insane’ about the early formation of theories surrounding the pathology of serial killers. There were a number of recreations that involved the interviewing of serial killers as they described their ‘process’. I had to create soundscapes that mirrored their internal dialogue. I ended up using combinations of feedback, distortions of binaural field recordings, and skewed environmental sounds. If it’s understated, yet powerful and effective in the moment, then I’ve done my job, and believe that to be true of most of the horror sound design that I have enjoyed over the years. 

Benjamin McAvoy, owner and director, WMP Studio

For me, it’s got to hark back to when I was a teenager really.  There were two scenes and sets of sounds that I thought were, and still think are absolutely brilliant and terrifying in equal measure. The first was the processed voice sound of the possessed Kayako in . I think what I  love about it is that there's still something human about it yet it’s also deeply unsettling. To create this sound almost 20 years ago too! Awesome work.  

The second is a scene from the 2002 film directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Not the most critically acclaimed thriller and not actually the creation of a sound, more the combination of soundtrack and atmospheres/sound design. What I love about this scene is the combination of cinematography, music, voices and direction to create a sense of anticipation and tension.

Back in 2014, we worked with a director client of ours on a fantastic set of short teaser trailers for giffgaff (who actually at one point got really good at releasing Halloween shorts!). 

Gus Koven, sound designer at Barking Owl

I love those moments in film when you’re getting more information from your hearing than you are from your eyes. The camera is focused on something mundane or probing around in the darkness, and there's some kind of mysterious or menacing or out of place sound that tweaks your senses. A few scenes that come to mind are most of Alien, the opening scene in Blue Velvet, and this one from No Country for Old Men: